CCH Trust Accounts has a facility for sub-accounts in the nominal ledger.

Conceptually sub-accounts are somewhat similar to funds in the investment ledger. Any nominal account can have sub-accounts added to it. A sub-account is indicated by a /’ in the account code. For instance an account code XXX could have two sub-accounts, XXX/01 and XXX/02. XXX itself is known as the main account. If XXX has sub-accounts it is no longer possible to post to XXX. Instead the specific sub-account must be specified. Although XXX has no transactions, its balance is the sum of all its sub-accounts.

Adding Sub-accounts

Sub-accounts can be added directly to a client. Unlike main accounts they do not need to exist in the Master Chart. However if the sub-account does exist in the Master Chart then you can use the special features of the Master Chart. For instance if XXX/01 is edited to XXX/02 in the master chart then this change affects all clients. In practice, subaccounts are not usually added to the Master Chart. However if a special feature of the Master Chart is required then they can be added at that time and possibly deleted again afterwards.

If a main account already has transactions it is still possible to add sub-accounts to it. As soon as the first sub-account is added all the transactions are transferred from the main account to the sub-account. Similarly any other references to the main account are changed to the first sub-account.

Deleting Sub-accounts

A sub-account cannot normally be deleted if it has transactions. However if the sub-account is the only sub-account of a main account then it can be deleted and all the transactions are automatically transferred back to the main account.

Using Sub-accounts for Beneficiaries

If an Income and Expenditure Account needs to be split by beneficiary then this can be done by adding a sub-account for each beneficiary to every Income and Expenditure Account. In this scenario, the Investment Defaults on each beneficiary’s fund would reference the sub-accounts for that beneficiary.

Setting up subaccounts for each beneficiary can be time consuming. A special option, Add Range of Sub/cs, is available to do the job. You specify a range of main accounts, the subaccount number and account description (usually the beneficiary name) and the sub-accounts are automatically added.

When subaccounts are used in this way it is normal to do all postings to the first sub-account. Then when the accounts come to be prepared at the year end, a journal is done for each main account splitting out the share that relates to each of the other beneficiaries.

Trial Balance

The Trial Balance has a Detailed checkbox to include sub-accounts. If a detailed Trial Balance is run then the sub-accounts are listed. Otherwise totals are just shown for the main accounts.

Related documents

Linking to clients in CCH Central
This document provides instructions on how to link and unlink clients from CCH Central in the CCH Trust Accounts system. To link a client, the user must select the client, click "Edit," then "Link," and choose the appropriate client from Central. Once linked, certain fields become non-editable in Trust Accounts. To unlink a client, the user clicks the "Unlink" button, which restores editability but deletes any accounting periods in Central. Key fields updated from Central include client name, address, and contact details.
Database Parameters
Various features in Trust Accounts are optional. To set up many of these, from the Activities menu select System Management, and then Database Parameters.
Data Parameters
Various features in Trust Accounts are optional. To set up many of these, from the Activities menu select System Management, and then Database Parameters.
Database Parameters
Database Parameters
Passwords
Passwords