TRUST ACCOUNTING

Trust accounting services — for trustees who need the numbers to tie.

First, ongoing, and final trust accountings prepared to California Probate Code §16063 for beneficiaries — or §1060-1064 when the accounting is filed with the court. Boutique Beverly Hills CPA firm.

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What we do

A trust accounting is the trustee's report to the beneficiaries — and, in some cases, to the court — of everything that has happened inside the trust during the accounting period. It is a fiduciary duty and, done wrong, a source of litigation.

Under California Probate Code §16063, a trustee's accounting to beneficiaries must include a statement of receipts and disbursements, a statement of assets and liabilities at the accounting period end, a statement of the trustee's compensation, and a description of agents hired. When the accounting is filed with the probate court — most commonly for irrevocable-after-settlor's-death trusts under supervision, or when contested — the format tightens to Probate Code §1060-1064 with the Summary of Account (§1061), the schedules of receipts, disbursements, assets on hand, gains, losses, and distributions, and the supporting evidentiary packet.

We prepare both formats. Every schedule reconciles to statement-of-record. Every transaction is sourced. The workpapers are structured so a beneficiary who wants to check the math can, and so counsel can defend the accounting under objection if it is contested.

Who this is for

Successor trustees administering a trust after the settlor's death, preparing a first accounting for distribution.
Institutional trustees and professional fiduciaries filing ongoing periodic accountings.
Family trustees who inherited the role and need a CPA firm to translate bank statements into a §16063-compliant document.
Estate-planning attorneys who need a preparer to hand the trustee.

Deliverables

Summary of Account — receipts, disbursements, gains, losses, distributions, and ending balance.
Schedule of Receipts — income vs. principal, categorized by source.
Schedule of Disbursements — administration, taxes, distributions, fees.
Schedule of Assets on Hand at period-end, valued to statute.
Trustee compensation and agent disclosures per §16063.
Indexed workpaper packet — bank statements, brokerage statements, receipts, appraisals — delivered via encrypted Egnyte.

Frequently asked

Q: When is a trustee required to provide an accounting?

A: Under California Probate Code §16062, a trustee must account at least annually, on termination of the trust, and on a change of trustee — unless the trust document waives the requirement in a way permitted by statute. A beneficiary can also demand an accounting. §16063 governs the required content.

Q: What's the difference between a trust accounting to beneficiaries and a court accounting?

A: §16063 accountings are trustee-to-beneficiary, and the trust document itself may govern format. §1060-1064 accountings are filed with the probate court and follow strict Judicial Council formatting. We prepare both. The choice depends on whether the trust is under court supervision and whether a beneficiary has petitioned for court review.

Q: How far back does the first trust accounting go?

A: For a successor-trustee first accounting after a settlor's death, the accounting period typically runs from the settlor's date of death (or the trustee's assumption date) through a chosen cutoff — often 12 months in or through the current tax year. Prior periods under the settlor-trustee are usually not accounted for the same way, though records are preserved.

Q: Do you handle irrevocable-after-death trust accountings?

A: Yes. These are common — the settlor's revocable trust becomes irrevocable at death, and the successor trustee owes beneficiaries a §16063 accounting. We prepare the first accounting to establish the baseline, and periodic accountings after that on the schedule the trust and statute require.

Q: How much does a trust accounting cost?

A: Fixed-fee, quoted per engagement. A straightforward first accounting starts around $3,500. Multi-year, multi-account, or contested accountings scale with volume. Written quote before work begins — no hourly meter.

Q: Can you coordinate with the estate-planning attorney?

A: Yes — we work as one node of the trustee's advisory team. Coordination with counsel is a normal part of the engagement, especially on questions of allocation between principal and income under the Uniform Principal and Income Act.

The trustee is on the hook. The accounting should hold up.

CPA-prepared trust accountings under California Probate Code §16063 and §1060-1064. First, ongoing, and final. Fixed-fee quote in one call.