Suspense ledger

Suspense ledger

This subtopic reflects the requirements of the SRA Accounts Rules 2019, in force from 25 November 2019, regarding use of suspense ledgers. It also reflects supporting guidance issued by the SRA on Planning for and completing an accountant’s report which provides valuable insight into the SRA’s views on unjustified use of a client suspense account.

What is a suspense ledger account?

A suspense ledger account is a miscellaneous ledger account that is not specifically allocated to a client or the firm. It should only be used as a temporary solution to post unallocated funds—ideally for no more than five working days and, if possible, no more than 30 working days.

It is unlikely that a suspense ledger account will be used to post an unknown debit payment, ie a payment out of client account (as opposed to a receipt). This is because sufficient funds and authority have to be in place prior to any payment being made from a client account. For this reason, this subtopic is limited to unidentified receipts.

Causes of unidentified

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