Understand available and releasable funds

Summary

Learn how Available and Releasable funds work in Trust Accounting. Understand when funds can be used immediately and when they’re held until release.

This article covers:

• Overview
• Available and releasable funds in receipts
• Available and releasable funds in payments
• Release trust money

Overview

In Trust Accounting, Box+Dice allows you to determine whether funds are Available immediately or Releasable upon the release of trust money. This distinction ensures that money is used appropriately based on its purpose and timing.

• Available Funds - Can be used straight away. For example, Advertising funds are typically marked as Available
• Releasable Funds - Are held until the trust money is released. For example, Deposits are usually marked as Releasable

Available and releasable funds in receipts

When recording a Trust Receipt, you can mark the funds as either Available or Releasable. 

Tick or untick the Deposit (hold until release) box.

• If checked, the receipted funds won't be available until Trust funds are released 
• If unchecked, funds are not held until release (usually used for Advertising prepayments) 

The default behavior for this setting can be configured under: Settings > Accounting > Accounts, allowing you to determine whether new receipts are automatically set as available or releasable.

Available and releasable funds in payments

When creating a Trust Payment, the system checks whether the funds are available for use. 
Payments can only be made from Available funds unless you choose to override the “Hold Until Release” setting. Enabling this option allows payments to be made from Releasable funds (such as deposits), even before they are officially released.

This flexibility helps ensure that payments are processed correctly based on your trust account’s configuration and policies.

Release trust money

Once funds marked as Releasable are ready to be used, you can release them through the Release Trust Money function. After release, these funds automatically become Available, meaning they can now be used for payments or other transactions.