Most trust accounting problems in a small firm are not theft. They are a client ledger nobody kept, a deposit spent before it cleared, or a reconciliation done once a year from memory. The software’s job is to make those mistakes hard to make and easy to see.
What the rules ask for
ABA Model Rule 1.15, which most states have adopted in some form, sets the baseline. A lawyer holds client money separate from the lawyer’s own, in an account kept for that purpose, and keeps complete records of it for a period after the representation ends (the model rule says five years, and many states set their own number). Fees and expenses paid in advance go into trust and come out only as fees are earned or expenses incurred. Your own money can sit in trust only to cover bank charges.
Read your own state’s version before relying on any of that. Reconciliation frequency in particular is set by state rule, not the model rule.
What Coil does
- A ledger per client and per matter. Every deposit, disbursement and transfer is recorded against the matter it belongs to (applying trust to an invoice arrives with invoicing, now in testing), so the account total is always the sum of named client balances.
- No negative balances. A disbursement that would take a client or matter below zero is refused, whether it is entered on the trust screen or sent through the API.
- Uncleared money is not spendable. A deposit dated in the future is held back from the spendable balance until its date.
- Three-way reconciliation. Coil compares your bank statement balance, the trust account balance in Coil and the sum of every client ledger, and lists each uncleared item that explains a difference. Once a period is reconciled, it is locked.
- Reports and exports. A trust report sits beside WIP, aging and realization, each reconciled against its own rows, and the full trust ledger exports to CSV for your bar or your accountant.
What Coil does not do
Coil does not move money or hold it, and it is not a bank. It does not file anything with your state’s IOLTA program, and it does not know your state’s reconciliation schedule: you set that habit and Coil gives you the report to do it with. Card and ACH payments into trust depend on online payments, which are in testing now rather than available today.
Why this matters for a small firm
In a solo practice the person who opens the mail, deposits the retainer and pays the expert is often the same person. A system that refuses the overdraw and shows every client balance on one page replaces the second pair of eyes a larger firm would have.
Questions
Does Coil hold client money?
No. Your trust account stays at your bank. Coil is the ledger: it records every deposit, disbursement and transfer against the client and matter it belongs to, and reconciles that record against your bank statement.
Can Coil stop a disbursement that would overdraw a client?
Yes. Coil refuses any disbursement or transfer from trust that would take a client or matter balance below zero, on every screen and through the API. A deposit dated in the future is not counted as spendable until its date.
Does Coil make my trust accounting compliant with my state bar?
Coil keeps the records most bar rules ask for and produces a three-way reconciliation, but rules on reconciliation frequency, record retention and bank requirements differ by state. You stay responsible for following your own state's rules and reviewing the reports.
Can I get my trust records out of Coil?
Yes. The full trust ledger exports to CSV at any time, and it is part of the full firm export, which also includes the database file and every document.
Last checked October 28, 2026.