Alabama · Trust Accounting
What Alabama attorneys must do to keep client trust funds compliant — the governing rule, how often you must reconcile, and how long records must be kept.
Rule 1.15 of the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct (Safekeeping Property)
Quarterly (monthly trial balances also required)
6 years
Alabama State Bar, Office of General Counsel
Alabama Law Foundation
Required — banks must notify the regulator
Source: Alabama State Bar, Office of General Counsel . Rules change — always confirm against the current text before relying on it.
Alabama's stated reconciliation requirement is: Quarterly (monthly trial balances also required). A three-way reconciliation compares three totals that must all agree. If they do not, the difference has to be found and resolved before the reconciliation is complete.
Bank statement balance, adjusted for outstanding checks and deposits in transit.
Your internal trust account register as of the same date.
The total of every individual client ledger balance on that date.
For a full walkthrough of the procedure, common violations, and what examiners look for, see our IOLTA compliance guide.
Alabama requires trust account records to be retained for 6 years. In practice that means keeping:
IOLTA Guard automates three-way reconciliation, blocks negative client ledgers, and keeps the audit trail Alabama attorneys are expected to maintain.