Understand your ongoing compliance obligations
Running an authorised law firm means meeting a continuous cycle of regulatory obligations. The SRA does not simply grant authorisation and step back -- it monitors firms through annual returns, thematic inspections, and data analysis. Missing a deadline or failing to report a material event can trigger enforcement action, conditions on your authorisation, or referral to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
This journey takes you through each recurring obligation so you can build compliance into your firm's calendar rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Comply with SRA Standards and Regulations
Understand the overarching framework your firm must meet: the Codes of Conduct, Transparency Rules, and reporting obligations that underpin every other compliance duty
Assess your compliance posture
Before working through individual obligations, take stock of where your firm stands. When did you last review your COLP and COFA arrangements? Are your client account reconciliations up to date? Has your AML risk assessment been refreshed following changes to your client base or practice areas? Identifying gaps now prevents them from becoming reportable breaches later. Use the annual checklist guide as a diagnostic tool.
Annual compliance checklist for law firms
A structured checklist covering every recurring obligation, with key dates and deadlines to help you identify what needs attention now
Maintain COLP and COFA reporting
Your firm submits an annual declaration through mySRA at renewal, and your Compliance Officer for Legal Practice and Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration are personally responsible for reporting serious breaches promptly as they arise -- not just at year end. If your COLP or COFA changes, notify the SRA promptly and obtain approval of the replacement -- if a compliance officer suddenly ceases to act, you must tell the SRA within seven days to use the temporary emergency approval route. In smaller firms where one person holds both roles, the reporting burden is manageable but must not be neglected. Failure to report is itself a breach.
COLP and COFA roles and responsibilities
What your compliance officers must monitor, when and how to report to the SRA, handling material breaches, and managing role changes
Renew professional indemnity insurance
Most firms renew on 1 October, the traditional common renewal date, but your indemnity period runs from your own policy's inception -- the obligation is continuous qualifying cover. If you cannot obtain renewal terms, you enter a 30-day extended policy period (you can practise normally while you seek cover), followed by a 60-day cessation period limited to existing instructions. Start the renewal process by July to allow time for quotes and negotiation. Your claims history, practice areas, and turnover all affect premiums. If you cannot obtain cover, you may need to close the firm -- the SRA does not grant exemptions.
Professional indemnity insurance for law firms
Renewal timeline, SRA minimum terms, what happens during the extended indemnity period, and steps to take if you struggle to find cover
Manage client accounts
If your firm holds client money, you must reconcile client and office accounts at least every five weeks and commission an annual accountant's report. You must obtain the report within six months of your accounting period end and deliver it to the SRA only if it is qualified. Client account breaches remain the single largest category of SRA enforcement action. Even firms that do not routinely hold client money should review whether any transaction inadvertently creates a client money obligation.
SRA Accounts Rules and client money
Reconciliation requirements, the accountant's report, common breaches that trigger SRA investigation, and how to reduce client money risk
Maintain AML compliance
Your firm-wide AML risk assessment must be reviewed annually or whenever your risk profile changes -- for example, if you take on new practice areas or client types. Staff training must be refreshed regularly, and you need records of all customer due diligence checks. The SRA conducts targeted AML inspections and publishes thematic reviews. Firms that cannot demonstrate an up-to-date risk assessment and active monitoring face fines and potential criminal prosecution under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
Anti-money laundering compliance for law firms
Keeping your risk assessment current, staff training records, suspicious activity reporting, and preparing for SRA AML inspections
Operate your complaints procedure
Your complaints procedure is not a set-and-forget document. You must log all complaints, respond within the timescales set out in your procedure, and inform dissatisfied clients of their right to escalate to the Legal Ombudsman. The SRA expects firms to use complaints data to improve service quality. You must also continue to meet the SRA Transparency Rules requirements, updating published pricing whenever your fees change. Poor complaints handling is a common trigger for SRA desk-based reviews.
Handle client complaints at your law firm
Operating your complaints procedure day to day, Legal Ombudsman referrals, using complaints data for improvement, and SRA Transparency Rules obligations
Prepare for SRA inspections and annual reporting
The SRA uses a risk-based approach to supervision. Firms flagged by data analysis, complaints, or thematic priorities may receive a desk-based review or on-site visit. Maintaining organised records of your compliance activities -- COLP/COFA reports, client account reconciliations, AML risk assessments, complaints logs, training records, and diversity data -- means you can respond to an SRA information request without panic. Use the annual checklist to verify completeness before each reporting deadline.
Annual compliance checklist for law firms
Verify every recurring obligation is met, confirm key dates, and ensure your records are inspection-ready