Policy · Trust accounting & handling client money
Controls standard: AI tools and trust records (read-only access, no payment functions, audit trail)
A firm standard for any AI tool, agent or AI feature that touches trust records: permitted and prohibited uses, read-only access with no payment or posting rights, logging and back-ups, human review, vendor checks, external examiner access and irregularity reporting.
- Kind
- Policy. A policy or procedure for a firm or client.
- Where it applies
- New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia
- AI use
- Red Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 17 October 2026 against the 9 authorities it cites, for New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use before turning on AI features in trust accounting or practice management software, connecting an AI agent to the trust account or bank feeds, or using AI to prepare reconciliations or inspection packs. Approve each tool under it.
How AI may be used
Lawyer-led. AI may read trust records to suggest matches, flag anomalies and assemble packs, but has no ability to post entries, change payee details or move money. Principals authorise every payment and sign every reconciliation.
AI may
- Read exported or read-only trust data to suggest reconciliation matches and flag anomalies.
- Draft notices of withdrawal, receipts and inspection pack indexes for a person to check.
- Search records to answer a principal's or external examiner's questions, citing the record relied on.
AI must not
- Must not hold credentials, tokens or API scopes that can post entries, change master data or initiate, approve or release payments.
- Must not edit or delete finalised trust records or monthly copies.
- Must not send trust data to a tool or location that is not approved for it.
The lawyer checks
- Access settings for every AI tool and service account were checked as read-only and are reviewed quarterly.
- AI-suggested items accepted into trust records are traceable to the person who accepted them.
- The external examiner can see how AI was used and inspect the logs.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Trust accounting & handling client money
- Client authority to withdraw trust money for legal costs, with notice of withdrawal and pre-transfer checklist (Uniform Law)
- Payment-redirection and deepfake call-back verification protocol for trust disbursements
- Review checklist for AI-assisted monthly trust reconciliation (Uniform General Rules r 48)
- Client notice: our bank details will never change by email (payment fraud and deepfake warning)
All precedents for Trust accounting & handling client money · Tasks and AI use in this area