Changing trust accounts and notifying trust parties

This page explains how to make changes to your project trust accounts (PTAs) and retention trust accounts (RTAs), and who you need to let know about those changes.

Transferring funds to a new trust account

If you're going to transfer a trust account's funds from one financial institution to another, you need to create a pending trust account in MYOB Advanced. Then, on the day funds are transferred to the new financial institution, you need to change the account status.

Before funds are transferred, add a pending trust account

Go to the Cash Accounts form (CA2020PL).
Create and save a new cash account for the pending trust account opened with the financial institution.
Go to the Trust Accounts form (MYCR3000).
On the form toolbar, click the Add Record icon () to add a new trust account.
Complete the fields.

Set Cash Account to the one you created in step 2.
Set Account Status to Pending. You'll need to change the status on the day the account funds are transferred to the new financial institution.
On the form toolbar, click the Save icon (:ADV_Save:).
Go to the Projects form (PM301000).
On the Trust Accounts tab, click the Add Row icon (:ADV_Plus:).
In the new row, add the trust account from step 4.
On the form toolbar, click the Save icon (:ADV_Save:).
Notify the trust parties that you've created a new trust account.

On the day funds are transferred, update trust account status

You need to change the status of both the old trust account and the new one.

For the old trust account, the steps are different depending on whether you're transferring from an RTA or a PTA. This is because you might've opened a new RTA for specific project, while keeping the old RTA open for other projects.

Change an old RTA's status

Go to the Projects form (PM301000).
On the Trust Accounts tab, select the Not in Use checkbox for the retention trust account.
On the Trust Accounts tab toolbar, click the Add Row icon ().
In the new row, add the RTA that funds are being transferred to.

Update an old PTA's status

Go to the Trust Accounts form (MYCR3000).
In the Account ID field, select the trust account that funds are being transferred from.
Edit the following fields:
- Set Account Status to Closed.
- Set Date of Closure to today's date.
- Set Transferred To to the trust account where funds are being transferred.
On the form toolbar, click the Save icon (:ADV_Save:).

Update the new account's status

Go to the Trust Accounts form (MYCR3000).
In the Account ID field, select the trust account that funds are being transferred to.
Set the Account Status field to Closed.
On the form toolbar, click the Save icon (:ADV_Save:).

Changing a trust account's name

The way you change a trust account's name depends on whether it's a PTA or an RTA. This is because there the QBCC has different notification requirements for PTAs compared to RTAs.

For a PTA, you need to create a pending trust account with the new name to replace the account with the old name. Then, on the day the name is changed, you need to change the account's status.
For an RTA, you can simply change the name on the Trust Accounts form (MYCR3000).

Before changing a trust account's name in MYOB Advanced, make sure you've changed it with the financial institution.

Change a project trust account's name

Before the name changes, creating a pending trust account

Go to the Trust Accounts form (MYCR3000).
On the form toolbar, click the Add Record icon () to add a new trust account.
Complete the fields.
Set Account Status to Pending. You'll need to change the status on the day the account funds are transferred to the new financial institution.
On the form toolbar, click the Save icon ().
Go to the Projects form (PM301000).
On the Trust Accounts tab, click the Add Row icon ().
In the new row, add the trust account from step 4.
On the form toolbar, click the Save icon ().
Notify the trust parties that you've created a new trust account.

On the day the name changes, update trust account status

You need to change the status of both the old trust account and the new one.

Go to the Trust Accounts form (MYCR3000).
In the Account ID field, select the PTA with the old name.
Edit the following fields:
- Set Account Status to Closed.
- Set Date of Closure to today's date.
- Set Transferred To to the trust account where funds are being transferred.
On the form toolbar, click the Save icon (:ADV_Save:).
In the Account ID field, select the PTA with the new name.
Edit the following fields:
- Set Account Status to Open.
- Set Date of Opening to today's date.
- Set Transferred To to the trust account where funds are being transferred.
On the form toolbar, click the Save icon (:ADV_Save:).

Notifying trust parties of changes

When you open or close a trust account, change its name or transfer trust funds to a new account, there are three trust parties you need to notify:

the subcontractors that are beneficiaries of a trust account
the customer (or principal developer) who's contracted you for this project
the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC).

These instructions cover how to notify beneficiaries and customers in MYOB Advanced. The QBCC has their own instructions for notifying the QBCC.

There are deadlines for sending notifications, with different deadlines for different trust parties. For details, see the QBCC website.

Add trust parties to a project

Go to the Projects form (PM301000).
In the summary area, select a trust accounts project in the Project ID field.
On the Commitments tab, make sure there are open subcontracts.

For a subcontract to be eligible for a trust account, it needs a labour component.
On the Trust Parties tab, click Sync.
This adds eligible trust parties from the subcontracts on the Commitments tab.

Send a notification

Before sending a notification, make sure you've added trust parties to the project.

Go to the Projects form (PM301000).
On the Trust Parties tab, select the checkboxes for the trust parties you want to notify.
Click Trust Account Notifications and choose one of the options.

These options use default notification templates included in the trust accounts customisation. The template names are the same as the options listed here. You can edit the default templates on the Notification Templates form (SM2040PL).
- Project Trust Account Establishment
- Project Trust Account Change
- Project Trust Account Closure
- Retention Trust Account Establishment
- Retention Trust Account Change.
When you click an option, the email notification is sent to the selected trust parties. The notification is also recorded on the All Emails form (CO409070).