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Review Easy Trust 2.1.0 January/February 2008 Table of Contents
In the not too distant past, I remember
attempting to keep track of banking transactions for more than 20
different clients. I ended up spending most of my time keeping a
separate log so I would know exactly when a wire transfer was made,
who made the transfer and what checks ultimately would come out of
each client’s account. Needless to say, the monthly reconciliation
process was a nightmare, usually lasting several days, and I was
never 100 percent certain that the reconciliation was accurate. I
would have given anything to have access to a trust accounting
software program like EasySoft’s Easy Trust. It’s common for software vendors to
claim that their product is easy to use; in the case of Easy Trust,
it’s entirely accurate. Easy Trust is designed to track client fund
activity for all firm-controlled trust accounts. Designed with the
busy law office in mind, Easy Trust features an incredibly
easy-to-navigate user interface that will put even the computer
novice at ease. Additionally, a sample firm is included so new users
can become familiar with the software immediately. You also can
create multiple firms with Easy Trust, a terrific feature for firms
that have more than one location. To protect vital client data, you
can assign passwords to specific personnel, extending or restricting
access to bank and other system activities, such as reconciliation
access. The login screen lets you choose from a variety of options,
including creating a new firm, opening an existing firm, accessing
the sample firm or restoring firm data from a previously created
trust data backup. The main screen contains a drop-down menu at the
top of the screen, with system functions such as “New,” “Edit,” and
“Delete.” The initial program setup is
accomplished quickly by entering firm and attorney information, bank
account details and client information. Adding a new attorney is
easy. Just click on the “New” button from the main screen and enter
the information. You also will need to enter vendor or payee
information for the system database to access. To enter a new
transaction, just click on the “New Transaction” option found on the
ledger card. Ledger cards record and display all transactions coming
into or going out of each matter set up in the system. You can enter
a variety of transaction types, such as check, wire out, deposit,
wire-in, adjustment and interest earned. Here you also can determine
the fund payee or payor, if funds are received, and you also can
enter memos for each transaction. The ledger card function allows you
to search for transactions by date, type, reference number, deposit,
payment or status. The simple user interface provides options for
adding new transactions, editing existing transactions, or deleting
transactions. The drop-down menu provides access to all attorney,
bank, client, ledger card, payee/payor and report options. Here you
can add a new attorney, set up your banking information or add a new
client. You can set default settings in a
variety of areas such as bank, attorney, check style and backup
criteria. A ledger card should be created for each client. For
clients with multiple matters, you can create a separate ledger card
for each matter, so if you currently are handling three separate
matters for a client, each matter should have its own ledger card.
The client information screen contains a list of all matters
pertaining to that client. Just click on the matter you wish to
access. For your protection and security,
numerous safeguards are built into Easy Trust, including the
inability to allow an overdraft of any ledger card or the
duplication of check numbers. You easily can inactivate data no
longer used, including specific attorneys, clients, ledger cards,
payors and payees. Inactivating this information will ensure that
nothing is mistakenly posted to these accounts. Each bank account has its own
reconciliation detail, including all cleared and uncleared
transactions, bank ending balance and any items in transit. This
makes it easy to always have an accurate bank balance for all of
your fund accounts, something that is not always easily done. Easy Trust allows you to maintain
an unlimited number of bank accounts. Transactions can be edited if
they have been entered into the system, but can’t be edited once
they have been posted or reconciled. To post a transaction, simply
click on the “Post Transaction” option on the toolbar. While Easy
Trust allows you to enter an adjustment to correct errors found
subsequent to posting, you can’t edit, adjust or delete the original
transaction. You can void a transaction that was in error, but the
original transaction will remain on the books. However, if you void
a transaction in error, you will need to enter a new transaction to
replace the original voided entry. Excellent search capabilities allow
for searching of all posted system transactions using a variety of
search criteria, such as date, type, deposit, payor and payee. Easy
Trust integrates with other Easy Soft products, and data can be
exchanged between programs, although import and export capability to
third party applications is limited. A list of available reports is
shown on the left side of the user interface screen after clicking
on “Reports.” You can choose date criteria and sort by client,
matter or account number. The bank account report summarizes all
banking activity for any month or specified date range. The ledger
card activity report provides a recap of all fund activity, and the
three-way reconciliation report allows you to print a book balance
report, the adjusted bank balance report and the individual balances
of all ledgers. An excellent help file is included
with Easy Trust, as is a training manual in PDF format. The manual
provides a summary of the program functions and guides you through
system setup.
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