The Importance Of Trust Account Management

A trust account is simply a checking account; however, it’s heavily regulated by several important Arizona statutes because the account holds other people’s money.

Here in Arizona, property managers are generally required to have a trust account for the property he/she is managing. One of the priorities of the Arizona Department of Real Estate is to protect the public in regards to real estate activity; in a trust account situation funds collected from the public for a particular property receives heightened attention by the Department. Therefore, the Arizona Department of Real Estate has implemented protocols to ensure not a penny is missing from a trust account.

The Arizona School of Real Estate & Business developed new courses that will be offered on July 14 (Click Here to register). The objective of the Commissioner’s Standards, Property Management & Trust Account course is to review the general concepts of the practice of property management and trust account management in Arizona as defined by Arizona Revised Statutes and A.A.C. Commissioner’s Rules.

The courses on July 14th will cover the following:

Course 1: 8:30am – 11:15pm
Broker’s self-audit
Requirements for trust account management
Definition of terms (such as commingling, conversion, embezzlement)
ADRE’s audit package
ADRE’s trust account activity notification
Practice receipts and disbursement Journal entries

Course 2: 12:00 – 2:45pm
An intro to the “language” of accounting, the meaning behind GAAP, and the fundamental
Accounting statements, which may be required by the IRS, SEC, FTC, and ADRE (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, Retained Earnings Statement)
How to apply GAAP to trust account management
Broker’s handling of client’s money
Managing the broker’s trust account
Setting up a trust account
Receipts and disbursement journal
Bank reconciliation, account statement, individual client ledger sales transaction, individual client ledger lease transaction

Course 3: 3:00pm – 5:45pm
Property Management Audit Declaration
ADRE Trust Account Activity form (AUD-100)
How to close a trust account
Trust account and general record keeping
Property management agreement

CLICK HERE to register for the courses.