register for External Examination Toolbox and online examination
Law Practice login to the Toolbox for your firm
External Examiner ToolBox login for your client firm
External Examination - ToolBox 2024 Registration
The EE Toolbox is a suite of online tools that streamlines the external examination process for both law firms and External Examiners, by providing:
- External examination readiness checklist for Law practices;
- Pre-examination questionnaire, which can be completed by the law firm or Examiner that focusses the scope of the examination for the individual firm on relevant compliance risk areas;
- Facility to upload Trust account bank statements, month-end trust reports and any additional information requested by the EE, reducing the interruption to practice operations for onsite review of records;
- An intelligent compliance review questionnaire, which simplifies preparation of the examination report;
- Offsite backup and secure storage of the firm's trust account compliance records and annual examination report, in accordance with Section 140(3).
Cost = $110 inc. GST per law practice examination.
The online EE Toolbox software will reduce the time the law firm spends responding to Examiner information requests, when reviewing the firm's trust account records, completing compliance questions and preparing the examination report.
Use the External Examination Readiness Checklist to confirm that the trust accounting records are fully complaint and prepared for the examination.
Then easily upload to the Toolbox online storage any records or documents requested by the EE, such as trust account bank statements, month-end trust reports and any other documentation, thereby reducing the interruption to practice operations for onsite review of records.
Check the progress of the examination online and respond to EE requests for further information at any time during the examination period.
The offsite backup of the annual EE records provides additional assurance that the firm's professional compliance records are securely stored and accessible for the required 7-year period.
The online EE Toolbox developed by cabenet is available once again this year, to assist both law firms and External Examiners, in reducing the time and effort required to review a law firm's trust accounting records, complete the compliance checklist and prepare the examination report.
The pre-audit / examination checklist is available to assist Law practices in preparing their records for examination.
This year we have introduced the facility for the law firm to upload examination information such as trust account bank statements, month-end trust reports and any additional information requested, for easy online review. This will reduce the duration of onsite visits and ensure all examination information is kept secure and accessible.
The pre-audit /examination interview questions, can be completed by the law firm or Examiner, to focus the scope of the examination for the individual firm, on relevant compliance risk areas.
The intelligent compliance checklist questionnaire, with automated LPUL breach identification simplifies preparation of the EE report. If the Toolbox has been used in prior years, you will also have access to the firm's breach history.
Because the EE Toolbox is online, you have access to the features and data from anywhere and on any internet connected device (laptop, tablet or smartphone) - no need to bundle up papers and notes to go from your office to the client's.
The Toolbox is also an online archive of the firm's trust account compliance records, including any documents uploaded for review, EE working papers and the final examination reports.
Cost = $110 inc. GST per law practice examination.
Your Law Practice 2024 External Examination Reports must be completed by 31 May 2024. This ToolBox is designed to assist Law Practices and External Examiners in the preparation of the Examination report for an individual law practice. When you have completed the ToolBox questions you must separately prepare and lodge the Part A, Part B, and EE report online via the NSW Law Society website.
You will be able to return to the ToolBox data at the conclusion of EE report submission to review your ToolBox if required.
How to use the ToolBox.
If you are a Law Practice you should complete Section 1 COMPLIANT SOFTWARE and Section 2 INTERVIEW.
If yoy are an External Examiner you should begin with Section 1 COMPLIANT SOFTWARE and then complete each section of the ToolBox sequentially.
As you work through the ToolBox the presentation of subsequent sections / questions may be filtered based on your prior responses to ensure only relevant information is completed for each law practice.
Your question responses will be auto-saved as they are entered. However, when you have completed all sections and questions please click the save working papers button to ensure the latest responses to all sections and questions in the ToolBox are stored online. You should then proceed with preparation and submission of the EE report for the law practice.
Print your completed ToolBox
To retain a copy of the completed ToolBox as part of your working papers, click the working paper display button. Use your web browser print options to print to your local printer or as a PDF document.