Both Tabs3 Trust Accounting (Trust) and Tabs3 Accounts Payable (AP) include the ability to export a Positive Pay file which can be submitted to your bank.
To configure the Positive Pay export for the first time
You can now upload the export file to your bank. For future exports, any new checks added since the last export will be included by default.
For more information on using Positive Pay and steps to configure additional banks, see Knowledge Base Article R11833, “Exporting Checks Using Positive Pay.”
We recommend using positive and negative EFT transactions to transfer the amount from one account to another. A positive EFT will reduce a trust balance, whereas a negative EFT will increase a trust balance.
To transfer funds from one trust account to another
The terminology for trust information on statements is stored in Tabs3 Trust Accounting, and is specific to each bank you have configured.
To change the trust account terminology
The Check Register by Payee can be used to print a list of checks written to any payee for any date range.
To print a Check Register by Payee for firm payments
Beginning with Version 2022, Trust payees are now contacts. Therefore, in order to rename a payee, you must rename its associated contact using the Rename Contacts utility.
To rename a payee in Trust
The Renumber Trust Account utility can be used to change the bank account associated with a trust account.
To change the bank account associated with a trust account
Note: You cannot renumber a trust account with reconciled or combined transactions to use a different bank account. Additionally, the Trust ID and Bank number you are renumbering the account to cannot already exist.
A Trust Account List can be run to show all trust accounts for which the attorney is responsible.
To run a Trust Account List for a specific attorney
Tip: When previewing the report, click on the Trust ID or Client Name to drill-down to the Trust Account Information window. The Responsible Attorney can then be edited on the Balances tab.
Checks can be printed in either Entry Order or Trust Account Order.
To print checks in Trust Account Order
Now the checks will print in trust account order. If multiple check transactions exist for the same trust account, they are additionally sorted by transaction date and then reference number to establish check order.
You can link multiple bank accounts using the same Account #. This allows you to separately track payments, but to reconcile the bank account once.
To link bank accounts
When reconciling, you can select any of the bank accounts. All of the transactions from each of the bank accounts will show up in your reconciliation.
The following limitations exist for linked bank accounts:
A startup option can be created for Trust to automatically export Positive Pay. The startup option is “/POSITIVEPAY #”, where # is the bank account that you want exported.
To add POSITIVEPAY as a startup option
The export file is overwritten each time the export is run. If you want to retain a copy of the export, copy or move the export file before performing the export again.
Note: Trust will close once the export has been completed. Because of this, you may want to create a separate desktop shortcut to use this startup option.
In Trust Accounting, a check test pattern can be printed that is comprised of “X’s” where the information would be printed. While the test pattern can be printed on an actual check form, we recommend using a blank sheet of paper and holding it up to the check form so as not to waste checks.
To print a check test pattern
If the information does not line up, adjustments can be made to the margins and printer offset adjustment via Print Setup (File | Print Setup | Page Setup).
For each trust account in TAS, you must enter a transaction to remove funds from the old bank, and then enter a transaction to add funds to the new bank.
If you will be writing a check from the old bank to the new bank, you can write a single manual check that encompasses all trust accounts, and then enter the check information into TAS for each trust account showing that the funds were removed from the old bank account. Once this has been completed, you can then enter a deposit for each trust account using the new bank account.
Alternatively, if you are not writing a check from one bank to the other, you can enter EFTs instead. When entering EFTs to remove funds from the old bank, enter a positive EFT amount. When entering EFTs to add funds into the new bank account, enter a deposit.