The Financial Assurance Scheme certification programme helps alert the Law Society Inspectorate to any potential compliance issues. Monthly and quarterly certificates are required by statute for all lawyers operating a trust account under Reg 17 of the Trust Account Regulations.

Certificates are used for monitoring trust account management and to assist with early identification of possible compliance problems or of lawyers in need of advice or assistance.

Lawyers must ensure that certificates are correctly completed and promptly submitted by the appropriate authority (the Trust Account Supervisor).

Filing certificates

All certificates are filed online by the Trust Account Supervisor using their six digit lawyer ID (also known as the lawyer login, and shown on practising certificates).

Monthly certificates and quarterly certificates

Lawyers’ monthly trust account certificates are due on the tenth working day of the following month, except December which is due on the fifteenth working day in January. Normal statutory holidays are taken into account when working out the due dates, but regional anniversary holidays are not. In other words, regional anniversaries are deemed working days for the purpose of having the same certificate due dates for the whole country. The dates for 2027 are listed below. Remember that quarterly certificates are also due at the ends of March, June, September and December. 

The dates for 2026 are listed below. Don't forget that quarterly certificates are also due at the ends of March, June, September and December.

The purpose of quarterly reporting is to summarise the scale of any lending operation and any loans in default in addition to the normal 5 monthly questions - if there is no lending, the lawyer will only be required to answer the extra question 6. If there is lending, when the lawyer responds ‘Yes’ to question 6, there will be a requirement to answer questions 7 to 18 in addition.

If you are having difficulty reconciling the trust account, you are still required to submit your certificate by the due date. You would need to declare that you have not correctly reconciled the trust account and provide an explanation.

If you are not the usual Trust Account Supervisor and filing in their place due to a temporary absence or some other reason, please contact the Inspectorate Team Administrator on trustaccountcertificates@lawsociety.org.nz

You will need to file the certificate manually using one of the following templates as appropriate:

• Lawyers Monthly Trust Account Certificate
• Quarterly Trust Account Certificate

Once completed this can be emailed to the email address above. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Inspectorate Team Administrator Lucy Wesley.

Table of certificate submission dates