You've decided to open your own practice. Before the first client walks in, a handful of things have to be in place, and a few of them have deadlines that start counting on your first day. This checklist puts them in order, with the section or rule behind each one, so you can check it yourself.
General information, not legal advice. Fees and dates change each year, so check the current notice before you rely on one.
1. Choose how you'll practise
The Legal Practice Act lets you practise alone for your own account (s34(5)(a)), in partnership, or as a commercial juristic entity such as an incorporated practice, as long as every shareholder is an attorney (s34(7)). In an incorporated practice, the shareholders, past and present, are liable together with the practice for the debts it incurred while they held office. Your accountant can tell you which form suits your tax position.
2. Finish the practice management course
Before your first Fidelity Fund certificate, you need to have completed the Legal Practice Management course, or have an exemption or extension from the LPC (s85(1)(b)). The LPC asks for proof with your certificate application, so keep your certificate of completion with your practice documents.
3. Apply for your Fidelity Fund certificate
Every attorney practising for their own account, alone or in partnership, or as a director of an incorporated practice, needs a Fidelity Fund certificate (s84(1)). Without one, neither you nor anyone you employ may receive or hold money that belongs to someone else (s84(2)). That includes a deposit towards fees for work you haven't done yet (s84(3)).
You apply online at ffc.fidfund.co.za. If you open mid-year, you apply for the rest of that year; a certificate isn't issued for a period that has already passed. Every certificate expires on 31 December (s85(7)), so you'll apply again every year.
While you hold a valid certificate, your practice is covered by the Legal Practitioners Indemnity Insurance Fund's master policy. It's worth reading the current policy on lpiif.co.za so you know the excess.
4. Open your trust and business accounts
Every attorney who needs a certificate must operate a trust account (s86(1)), at a bank that has an arrangement with the Fidelity Fund (s86(2)). Ask the bank to confirm the arrangement before you sign.
Open your business account at the same time. Client money goes into trust; your fees go to business once you've earned and billed them. Keeping the two apart from the first day makes every month-end easier. Our guide to LPC Rule 54 covers the monthly routine.
5. Register on goAML and write your RMCP
Attorneys are accountable institutions under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act. You register your practice on goAML, the FIC's system, within 90 days of starting. It's free.
You also need a Risk Management and Compliance Programme (s42 of FICA), which sets out how your practice identifies and verifies clients, rates risk and keeps records. And someone must be responsible for compliance (s42A). In a one-person practice, that's you. The FIC's directives set when the RMCP must be filed, so check the current one on fic.gov.za.
6. Register your information officer
The head of a private body is its information officer under POPIA, and must be registered with the Information Regulator before taking up the role (s55(2)). You register on the Regulator's eServices portal: create a profile first, then register yourself, and any deputies on the same form.
7. Set up your systems
Decide where four things will live before the first consultation:
- the diary, with every court date, prescription date and consultation, shared by everyone in the firm;
- matters and clients, with their documents, notes and FICA records;
- the books, with trust and business kept apart, matter by matter;
- your letterhead, invoices and statements, with the practice's details on them.
8. Diarise your first trust audit report
A new practice delivers its first trust audit report within six months of starting, covering the first four months (Rule 54.21). Appoint your auditor early: every trust account practice must appoint one at least once a calendar year (Rule 54.20). After the first report, it's due within six months of your firm's year-end (Rule 54.24.1), and it decides your next certificate. Our Fidelity Fund certificate guide walks through the audit year.
VAT
You must register for VAT once your taxable supplies pass R2.3 million in 12 months, and you may register voluntarily from R120,000. Both thresholds apply from 1 April 2026.
The free pack
We've put all of this into one printable pack, with a page to fill in for your first 30 days. Download the Opening a practice pack. It's free, with no sign-up.
If you'd like to see how a new firm looks in Caseo, you can open your own firm and try it. You enter your Fidelity Fund number once and it prints on your letterhead, invoices and statements. Trust and business are kept apart from the first matter, and everyone you invite shares one diary.