Canadian LSO Transaction Levies

Overview

Law Society of Ontario (LSO) transaction levies are payable by law firms for real estate and civil litigation matters for Ontario, Canada. This is a one-time fee for each matter. Transaction levies can be charged to the client at the firm's discretion.

Abacus Accounting has the functionality to maintain the rates for LSO transaction levies and to track transaction levy surcharges when using the Canadian PALS.

Setting Up LSO Transaction Levies

1. Select File > Setup > Set LSO Transaction Levies.

2. The LSO Transaction Levy window appears. Click the Add button () to add a transaction levy. NOTE: Province defaults to the province you have selected for your tax jurisdiction in Company Preferences when setting up the Canadian PALS.
   
   

3. A new, blank row appears on the window. Complete the fields for the new transaction levy. Click the Save button () when finished.
   
   

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add all transaction levies. Click Done when you are finished.

Maintaining LSO Transaction Levy Surcharges

1. Select G/L > LSO Transaction Levy Surcharges.

2. The LSO Transaction Levy Surcharges window appears. Click Add.

3. The Add LSO Transaction Levy Surcharge window appears.

   1. Select the matter for the surcharge entry.

   2. Select Real Estate or Civil Litigation depending on the type of surcharge you are entering. Then, complete the fields for the type of charge.

   3. Select an attorney.

   4. The Transaction Levy Surcharge value is copied from the LSO transaction levy you set for the effective date.

   5. If you want to charge the client for the levy, check Charge Client and the amount in the Transaction Levy Surcharge field is copied to the amount to charge the client.

   6. Click Done to save your changes.
      
      

4. Once saved, entries are listed on the LSO Transaction Levy Surcharges window. Entries can be modified (highlight the entry and click Edit) or deleted (highlight the entry and click Delete).
   
   

Tracking LSO Transaction Levy Surcharges

If a LSO transaction levy surcharge has been entered for a matter, that information will appear on the Matter Maintenance window:

And, on the Matter Billing Detail window:

If the firm selected to charge the client for the LSO transaction levies, then a record is created for the matter, and it will appear in the Costs & Adjustments window. This record is assigned the client expense code you created for LSO transaction levy surcharges, and it will be available to be billed.

LSO Transaction Levy Surcharge Reports

There are two LSO transaction levy surcharge reports available under General Ledger reports: LSO Transaction Levy Detail and LSO Transaction Levy Summary. These reports list the LSO transaction levy surcharges entered. Both reports can be filtered by date range and levy type. The Detail report can be further filtered by matter or attorney. The Summary report includes required fields Firm Contact and Managing Partner.