Settlement Statement (ACT)

For Australian Capital Territory Purchase and Sale matters, Smokeball provides a Settlement Statement layout that uses your entered adjustments together with data from your matter to automatically generate the following Settlement Statement precedents:

• In a Sale matter:
  • Settlement Statement to the Seller

  • Settlement Adjustment Sheet

    

• In a Purchase matter:

  • Settlement Statement to the Buyer

    

The Settlement Statement layout consists of two tabs:

• Settlement Statement tab

  For a Sale matter, the sections you will see are:

  • Statement Summary
  • Miscellaneous Adjustments
  • Time Related Adjustments

  For a Purchase matter, the sections you will see are:

  • Statement Summary
  • Expenses
  • Miscellaneous Adjustments
  • Time Related Adjustments
• Payment Directions tab

Settlement Date and Adjustment Date

Both the Sale and Purchase Settlement Statement Layout display the Settlement Date which is entered on the Conveyancing Details Layout.

When the Adjustment Date for the Time Related Adjustments is different to the Settlement Date, enter the Adjustment Date here and it will flow through to the Adjustment calculations and into the Settlement Statement precedents. When the Adjustment Date is left blank, it will use/default to the Settlement Date.

Statement Summary

The Statement Summary section provides a snapshot of the settlement figures.

The Sale Settlement Statement Summary displays:

• The Sale Price and Deposit (when marked as Paid) which are entered on the Conveyancing Details layout.
  
• Total Adjustments returning amount payable by the Seller for Miscellaneous and Time Related adjustments.
• Total Amount Due on Settlement returns the total of Sale Price minus Paid Deposit and Adjustments.

The Purchase Settlement Statement Summary displays:

• The Purchase Price and Deposit (when marked as Paid) which are entered on the Conveyancing Details layout.
  
• Total Expenses returns total of selected Disbursements.
• Total Adjustments returning amount payable by the Buyer for Miscellaneous and Time Related adjustments minus any Seller Miscellaneous and Time Related adjustment payments.
• Total Amount Due on Settlement returns the total of Purchase Price minus Paid Deposit, total Expenses and Adjustments.

• Total Loan Amount returning the amount entered in the matter on the Incoming Mortgagee Contact Card under Mortgage Details:

  

• Balance due from client returns Total Amount Due on Settlement minus Total Loan Amount.

Expenses

There is a Disbursements section in a Purchase matter. The Disbursements section will display the disbursements you have entered in your matter under Time & Disbursements > Disbursements in a drop-down menu for your selection:

Select the Disbursements you would like to apply to the Settlement Statement and the corresponding amounts inclusive of GST will appear in the Settlement Statement layout:

These disbursements will be added into your Settlement Statement calculations and precedent.

Miscellaneous Adjustments

Miscellaneous Adjustments is designed for entering any adjustments that do not fall under Disbursements or Time Related Adjustments and can include other allowances, for example:

• Access Canberra Discharge of Mortgage Fee
• Section 119 Certificate
• Building/Pest/Compliance reports

All three details (Title, Payable By and Amount) need to be completed to be calculated in the Settlement Statement and to appear in the precedents.

The Access Canberra Discharge of Mortgage Fee allowance by the Seller is available for selection from the drop-down menu with its corresponding fee (fee effective 1 July 2025):

Time Related Adjustments

Time Related Adjustments cover any adjustments that need to be allowed for in effecting Settlement. The most common adjustments are available for selection from the Type drop-down menu:

• General Rates
• Land Tax
• Water Rates
• Body Corporate Levies

Once the Type is selected and you Tab through to the Title, the Title will populate with a Default Title Description. You can change this Title by selecting the check box to the right of the Title field.

Following are examples of the Default Title Description based on Type:

The Title appears in the Settlement Statement precedents.

Entering adjustments

For each of the Payment Statuses, the following fields need to be completed:

Paid

• When the bill is already paid for this period in full by the Seller. 
• The Settlement Statement will show the Buyer's portion of the bill which will be provided to the Seller at Settlement.

Adjusted as Paid

• When the bill for this period has not been paid, however, it will be adjusted as paid so that at Settlement, the bill can be paid. 
• This means that the Settlement Statement will show how much the Buyer needs to provide for their portion of the bill at Settlement. 
• The Seller's portion of the bill is deducted from the Sale proceeds after Settlement funds have been received.

Unpaid

• Unpaid is entered the same as Adjusted as Paid.
• This is when the bill is unpaid and will not be paid at Settlement. 
• The Settlement Statement will show the Seller's portion of the bill which will be credited to the Buyer at Settlement. 
• The Buyer is responsible for paying the bill in full after Settlement.

Payment Directions

The Payment Directions tab is available on a Sale and Purchase matter. As you enter your Payee and Amount, it will automatically calculate your Total Payments. These Payment Directions populate in a table in the Settlement Statement precedents.

The Amount Due on Settlement is visible for reference (pulls in the figure from the Settlement Statement Tab > Statement Summary section).

As you enter the Payment Amounts, the balance validation field (which appears under the Total Payments field) will notify you whether:

1. All the funds have been directed:
   
2. There are funds still to be directed:
   
3. There are more payments directed than there are funds available:
   

Settlement Statement Precedents

Finding the Precedents

The Settlement Statement and the Settlement Adjustment Sheet in a Sale matter are found in the Conveyancing Precedent Profile under the Sale > Settlement folder:

The Settlement Statement in a Purchase matter is found in the Conveyancing Precedent Profile under the Purchase > Settlement folder:

How the precedents are displayed

Sale Settlement Statement Precedent

Using the following completed Settlement Statement layout as an example:

The Sale Settlement Statement will appear as follows:

Sale Settlement Adjustment Sheet Precedent

Using above same completed Settlement Statement layout as an example, the Settlement Adjustment Sheet will display as follows i.e. showing what is Payable by the Seller and by the Buyer in separate columns:

Purchase Settlement Statement Precedent

Using the following completed Settlement Statement layout as an example:

The Purchase Settlement Statement will appear as follows:

Apply Your Own Letterhead to the Settlement Statement Precedents

The Settlement Statements have been designed so that you can link it to your own Letterhead Document Container. See here on how to link a document container to a precedent.