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NEWS |
Engagement or Employment of a
Book-keeper Under the Legal
Profession (Solicitors’ Accounts)
Rules
This Practice Direction which took effect on 5 March 2004 applies to all law practices that wish to engage or employ a book-keeper who may be either an accounting firm or accounting corporation or a firm or corporation providing book-keeping services or an individual pursuant to Rule 11A of the Legal Profession (Solicitors’ Accounts) Rules (‘the Rules’) that took effect on 1 April 2004.
A sole solicitor, managing partner or director of any such law practice must apply annually in writing to Council of the Law Society (‘Council’) for approval to engage or employ a book-keeper accompanied by the relevant Statutory Declaration. See paras 2B and 3B of the Practice Direction.
Upon written approval by Council, the law practice can engage or employ the approved book-keeper who will then commence to write up the required books of accounts as described in Rules 11(1), 11(2) and 11(4) of the Rules (‘the relevant books of accounts’).
Such a book-keeper can either be an employee of a firm or corporation providing book-keeping services or an employee of the law practice and must also satisfy the following criteria:
1.1 Possess relevant qualifications as defined in para 2A;
1.2 Be independent, that is not a parent, spouse, sibling or child of the solicitor; and
1.3 Submit the required statutory declaration to Council (see para 2B) on an annual basis or whenever there is a change of book-keeper by the law practice.
A book-keeper must possess at least one of the following qualifications (‘approved qualification’):
(a) London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (‘LCCI’);
(b) Association of Accounting Technicians (‘AAT’);
(c) Certified Accounting Technician (‘CAT’);
(d) Diploma in Accounts from a Polytechnic;
(e) Passed ACCA Level 2; or
(f) Degree in Accountancy.
For those possessing only the qualification set out in (a), (b) and (c) above, the book-keeper must also have at least one year’s experience in writing up relevant books of accounts for a law practice.
For a book-keeper who does not possess any of the qualifications described above, the book-keeper must declare that he must have written up the relevant books of accounts of a law practice for at least five years as at 31 December 2003.
A law practice that engages or employs a book-keeper other than an accounting firm or accounting corporation to write up the relevant books of accounts must submit two weeks prior to the engagement or employment a Statutory Declaration to Council in the form shown (SD 1 or SD 2).
An ‘accounting firm’ or ‘accounting corporation’ is defined in the Accountants Act (Cap 2).
A law practice that engages an accounting firm or an accounting corporation to write up the relevant books of accounts must submit two weeks prior to that engagement a Statutory Declaration to Council in the form shown (SD 3).
