1.  Completing a Monthly Reconciliation

The steps to complete a monthly reconciliation for a specific trust investment account are largely similar to completing one for the pooled trust account. However, due to the unique nature of specific trust investment accounts, here are some additional factors to keep in mind:

• If you have more than one specific trust investment account with a balance during the month at the same savings institution, the monthly reconciliation report can include all the specific trust investment accounts in one report.
• The type of monthly statement you receive will depend both on the type of investment, as well as which savings institution you are using. Furthermore, for guaranteed investment certificates with some institutions, you may not automatically receive a monthly statement for transactions. However, you still need to have some form of confirmation of the investment at the end of the month. In some cases, law firm staff request that a teller print the information when they attend to their savings institution on the first banking day subsequent to month end.
• There is a separate reconciliation review checklist for specific trust investment accounts that can be used that reflects the unique nature of these reconciliations.

You can find a bookkeeping illustration of a monthly trust reconciliation of a specific trust investment account here.