Professional Documents
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Professional Ethics Notes ACCOUNTANCY FOR LAWYERS
Professional Ethics Notes ACCOUNTANCY FOR LAWYERS
A business enterprise must keep a systematic record of its daily transaction. It is a legal duty. It helps
to know where its stand and adjudge its performance. This systematic recording of transactions is
known as accounting. Since legal profession is a trade, lawyers are under duty to maintain
systematic accounts relating to the profession.
The basic purpose of accounting is to present a complete financial picture of the Advocates
profession. This can be done with the help of two financial statements like
1. To calculate the annual income: To calculate the annual income of the Advocate from the legal
profession, it is necessary to maintain proper accounts of his income from the profession.
Maintaining this account is useful for Advocates also. By knowing his Annual Income , he can take
steps to improve his profession.
2. To calculate income Tax: Advocates are liable to Pay Income tax for the income derived from the
profession. In order to calculate the amount payable as income tax, he has to maintain proper
accounts relating to his income and expenditure. To calculate the taxable income he is entitled to
deduct certain expenditure like rent, salary, telephone bill and other administrative expenditure. For
this purpose also he has to maintain proper accounts.
3. To calculate professional tax: Every six months the advocates are liable to pay professional tax to
the Government. The amount of professional tax varies depending on the income. In order to
calculate the amount of professional tax he has to maintain the proper accounts.
4. To Ascertain the amount due from the client or due to the client: The account relating to the
amount received from the client and the amount received on behalf of the client from others or
from the court should be properly maintained. Then only the amount due from the client can be
calculated. This will help not only the client but also the Advocate.
The accounts books and documents relating to the accounts should be kept and maintained by the
advocate,
(ii) Where he is carrying on the profession more than one office, then at his head office. But accounts
can also be maintained separately for each branch at the respective branch office.
Penalty for not keeping Account Books: A Lawyer who is legally liable to maintain account books,
fails to maintain it or fails to retain it for the prescribed period (cash book and ledger-16 years, other
books-8 years) is liable to pay penalty ranging from Rs.2000/- to 1,00,000/- (S.271 A ).
Accounting is an art of recording, classifying and summarizing in a significant manner the event
which are financial in character and interpreting the result there of . An Advocate is under a duty to
maintain proper accounts of money received from his client and the amount received on behalf of
client from others or from the court. The rules relating to such accounting is dealt in rules 25 to 32 of
the Bar Council Of India Rules 1975.
Rule 25: An advocate should keep the accounts of the client’s money entrusted to him. The accounts
should show the amounts received from the client, the expenses incurred for him and the debits
made on the account of Advocate fees with the respective dates and all other necessary particulars.
Rule 26: Where moneys are received from the client, it should be entered whether the amount have
been received for the advocates fees or expenses. Amount received for the expenses shall not be
diverted towards Advocates fees without the consent of the client in writing.
Rule 27: Where any amount is received on behalf of his client the fact of such receipt must be
intimated to the client as early as possible.
Rule 28: After the completion of the proceeding, the advocate shall be at the liberty to take the
settled fee due to hi to the unspent money in his hand.
Rule 29: Where the fee has been left unsettled, the advocate shall take the fees which he is legally
entitled from the moneys of the client remaining in his hands, after the completion of the
proceeding. The balance shall be returned to the client.
Rule 30: A copy of the client account shall be furnished to him after getting the necessary copying
charges from him.
Rule 31: An advocate shall not make any agreements whereby client’s funds in his hands are
converted into loans to the advocate.
Rule 32: An Advocate shall not lend money to his client for the purpose of conducting the case.
Under the Income Tax Act, every lawyer is required to maintain the following books of accounts and
other documents to enable the Assessing Officer to calculate his total income
1. Cash book: It is the book in which the amount received by the Advocates from the clients and
others and the amount spent for the clients are written. This book is useful for the Advocate to know
the amount in his hand on each day.
2. Receipt Voucher: It is the document prepared for recording the receipt of money by cash or
cheque. When an Advocate received money from the client, the Advocate has to issue a receipt to
the client. Advocate shall maintain receipt books with serially numbered receipt forms in duplicate.
The original receipt should be given to the client and the duplicate shall be retained by the Advocate.
3. Payment Voucher: Payment vouchers are used to record such payments for which receipts are
not obtainable from the person to whom such payments are made. For example bus fare, auto fare,
court fees, stamps, refreshment expenses etc. In such cases the Advocate signature in the payment
voucher and the signature of the person to whom payment is made may be obtained.
4. Journal: Journal is the book of first entry or original entry. In the journal the transactions are
recorded in the order of their occurrence. It should contain the following details
5. Ledger: The transactions recorded in the journal are to be posted to the separate heads of
account in other book called as Ledger. In the ledger different pages are allotted to the different
heads of accounts. When the journal entries are posted to the concerned heads of account in the
ledger, the page number of the ledger should be noted in the journal for easy reference.
Clients Account: For each and every client separate pages shall be allotted in this ledger and
separate account shall be maintained for them.
(i) Fees Account: In this account the fees received from each and every client shall be entered
separately. From this account the total amount of fees received from all the clients in a financial year
can be ascertained.
At the beginning of the ledger book the index may be given with the name of the different heads of
account and their respective pages for easy reference.
******
Accountancy :
Need :
1. Serves as record.
2. To know the financial status.
3. To take decision.
4. To calculate the results.
5. To pay the taxes under the 145 of the income tax act 1961.
6. To know the dues and balances.
7. To gain excellent control over assets, expences, barrowings.
8. Recommended under the act.
Indian stamp act 1899
The registration act 1908
Court fee and suit valuation act.
Advocate fee rules.
Bookkeeping :
6.It helps to find the arithmetical accuracy of accounting records by preparing a trial balance.
1. Journal entry :
Journal :
The word journal is derived from a French word ‘jour’ which means a daily,
chronological order i.e. in order of dates, as and when they take place.
c. The transactions recorded in the journals with details of the account debited
and credited and the amount of each transaction.
* Ledger Folio: This column is meant to record the reference of the main Book*
5) NARATION
2. Ledger :
c) The ledger information about a particular account is found at one place only.
Dr. Cr.
3. Cash book:
c. Firstly, all cash transactions are recorded in the Cash Book wherefrom they
d. All cash receipts are recorded on the debit side and all cash payments are
f. The Cash Book will always show a debit balance since payments cannot
Depending upon the nature of business and the type of cash transactions,
b) Two Column Cash Book or Cash Book with cash and discount columns.
c) Three Columnar Cash Book or Cash Book with cash, bank and discount
columns.
d) ‘Bank’ Cash Book or Cash Book with bank and discount columns.
Is used when payments and receipts are mostly in the form of cash and
Dr. Cr.
Date Particular R.No . L.F Rs. Date Particulars V.No. . L.F Rs.
s
Dr. Cr.
Cash Column.
Dr. Cr.
Dr. Cr.
Dat Particul R.N . Discou Ban Dat Particul V.N . Discou Ban
e ars o L. nt k e ars o. L. nt k
F allowe Rs. F receiv Rs.
d ed
The word ‘petty’ has its origin from the French word ‘petit’ which
means small.
The person who maintains this book is called the ‘petty cahsier’.
The petty cash book is used by many business concerns to save
4. Final accounts :
a. Trial balance :
Trial balance is a statement prepared with the balances or total of debits and
credits of all the accounts in the ledger to test the arithmetical accuracy of the
ledger accounts.
balances of all ledger accounts, as at any given date, arranged in the form of
debit and credit columns placed side by side and prepared with the object of
Features :
iv. Total of the debit and credit amount columns of the trail balance must
tally.
v. It the debit and credit amounts are equal, we assume that ledger
accounts
ST’s Books
b. Trading account :
Trading refers buying and selling of goods. Trading A/c shows the result of
buying and selling of goods. This account is prepared to find out the
Dr Cr
Rs Rs Rs Rs
To Opeining Stock XXX By Sales XXX
Inwards XXX to
Charges XXX
To Packing
charges XXX
To Dock dues
To Power
be transferred to
P&L A/c)
XXXX XXXX
3. Gross Profit ratio to direct Expenses could also be easily ascertained. And so,
unnecessary expenses could be eliminated.
4. Comparison of trading account details with previous years details help to draw
better administrative policies.
credit side of Profit and Loss A/c. Gross Loss is transferred to debit side of the Profit
Loss Account. Thus Profit and Loss A/c is commenced. This Profit & Loss A/c
Profit & Loss Account for the year ended 31st March 2007
To Salaries By Commission
To Postage By Interest
expenses received
To Insurance By Discounts
To Repairs received
To office expenses
To Interest
To Bank charges
To Establishment
expenses
To Sunder
expenses
To Commission
To Discount
To Advertisement
To Carriage
outwards
To Traveling
expenses
To Distribution
expenses
To Bad debt
provision
To Net Profit
(transferred to
Capital A/c)
d. Balance sheet :
3. It clearly indicates, whether the firm has sufficient assents to repay its
liabilities.
5. It shows the profit or Loss arrived through Profit & Loss A/c.
The Word ‘Balance Sheet’ is defined as “a Statement which sets out the Assets
and Liabilities of a business firm and which serves to ascertain the financial
position of the same on any particular date.”
Professional Tax is a Tax which is levied by the State on the Income earned by way of
profession, trade, calling or employment. This form of tax was first levied in India in the year 1949
and the power to levy Professional Tax has been given to the States by way of Clause (2) of Article
276 of the Constitution of India.
This Tax is levied based on slab rates depending on the Income of the Individual. This Tax is just like
Income Tax except for the fact that Income Tax is collected by the Central Govt and Professional Tax
is collected by the State Government. When this tax was first introduced in India, the maximum limit
on the tax to be collected was Rs. 250. However, this limit was raised from Rs. 250 to Rs. 2500 in the
year 1988.
For the past few years, State Governments have been requesting the Parliament to raise this ceiling
from Rs. 2500 to Rs. 7500. However, their request has not been accepted and the maximum amount
of Professional Tax that can be levied by any State is Rs. 2,500 only
Any amount paid as Professional Tax to the State Govt. is allowed as a deduction under Section 16 of
the Income Tax Act and Income Tax on the Balance Amount is levied as per the Income Tax Slab
Rates in force.
In case of Salaried and Wage earners, the Professional Tax is liable to be deducted by the Employer
from the Salary/Wages and the Employer is liable to deposit the same with the state government. In
case of other class of Individuals, this tax is liable to be paid by the person himself.
Professional Tax in India is collected by some state governments themselves while in several other
states which have active Panchayats, the local bodies themselves levy and this tax. Every person
liable to pay this Tax (either on his own behalf or on behalf of its employee) shall apply for
Professional Tax Registration in the prescribed form with the prescribed authority.
As the states have been empowered to levy and collect this Tax, different states levy Professional
Tax as per Different Slab Rates.
Service tax is a tax levied by the government on service providers on certain service
transactions, but is actually borne by the customers. It is categorized under Indirect Tax and
came into existence under the Finance Act, 1994.
Service tax is described in detail under Section 65B (44) of the Finance Act of
1984. This Act clearly mentions the complete list of services that fall under
the purview of service tax. It also includes the ‘Negative List’ which are non-
taxable list of services and is mentioned under Section 66D of the Finance
Act. Also, there are certain ‘Special services’ too that are exempted from
service tax.
The rate of service tax varies from time to time as the Government revises
the rates during every financial budget. Usually it is the finance ministry that
announces the change in the service tax rate during the budget session of
the parliament. The rate increased in 2015, from 12.36% to 14% and it was
revised again in 2016 from 14% to 15% that included 0.5% ‘Krishi Kalyan’
cess and 0.5% ‘Swacch Bharat’ cess.
“Legal service” means any service provided in relation to advice, consultancy or assistance
in any branch of law, in any manner and includes representational services before any
court, tribunal or authority”
Individual advocate
Arbitral tribunal.
This act came into force on 14th September, 2001. It is applicable to the whole of India except in those
states which already has its own state Welfare Fund Act functioning.
The act talks about how the fund is made, who makes it, to whom the act is applicable. Further how the
welfare of the advocates is done and to what extent it is applicable is also clarified in the act.
Ans. According to section 2(a) of the act, any person whose name has been entered in the State roll
prepared and maintained by a State Bar Council and who is a member of a State Bar Association or State
Advocates’ Association can be considered an advocate under this act.
Ans. According to the Section 3 of the Act, firstly this fund is created by the government.
1). Any amount which is 20 percent of the enrollment fees which is received by the state bar council.
3). any voluntary donation or contribution made to the Fund by the Bar Council of India, any State Bar
Association, any State Advocates’ Association or other association or institution, or any advocate or
other person.
4). any grant which may be made by the Central Government or a State Government to the Fund
6). Amount of application fee from all the members to the fund
7). an annual subscription of Rs 50 collected from every member who is not a senior advocate and Rs.
1000 from senior advocates
8). any sums received from the Life Insurance Corporation of India or any other insurer on the death of
any member of the fund
9). any interest or dividend or other return on any investment made out of any part of the Fund
Q3. What are the duties of the state bar associations and state advocates associations?
Every State Bar Association and State Advocates’ Association shall on 15th day of April of
every year, present to the State Bar Council a list of its members as it was on 31 st March of
that year.
Every State Bar Association and State Advocates’ Association shall inform the State Bar
Council of—(a) any change in the membership including admissions and re-admissions
within thirty days of change; (b) the death or other cessation of practice or voluntary
suspension of practice of any of its members within thirty days.
Q4. How an Advocate Can Become Member Of Advocate Welfare Fund (Membership in Fund)
1. Every advocate practicing, before the commencement of this Act, in any court, tribunal or
other authority in a State and being a member of a State Bar Association or a State
Advocates’ Association in that State, shall apply, w thin six months of the commencement of
this Act, to the Trustee Committee for admission as a member of the Fund, in such form as
may be prescribed.
2. Every person,-
3. Admitted as an advocate on the roll of a State Bar Council, after the commencement of this
Act;
4. Practicing in any court, tribunal or other authority in a State and being a member of a State
Bar Association or a State Advocates’ Association in that State, shall apply, within six months
of his enrolment as an advocate to the Trustee Committee, for admission as a member of
the Fund in such form as may be prescribed.
5. On receipt of an application under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the Trustee Committee
shall make such enquiry as it deems fit and either admit the applicant to the Fund or, for
reasons to be recorded in writing, reject the application: Provided that no order rejecting an
application shall be passed unless the applicant has been given an opportunity of being
heard.
6. Every applicant shall pay an application fee of two hundred rupees along with the
application to the account of the Trustee Committee.
7. Every advocate, being a member of the Fund, shall pay an annual subscription of fifty rupees
to the Fund on or before the 31st day of March of every year: Provided that every advocate,
who makes an application under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), shall pay his first annual
subscription within three months of his becoming a member of the Fund: Provided further
that a senior advocate shall pay an annual subscription of one thousand rupees.
8. Any member of the Fund, who fails to pay the annual subscription for any year before the
31st day of March of that year, shall be liable to be removed from the membership in the
Fund.
9. A member of the Fund removed from the membership in the Fund under sub-section (6)
may be re-admitted to the Fund, on payment of arrears along with re-admission fee of ten
rupees, within six months from the date of such removal.
10. Every member of the Fund shall, at the time of admission to the membership in the Fund,
make nomination conferring on one or more of his dependents the right to receive, in the
event of his death, any amount payable to the member under this Act.
11. If a member of the Fund nominates more than one person under sub-section (8), he shall
specify in the nomination, the amount of share payable to each of the nominees.
12. A member of the Fund may, at any time, cancel a nomination by sending a notice in writing
to the Trustee Committee.
13. Every member of the Fund, who cancels his nomination under sub-section (10), shall make a
fresh nomination along with registration fee of five rupees.
14. Every member of the Fund, whose name has been removed from the State roll under
section 26A of the Advocates Act, 1961 (25 of 1961), or who voluntarily suspends practice,
shall, within fifteen days of such removal or suspension, intimate such removal or
suspension to the Trustee Committee and if any member of the Fund fails to do so without
sufficient reason, the Trustee Committee may reduce, in accordance with such principles as
may be prescribed, the amount payable to that member under this Act.
Q5. Who are not eligible for certain benefits provided by the fund?
Ans. No senior advocate, or a person in receipt of pension from the Central Government or a State
Government, shall be entitled to ex gratia grant under section 19 or payment of amount on his
cessation of practice under Section 21 or any other benefit.