What a fiduciary accounting service does
A fiduciary accounting service prepares the accounting a trustee, executor, administrator, conservator or guardian must deliver to beneficiaries or file with the court. For a California court accounting, that means the summary of charges and credits and its supporting schedules in the Probate Code §§1060–1064 format, or the Judicial Council GC-400 standard account for a conservatorship or guardianship. Trust accounting services, probate accounting services and conservatorship accounting services are offered by CPAs, specialized accounting firms, and the staff of law firms and professional fiduciaries.
How accounting services are priced
Most accounting services bill by the hour. The hours depend on the number of accounts, the activity in them, securities and corporate actions, transfers between accounts, and whether the accounting balances on the first pass. That is why the accounting is often the single largest cost of an administration, and so difficult to predict unless the service quotes a fixed fee. More on what an accounting really costs.
What any accounting must deliver
- The correct format for the matter: Probate Code §§1060–1064 or GC-400
- Property on hand at the beginning and end of the period at carry value, with market value reported separately
- Gains and losses calculated from carry value, and principal and income allocated where the trust or estate requires it
- A summary that balances exactly, with each figure traceable to a statement
- Delivery before the deadline; see the deadline calculator
The software alternative
Balanced is a new kind of software for California fiduciary accountings. From the PDF bank and brokerage statements, Balanced generates the accounting in minutes to hours, rather than the days, weeks or months of manual work it otherwise takes: transactions classified to their schedules, carry values tracked lot by lot, each account reconciled to its own statements, the summary balanced to the penny, and each entry cited to the statement and page from which it was drawn, delivered as one fully editable Excel workbook. $699 per accounting.
Balanced is software, not a preparation service: the accounting is generated from the statements, and the fiduciary or their attorney reviews and verifies it. See a full sample accounting.
When to involve a professional as well
Software produces the accounting; it does not replace professional judgment. Contested matters, objections and surcharge proceedings call for an attorney, and the fiduciary income tax returns call for a CPA. Many matters combine the two: the accounting generated by Balanced, reviewed by the attorney, with the tax summary in the workbook handed to the CPA. More on working with a probate accountant or fiduciary CPA.