For a New York law firm, trust accounting is not a bookkeeping preference — it is a licensing obligation. New York’s Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15 governs how you hold client and third-party money, and a single commingling error, a missing client ledger, or a trust reconciliation that quietly stops balancing can turn into a grievance and a disciplinary investigation. Precision Accounting & Consulting runs a dedicated law firm trust accounting practice built specifically to keep New York attorneys IOLTA-compliant.
What we do: specialist law firm trust accounting and IOLTA compliance for New York attorneys — properly separated trust and operating accounts, per-client subsidiary ledgers, monthly three-way reconciliation, advanced-client-cost tracking, and clean records that stand up to a Rule 1.15 inquiry — so your trust account is never the reason you lose a night’s sleep.
Precision is built as a niche accounting firm: instead of one generalist covering every industry, we run focused practices with specialists for the fields we serve — law, construction, and commercial real estate among them. For attorneys, that means the person reconciling your IOLTA account actually understands trust liability, per-client ledgers, and the ethics rules that govern every dollar that passes through it. We work with solos, partnerships, and multi-attorney firms — personal injury, real estate, estate planning, and general practice — across Long Island, New York City, and New York State.
“My trust reconciliation doesn’t balance and I can’t find the difference.”
“I’m not sure my client ledgers actually tie out to what’s in the IOLTA account.”
“I’m terrified of a Rule 1.15 problem with my trust account.”
“Money moved between my trust and operating accounts and I don’t know if it was right.”
“My bookkeeper has never done three-way reconciliation and neither have I.”
Commingling client funds with firm operating money — or failing to keep a ledger for each client — is one of the fastest routes to a disciplinary complaint in New York, and it rarely happens on purpose. It usually starts with a trust account that was set up like an ordinary checking account and a reconciliation process that only ever compares the bank statement to the checkbook. Three-way reconciliation exists precisely because those two numbers can agree while the client ledgers are wrong. When the sum of what you owe each client no longer matches the money actually in trust, you have a shortfall — and under Rule 1.15 that is a serious problem regardless of intent. We build and run the system that keeps all three numbers in agreement every month, so a small error is caught immediately instead of compounding into an ethics matter.
Based in Melville on Long Island, Precision Accounting & Consulting works with law firms across Long Island, the five boroughs, and New York State — on-site where it makes sense and remotely everywhere else. Trust accounting is part of our broader law firm accounting and bookkeeping services for New York attorneys.
Three-way reconciliation compares three numbers each month: the trust bank balance, your book (general ledger) balance, and the sum of all individual client ledgers. When all three agree, your IOLTA account is in balance; when they don’t, you have found a problem before it becomes a Rule 1.15 issue.
Yes. New York’s Rule 1.15 requires records showing the funds you hold for each client or third party. A per-client subsidiary ledger is how you prove, at any moment, exactly whose money is in the trust account and how much.
Yes. We regularly take on trust cleanup and catch-up engagements — rebuilding client ledgers, identifying the source of a discrepancy, and returning the account to accurate, reconciled monthly reporting.
A shortfall in trust — where the money on hand is less than the total you owe clients — is a serious compliance matter under Rule 1.15. The priority is identifying the cause, correcting the records, and putting reconciliation in place so it cannot recur. We help firms work through exactly that.
Yes — solos, partnerships, and multi-attorney firms across personal injury, real estate, estate planning, and general practice throughout New York.
If you want an IOLTA account that protects your license and reconciles cleanly every month, Precision Accounting & Consulting can help. Contact us to talk with a law firm trust accounting specialist, or read our guide to three-way trust reconciliation.
Disclaimer: General information only, not accounting, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional about your firm’s specifics.