Trust Accounting

This section is used to record all of the transactions made within the trust. This Accounting will be necessary to provide regular updates to trust beneficiaries. 

Recording the transactions can be done in one of four ways: by connecting the trust account with Flinks, importing a spreadsheet, importing a PDF bank statement, or adding the transactions manually. All inputs roll up into transaction/holding reports and a Statement of Accounts.

1. Sync the trust account to Estateably (Professional Plan)

You can use our integration with Flinks to connect the trust account to Estateably's reporting log. Once you sync an account to Estateably, all transactions will automatically be pulled into the Trust Accounting module on a nightly basis.

You can review our video on how to sync your Trust Account to Estateably, or get in touch with us at support@estateably.com to enable this feature.

2. Import from Spreadsheet

As an alternative to the account sync, transactions can be periodically imported from a spreadsheet.

Note that when importing new transactions, you must ensure that your file does not contain any transactions that already exist in our system, otherwise this will create duplicates.

See below the file specifications needed in order to import a spreadsheet into the system.

• Date (Required) - Must be entered in YYYY-MM-DD format
• Description (Optional) - Used to describe the transaction
• Category (Optional) - the following categories are available in the import file. If you leave this field blank, you will need to categorize the transaction later in the app. Likewise, if you enter an invalid category name, the transaction will need to be categorized in the app later.
  • Valid categories for deposits:
    • Dividend Income
    • Foreign Exchange Deposit
    • Gain on Foreign Exchange
    • Interest
    • Loan Repayment
    • Miscellaneous Deposit
    • Other Income
    • Previous Year Income Taxes Refund
    • Revenue
  • Valid category names for withdrawals:
    • Executor Fees
    • Foreign Exchange Withdrawal
    • Funeral Expenses
    • Interest and Bank Charges
    • Investment Fees
    • Legal Fees
    • Loss on Foreign Exchange
    • Miscellaneous Withdrawal
    • Other Withdrawal
    • Previous Year Income Taxes Paid
    • Professional Fees
    • Repatriated Funds
    • TrusteeLoanInterest
    • TrusteeLoanRepayment
    • TrusteeReimbursement
    • TrustExpense
• Account Type (Required) - indicate under which account to classify the transaction:
  • Capital
  • Revenue
• Quantity (Optional) - if buying or liquidating multiple units (such as shares), you can indicate the quantity. Otherwise, leave this blank or enter 1
• Value (Required) - enter the value of the transaction. Note that formatting is ignored in this field. However, you must ensure that deposits have a positive value, and that withdrawals have a negative value.

Refer to our sample import spreadsheet.

To upload the spreadsheet to the Trust Accounting section, follow the steps below.

1. In the Trust Accounting module, click the three-dot menu on the top-right corner of the page.
2. Choose Import in the drop-down menu.
3. Drag your CSV or Excel file into Estateably (or click Select File to locate the document on your computer.)
4. Choose the Trust Account that the transactions will go through, and select a default account type between Capital or Revenue. Click Next to move forward.
5. Map the field names to the appropriate file columns from your document.
6. Review the transactions, and make changes as you need. Click Save Transactions to finalize your import.

2. Import PDF bank statements

Transactions can be imported from a monthly bank statement in PDF format using DocuVision, our AI document parser.

Note that when importing new transactions, you must ensure that your file does not contain any transactions that already exist in our system, otherwise this will create duplicates.

To upload the PDF to the Trust Accounting section, follow the steps below.

1. In the Trust Accounting module, click the three-dot menu on the top-right corner of the page.
2. Choose Import in the drop-down menu.
3. Drag your bank statement into Estateably (or click Select File to locate the document on your computer.)
4. The import can take anywhere between 30 seconds to a few minutes to be parsed, depending on the size of your file. You can close the pop-up window in the meanwhile.
5. Once your import is complete, you will see a red dot next to the bell icon in the top-right corner. Click on the bell to open the Notifications window, and choose the notification that indicates the extract is completed.
6. Choose the Trust Account that the transactions will go through, and select a default account type between Capital or Revenue. Click Next to move forward.
7. Review the transactions, and make changes as you need. Click Save Transactions to finalize your import.

3. Add Transactions Manually

Lastly, transactions can be recorded manually by selecting Add Transaction, and entering the details of the transaction.

Below are the steps to adding a transaction:

1. Click Add Transaction in the top-right hand side.
2. Select the Trust Bank Account, and the date of the transaction.
3. Indicate whether the transaction was a deposit or withdrawal, and choose an appropriate category for it.
4. Enter a value and name for the transaction.
5. If needed, change the suggested Account Type.
6. Optional: add notes related to the transaction, and check the box to exclude the transaction from the executor compensation if relevant.
7. Click Save to finalize the entry.

Note: if you create a transaction of the categories "Asset sale / Bank transfer / Deposit" or "Debt payment", these will associate the transaction to an Inventory asset or liability item respectively. 

You will need to select the associated items/bank accounts that are being liquidated, repatriated, or paid from a drop-down list. Once you do, a suggested transaction value, name, and account type will populate for you to edit as necessary.

For more information on recording transactions to the Capital or Revenue Accounts, see here.

Note: Transactions can also be generated via selling assets or paying liabilities in the current inventory, as well as through logged distributions to beneficiaries.

View the article on Adding Transactions Manually for a more detailed runthrough.

Accounting reports

Throughout the process, accounting reports can be created by selecting Reports in the top-right corner. The following documents can be leveraged:

1. Transaction report
2. Holdings report
3. Formal accounting report (highlights reconciliation report; transactions passing through both Capital and Income accounts)