Manage Land-Title Pre-Paid Asset Accounts

Canadian lawyers use Teranet/Teraview and other land title registry services to perform conveyancing related activities such as performing title and writ searches and recording registrations.

Many of these land title registry service providers allow lawyers to maintain a deposit account for payments associated with these activities.

Registries use two different types of deposit accounts:

Deposit Account	The firm pays the title registry in advance for services The registry holds the funds, debiting the fees from the deposit account each time it provides services
Electronic Registration Bank Account (ERBA)	The firm maintains a trust or operating bank account in the lawyer’s or firm’s name The registry withdraws its fees from the account each time it provides services

Note: In Ontario, Teranet/Teraview uses a deposit account for title searching and Writs, but for registration fees, Retail Sales Tax and Land Transfer Tax, they use an ERBA. Lawyers are required to maintain a positive balance in the ERBA at all times.

Setup Deposit Accounts

To setup a deposit account:

From the left navigation panel, click Banking.
From the toolbar atop the Banks screen, click Add New Bank.
On the Add Bank screen, to add a deposit account, click the radio button for Operating.
If an ERBA is also required, create another operating or trust account as appropriate.
Note: Determining whether your ERBA should be an operating or a trust account is beyond the scope of this article.
If you use a trust account, you must also create an ERBA matter within your application within which to record your deposited funds. Most firms name the account to clearly distinguish it from the other bank accounts listed, such as Teranet Account.

Record Fund Deposits

Firms are responsible for maintaining a certain balance in these accounts to cover land-title searches and other activities.

Deposit Accounts	Use the bank-to-bank funds transfer tool to move funds from your operating account into your designated deposit account.
ERBA	If the ERBA is an operating account, use the bank-to-bank funds transfer tool to move funds from your operating account into your ERBA account. If the ERBA is a trust account, record a withdrawal from the operating account, then record the deposit to the ERBA against the designated matter.

[ht_message mstyle=”alert” title=”Alert” show_icon=”true” id=”” class=”” style=”” ]This process describes the record-keeping necessary for accounting purposes. You must transfer the funds between your accounts in the real world via cheque or electronic transfer.[/ht_message]

Recording Fee Charges

Now that you have funded the account, you must record the billing of these items to your clients for reimbursement.

If your firm has chosen to absorb these fees and not to bill the client, you only need to record the deposit account’s funding and select the chart of account set aside for those charges.

When seeking reimbursement, you can record these charges in three different ways depending on how the lawyer wants the charges billed:

As Soft Costs	Considering funds are taken out of the deposit account in a lump sum, most firms find it easier to record them as a soft cost/indirect cost recovery. In the application, there are two ways to enter these items: Import them in bulk using our Conveyancing import tools (The Conveyancer, Unity, RealtiWeb) Manually enter them as soft costs These will be reported as income when billed to the client. If you want them to appear as Advanced Client Costs/Disbursement WIP, then convert them to hard costs after import (see hard costs).
As Anticipated Disbursements	Some firms prefer to track these amounts before they are withdrawn from the deposit account. These are often referred to as Anticipated Disbursements. To track these amounts prior to withdrawing them, you must enter the charge as an accounts payable bill posted as a matter expense. When the registry service withdraws the funds, you can select all of the anticipated disbursements included and pay them from the related deposit account.
As Hard Costs	Hard costs require a direct relationship between the funds withdrawn from the deposit account and the item billed to the client. Considering funds are often withdrawn from the deposit account in a lump sum, it is the least common option. There are two ways to do so: When entering the withdrawal from the deposit account you can post the transaction as a matter expense. If you have already imported or entered soft costs, when entering the withdrawal you can link it to the existing soft cost, effectively converting it to a hard cost.

As Soft Costs

Considering funds are taken out of the deposit account in a lump sum, most firms find it easier to record them as a soft cost/indirect cost recovery.

In the application, there are two ways to enter these items:

Import them in bulk using our Conveyancing import tools (The Conveyancer, Unity, RealtiWeb)
Manually enter them as soft costs

These will be reported as income when billed to the client. If you want them to appear as Advanced Client Costs/Disbursement WIP, then convert them to hard costs after import (see hard costs).

As Anticipated Disbursements

Some firms prefer to track these amounts before they are withdrawn from the deposit account. These are often referred to as Anticipated Disbursements.

To track these amounts prior to withdrawing them, you must enter the charge as an accounts payable bill posted as a matter expense.

When the registry service withdraws the funds, you can select all of the anticipated disbursements included and pay them from the related deposit account.

As Hard Costs

Hard costs require a direct relationship between the funds withdrawn from the deposit account and the item billed to the client. Considering funds are often withdrawn from the deposit account in a lump sum, it is the least common option.

There are two ways to do so:

When entering the withdrawal from the deposit account you can post the transaction as a matter expense.
If you have already imported or entered soft costs, when entering the withdrawal you can link it to the existing soft cost, effectively converting it to a hard cost.

Requirements per Jurisdiction

Each jurisdiction has its own requirements. New users should consult with their CosmoLex Certified Consultant and their LTO.

UpdatedMay 3, 2024

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