Law firm operating account versus trust account receipts

People search “law firm operating account AML reporting” when cash hits the operating account on Monday and the trust account on Tuesday and the firm treats them as one bucket. Checked against AUSTRAC’s threshold transaction report page on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. Who files when cash hits a trust account is trust account cash: who files. The threshold itself is the threshold transaction report. The sector map is /tranche-2.

Two ledgers, two questions

Law firm operating account AML reporting gets bundled with trust-account receipts because both accounts sit in the same practice software. The bundle is the error. The operating account takes the firm’s own fees. The trust account holds money for a matter; A cash receipt in one is not the same event as a cash receipt in the other, and a bookkeeper’s preference for a single worksheet does not merge them.

This page sorts the records. It does not say that either receipt is reportable, and it does not say who lodges. AUSTRAC’s threshold transaction page is the official reporting source. The who-files article is the next page when the money is physical currency in a trust account; international transfers are a third question, on the IFTI page; none of those texts are reproduced here.

• Name the account. Operating or trust, on the receipt. A blended cashbook hides the event.
• Name the service. Ask whether this receipt is part of a designated service. The account nickname is not the test.
• Do not pick the quieter ledger. Moving attention to the account you watch is not compliance. Both accounts exist.
• Leave filing to the right page. If a threshold report is in question, open that guide. Do not decide it in the margin of this one.

Operating account beside trust account

Where this page stops

This page is the two-account distinction. It is not international funds transfer reporting. That topic is IFTI for property firms.

What the client pays

On FreeAML the firm suite is A$0. The firm emails the client a link. Verification is client-pays. On the public list a personal KYC check is A$20 and a company or trust KYB check is A$40. Use KYB when the customer is a company or a trust. Watching an account is not included, and a threshold report is not a KYC or KYB check. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not decide which receipt makes a report due or file a threshold transaction report.

Frequently Asked Questions