Trust accounting template
A blank annual trust account built around the principal and income split, trustee fees, beneficiary distributions and the year-end reconciliation. PDF and Excel. A template, not a court form.
What this template is
A trustee reports year by year, and the question every income beneficiary and remainder beneficiary asks is the same: what belongs to whom? This template answers it by keeping principal (P-1 to P-4) and income (I-1, I-2) on separate schedules from the first entry, so each interest can be checked on its own. It's a template, not a court form, and no court has approved it.
Principal and income, kept apart
Principal starts from what the trust held on the first day of the year (P-1), then adds principal receipts such as sale proceeds and capital gain distributions (P-2), records each sale's gain or loss against carry value (P-3) and subtracts principal expenses (P-4). Income is interest, dividends and rent (I-1) less the expenses charged to income (I-2).
Where an item goes depends on the trust instrument first and then your state's principal and income act. Our principal and income guide lists which act each state uses and how the defaults work.
Trustee fees
Schedule F records each fee once, with the share charged to principal and the share charged to income. Under the 1997 Uniform Principal and Income Act, one-half of the trustee's regular compensation is paid from income (§501(1)) and the remaining one-half from principal (§502(a)(1)), unless the trust's terms provide otherwise. Fees calculated on principal for acceptance, distribution or termination come entirely from principal (§502(a)(2)). The two columns feed separate lines on the summary.
Beneficiary distributions
Schedule D lists every distribution by beneficiary, with columns for distributions from principal and from income. Mandatory income payments and discretionary principal distributions often follow different standards in the instrument, so showing them apart makes the account easier to check.
The annual account
Section 813(c) of the Uniform Trust Code requires a trustee to send the distributees or permissible distributees of trust income or principal, at least annually and when the trust ends, a report of the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, with a list of the trust assets and, if feasible, their market values. A beneficiary can waive the report (§813(d)). States that enacted the Code may have changed or renumbered this section, so check your state's version. Schedule H lists the assets on hand at year end at carry and current value, and Schedule R ties each account to its statement and records when the report and any notices went out.
The summary
The first page is the summary (Principal and Income columns). Each line refers to the schedule that supports it:
- PRINCIPAL
- Principal on hand at start of year
- Principal receipts
- Gains on sale
- Less losses on sale
- Less principal disbursements
- Less trustee fees charged to principal
- Less distributions of principal
- Principal on hand at year end
- INCOME
- Undistributed income at start of year
- Income receipts
- Less income disbursements
- Less trustee fees charged to income
- Less distributions of income
- Income on hand at year end
- Total assets on hand at year end (carry value)
The schedules
| Schedule | Title | Columns |
|---|---|---|
| P-1 | Principal on Hand at Start of Year | Description, Where held, Carry value, Current value |
| P-2 | Principal Receipts | Date, Source, Description, Amount |
| P-3 | Gains and Losses on Sale (Principal) | Date, Asset sold, Net proceeds, Carry value, Gain, Loss |
| P-4 | Principal Disbursements | Date, Payee, Description, Amount |
| I-1 | Income Receipts: Interest, Dividends and Rent | Date, Source, Type, Amount |
| I-2 | Income Disbursements | Date, Payee, Description, Amount |
| F | Trustee Fees and Their Allocation | Date, Payee, Total fee, Charged to principal, Charged to income |
| D | Distributions to Beneficiaries | Date, Beneficiary, Description, From principal, From income |
| H | Assets on Hand at Year End | Description, Where held, Carry value, Current value |
| R | Annual Account: Cash Reconciliation and Notices | Account or notice, Statement ending balance, Reconciled balance, Date sent to beneficiaries |
How to fill it in
- Copy last year's closing principal into P-1 (for a first account, use the date-of-funding values).
- Enter each receipt on P-2 or I-1, deciding principal or income as you go.
- Record sales on P-3 with proceeds and carry value; enter principal and income expenses on P-4 and I-2.
- Split each trustee fee on Schedule F and each distribution on Schedule D between principal and income.
- List year-end holdings on H, reconcile every account on R, and note the date the account was sent to each beneficiary.