Accounting

In week 4 I learned that the bank

reconciliation statement is used to manage
cash received in the company and money
paid out in a company.

A company's bank statement and account

balance don't always line up. The reason for
this is item reconciliation.

In this topic we were also taught of the

reconciliation procedures and processes in
which one of them entails that ‘ the Amounts
that match the credit side of the bank
statement and the receipts recorded in the
Cash Book are crossed out. Likewise,
amounts that match are marked off when the
payments in the Cash Book are compared to
the bank statement's debit side. I also of
Reconciliation items. Things in the cash book
but not on the bank statement include
remaining EFT’s and things on the bank
statement but not on the cash books include
bank errors, debit orders’ etc.

During this week we also learned of trust

investments which was a short topic. I also
learned that The Legal Practice Act allows
attorneys to put trust funds into trust-related
investments.

Week 5: Transfer Procedures

In week 5 I learned that One of the most
crucial accounting processes in an attorney's
practice is the transfer procedure. There are
also two sets of accounting records
maintained: one for the company and another
for creditors in trust.
When money is received from a client, the
clients trust creditors account is credited and
the trust bank is account is debited. As soon
as the client receives services, money related
to the balance owed to the practice for those
services is moved from the trust bank
account to the business bank account.
I also learned that there are Transfer
requirements that need to be met like In the
client's business account, there should be a
balance owed to the practice, and in the trust
creditor account, there should be funds
available and The transfer is restricted to the
amount on the trust creditor's account if the
amount owed is greater than that amount.

When it comes to transfer procedures, I know

that at least once a month transfers should
be be made and clients business and trust
accounts should often be compared. The
transfer journal must have a record of all
transfers, I should debit the trust creditors
account and the business account of the
client needs to be credited.

In this week I also learned about

Correspondent Accounts. Lawyers
communicate with other lawyers via
correspondence. The lawyer providing the
instructions becomes the instructed
attorney's client. The instructions that can
be given to a lawyer include dept collection,
business registrations, and divorce cases.
The instructed attorney can charge fees for
instructions being received and collections.
The attorney who is instructed drafts the
correspondence account statement. The
lawyer that is instructing can only receive
maximum of 1/3 of the allowance. A
maximum of R1000 per collection may be
collected and the instructing lawyer can only
keep 10% of any amount collected

Week 6 Conveyancing
In week 6 I learned about conveyancing
which is The process of transferring
ownership of real estate from one person to
another is called conveyancing.
I also know that there are three kinds of
conveyancing attorneys
1- The transferring attorney is chosen by the
seller is in charge of transferring the property
from seller to buyer
2- The registration attorney The mortgage
bond over the property in favor of the bank
financing the purchase must be registered by
the registering or bond attorney. In most
cases, the bank funding the transaction
appoints the registering or bond attorney,
who acts as a representative of the bank and
the buyer.
3- The cancellation attorney acts as a
representative of the bank where the seller
previously held the mortgage bond and is in
charge of canceling the seller's current
mortgage bond. The bank where the
mortgage bond is cancelled appoints the
cancellation attorney.
I learned of the conveyancing process
include The buyer giving the conveyancer a
deposit of the purchase price to be held in
trust until the transfer occurs after signing or
accepting the offer to purchase, At the
buyer's request, the deposit may be placed
in an interest-bearing trust investment
account.

During the lesson of transfer duty, I learned

that according to the Transfer Duty Act 40 of
1949,South African Revenue Services
charges transfer duty when property is
obtained. Immovable property , land and
fixtures are referred to as property.

During the transfer duty process I learned

that the buyer must pay Value added tax on
the transaction if the seller of the item is a
certified Vat vendor and supplies/provides
the property the as part of their organisation
Example: the vendor uses the property for
commercial reasons rather than residential.
In this instance I know that the buyer is
exempt from paying the transfer duty.
Value added tax may be reclaimed by the
purchaser if they are also a licensed VAT
seller and purchase the property to allow
them to make taxable supply. The buyer is
unable to claim input tax if he or she is not a
Vat vendor and if Vat has been paid, transfer
duty is not due. Just like in some situations
and with certain restrictions the transfer duty
could be reclaimed from South African
Revenue Services as a notional input tax if
the buyer is a Vat seller

Partnership
In this lesson, I learned that partnerships is a
deal that involves two or twenty people.
Every partner involved in the partnership
must provide something. The main legal
objective of a partnership is to make it
profitable, in which the profits have to be
divided among the partners in line of the
partnership agreement. A partnership isn’t
recognised as a legal body, because of this
each partner has unlimited personal liability
for the partnership dept. I also know that
when you enter a partnership, you are
individually taxed on the profit made in the
partnership, because a partnership does not
have to pay taxes.
I also know that in a partnership agreement,
there should be two or more attorneys as the
goal is making a profit by providing
professional services. A partnership also
consists of four components: 1:each partner
involved must contribute money or assets,2:
the main goal should be to make a profit, 3:
all partners should benefit and 4: the
contract should be valid.
One of the few things that should be included
in the partnership contract is the investment
made by every partner. The capital account
records only the partners capital
contributions. Every partner should have
their own ledger accounts.
All transactions between a partner and the
partnership are recorded in the partners
current account which is a different account
within the partnership. The account is then
debited when it rises and then it is credited
when it falls.
I also learned that the are two financial
statements of a partnership which are the
statement of profit which is similar to a sole
proprietor where transactions between
partners should be recorded individually to
other income and expenses and The
Statement of Financial Position which shows
the individual financial statements of each
partner