Record keeping requirements if cash received

Pursuant to subsection 19(1) of By-Law 9, every licensee receiving cash must keep financial records in addition to the other record keeping requirements found in sections 18 and 19.1.

Specifically, licensees must maintain a book of duplicate receipts, but subsection 21(1) says this can be done electronically, provided that a paper copy is producible upon the Society's request.

TrustReq helps you create these electronic records quickly and conveniently. You can also easily print these records for the LSO when you are called upon to do so.

Subsection 19(1) requires that each receipt in the book must include the following:

• The date when the cash is received.

• The amount of cash received.

• The person from whom cash is received.

• The client for whom the cash is received.

• Any file number associated with the cash received.

Each receipt must also contain the signature of:

• The licensee (or the person authorized by the licensee to receive cash); and

• The person from whom the cash is received.

However, pursuant to subsection 19(2), a licensee is not in violation of subsection (1) just because a receipt lacks the signature of the person from whom cash is received. This exception applies as long as the licensee has made reasonable efforts to obtain the signature of the person from whom cash is received.

These requirements must be done in accordance with sections 21, 22, and 23. A summary of these other sections is below:

Financial Records (Section 21):

• Financial records under sections 18, 19, 19.1, and 20 can be entered and posted by hand or electronically, but if done by hand, it must be in ink.

• If a financial record is electronically entered, a paper copy must be producible upon the Society's request.

• Financial records must be current at all times, except for specific exceptions.

Exceptions (Section 22):

The financial records required to be maintained under sections 18, 19, 19.1 and 20 shall be entered and posted so as to be current at all times.

Exception: The record required under paragraph 8 of section 18 and the record required under paragraph 3 of section 20 shall be created within twenty-five days after the last day of the month in respect of which the record is being created. You can look up these paragraphs of these sections by visiting By-Law 9.

Preservation of Financial Records (Section 23):

• A licensee shall keep the financial records required to be maintained under sections 18, 19 and 19.1 for at least the six year period immediately preceding the licensee’s most recent fiscal year end.

• A licensee shall keep the financial records required to be maintained under paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of section 18 for at least the ten year period immediately preceding the licensee’s most recent fiscal year end.

• A licensee shall keep the financial records required to be maintained under section 20 for at least the ten year period immediately preceding the licensee’s most recent fiscal year end.

Note: We recommend regularly downloading your data from TrustReq so that you have backup copies of your account's records.