How to prepare an estate accounting
Every estate accounting, informal or filed, has the same structure: what you were responsible for, set against what you did with it, balancing to the penny.
Section 1 of 5.The structure: charges and credits
An accounting has two sides that must equal each other.
Section 2 of 5.The schedules behind the summary
The one-page summary is backed by schedules, which are itemized lists with dates, payees, and sources: receipts; disbursements (funeral, administration, debts, taxes); gains and losses on sales; distributions per beneficiary; and property on hand. Some states’ formats also split principal (the estate’s property) from income (what it earned while open) into separate columns. That split is nearly impossible to reconstruct later, so tag it as you go.
Section 3 of 5.Informal vs. filed
Most estates settle informally: beneficiaries review the accounting and sign a waiver or release instead of anyone filing with a court. The document still matters, because it’s what they’re signing off on. A court-supervised estate, or a beneficiary who won’t sign, means a formal accounting in the state’s expected shape. Which accounting do I need? covers the choice in detail.
Section 4 of 5.The working method
- Inventory first. It’s the opening balance.
- Record every event the day it happens, with payee/source, category, and receipt.
- Tag principal vs. income and track your own out-of-pocket expenses separately.
- Sales carry two numbers: proceeds and the value the item was carried at.
- Reconcile monthly: the computed balance against what’s on hand.
- At the end, assemble the schedules, balance the summary, and have the estate’s attorney read it before anyone signs.
Section 5 of 5.Tools
If you’d rather work by hand, our free executor accounting spreadsheet has the right columns and the method. ExecutorLedger does the same job with the bookkeeping automated: guided entry, a running balance check, and the accounting, informal or court-style, generated from the ledger. It’s free while you work, every document previews free with your own numbers, and $149 (one-time payment) per estate lifts the watermark.
This page explains mechanics common across US estates; states differ in format and vocabulary, and none of this is legal advice. The accounting your estate needs is a question for its attorney.