Section 18.13. Bookkeeping system.

  Each broker shall maintain and be responsible for a bookkeeping system in the broker's office consisting of at least the following:

(1)   Cash journal. A broker shall maintain a record, called a journal showing the chronological sequence in which real estate trust funds are received and disbursed as follows:

(a) For funds received, the journal shall include at least the date, the name of the party providing the money, and the amount.

(b) For disbursements, the journal shall include at least the date, the payee, the number of the check, share draft, or draft, and the amount.

(c) The journal shall identify each transaction by including at least the name of the principal, an identification number or other means of identification linking the journal to the transactions and the ledger described in sub. (2) .

(d) The journal shall include a running balance for each day on which receipts or disbursements are entered.

(2)   Ledger. A broker shall maintain a record including the receipts and the disbursements as they affect each particular transaction, including transactions between buyer and seller, landlord and tenant, etc. The ledger entry shall include the names of all parties to a transaction, the dates and the amounts received and the name of the party or parties providing the money if different from the buyer. Ledger entries shall include at least the date, payee, number of the check, share draft or draft and amount when funds are disbursed. The ledger shall include a running balance and segregate each transaction. The broker shall maintain a separate ledger or separate section of the ledger for each of the various kinds of real estate transactions, including sales, rental collections, or mortgage and land contract collections.

(3)   Account reconciliation. The broker or a person designated by the broker shall reconcile the real estate trust account or accounts in writing each month except in the case where there has been no activity during the month. The written reconciliation shall include at least the ending account statement balance, the date and amounts of the deposits in transit, the number of the check, share draft, or draft, and amount of checks, share drafts, or drafts written but not paid by the depository institution as of the ending date shown on the account statement to be reconciled, and the reconciled account statement ending balance.

(4)   Trial balance. The broker shall prepare or have prepared, in conjunction with sub. (3) , a written listing of all open items in the real estate trust account. The written listing shall be referred to as the "trial balance". The listing shall include at least the names of all parties to the transaction and the amount held in trust for the parties at the time corresponding to the account reconciliation. The broker may in lieu of the names of the parties to the transaction substitute the ledger page number or other means of identification from the ledger to label the funds in the trial balance.

(5)   Validation. The broker or a person designated by the broker shall review the reconciled account statement balance, the open ledger account listing, and the journal running balance to ensure that all of these records are valid and in agreement as of the date the account statement has been reconciled.

(6)   Use of computers. A computerized system may be used to maintain the broker's bookkeeping system if:

(a) The system complies fully with subs. (1) to (5) .

(b) All bookkeeping entries required by this chapter are made in the computerized system, even if other records are being simultaneously maintained.

(c) A backup copy of the bookkeeping records required under subs. (1) to (2) is made on any day on which entries are made in the computerized bookkeeping system. The backup copy shall be made on a disk or other medium which is separate and distinct from that on which the source documents reside.

(d) After complying with subs. (3) to (5) , the document which records the account reconciliation, trial balance and validation is immediately copied to a backup medium and maintained by the broker.

(e) All records which are not maintained as written paper records are capable of being immediately converted to written paper records and immediately made available without charge to the department or board for the purposes of an audit or investigation.

(f) All computerized trust account records are retained pursuant to s. REEB 15.04 .

Cr. Register, April, 1981, No. 304 , eff. 5-1-81; renum. from REB 9.13, Register, February, 1983, No. 326 , eff. 3-1-83; am. (intro.), (1) (b), (2) to (5), Register, June, 1984, No. 342 , eff. 7-1-84; am. (1) (intro.), (a) and (b), (2) and (4), renum. (1) (c) to be (1) (d), cr. (1) (c) and (6), Register, August, 1994, No. 464 , eff. 9-1-94; correction in (6) (f) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7. , Stats., Register November 2011 No. 671 ; CR 13-072 : am. (1) to (4), (6) (e) Register May 2014 No. 701 , eff. 7-1-14.