Scope sheet
finbryn.com
Estate & Trust
Fiduciary accounting for estates
Fiduciary accounting for estates from Finbryn is the ledger a US executor keeps for the estate itself, separate from the decedent's personal accounts: every asset received, every dollar of income earned, and every distribution to a beneficiary, logged with a date and a value from the day the estate opens until probate closes.
What is included
- A dedicated estate ledger set up under the estate's own EIN
- An asset log with date received and value for everything transferred into the estate
- Income and expense tracking by category for the administration period
- Reconciled bank and brokerage statements for every account the estate holds
- A distribution log tying each payment to the bequest or share it satisfies
- A running accounting statement the executor can produce on request
- Workpapers handed off to Form 1041 preparation support where the estate has taxable income
- A closing package summarizing the full administration period
The process
- 1.
Open the estate ledger
Set up books under the estate's own EIN, fully separate from the decedent's personal accounts and the executor's own finances.
- 2.
Log assets as they're received
Each asset transferred into the estate is recorded with the date received and the value assigned, tied back to a statement or appraisal.
- 3.
Track income and expenses
Interest, dividends, rental or business income the estate earns, and administration expenses, are categorized as they happen.
- 4.
Reconcile accounts each period
Every bank and brokerage account the estate holds is matched to its own statement, not just reviewed for reasonableness.
- 5.
Record distributions against the ledger
Specific bequests, percentage shares, and court-approved interim distributions are logged as they're made, tied to the beneficiary and the bequest they satisfy.
- 6.
Produce a running statement
The executor gets a current accounting they can hand to a beneficiary or a probate court on short notice.
- 7.
Hand off at closing
The final ledger feeds the closing distribution schedule and, where the estate had income, the Form 1041 workpapers.
Software
QuickBooks Online, Xero, EstateWorks, Excel
Quality control
A senior reviewer checks the ledger before anything goes to the executor, and any correction to a prior entry is written down rather than made silently.
Pricing
Fiduciary accounting for an estate is quoted once we see the number of accounts, beneficiaries and the expected length of administration, since a six-month estate and a multi-year estate with real estate involved carry very different amounts of work. See the published rate card at /us/pricing for how ongoing bookkeeping tiers are structured; estate work is scoped against that same framework and confirmed in writing before we start.
Finbryn is a brand of Northlane Solutions Inc., a Delaware corporation.
Reviewed September 2026