PSRA audit checklist for letting agents
A PSRA compliance audit checks that a licensed letting agent or property management company in Ireland is keeping to the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 and its regulations, above all the Client Moneys Regulations, S.I. No. 199 of 2012. The Property Services Regulatory Authority completed 479 compliance audits in 2025 and found breaches in 62 of them (13%). In 2024 it was 92 of 375 (24.5%). Most of the breach types the PSRA lists involve the client account. This guide sets out what the audit checks, the client money rules, the annual accountant's report, licence renewal, and a checklist of the records to have in place.
- 479PSRA compliance audits completed in 2025
- 13%of 2025 audits found breaches (24.5% in 2024)
- 7 yearsminimum to keep client money records
- 6 weeksbefore expiry: the licence renewal deadline
What does a PSRA compliance audit check?
A PSRA compliance audit checks a licensed business against the audited sections of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 and its regulations. In practice that means the Client Moneys Regulations 2012, the Minimum Standards Regulations, letters of engagement and records of service under the Act, and continuing professional development. An anti-money laundering audit under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 runs alongside it. Audits are carried out by PSRA inspectors and by IP Forensics (Ireland) Limited, which the PSRA contracts, either at your premises or remotely. Before the audit you upload documents through the PSRA's ShareFile system, following instructions the PSRA sends to the business it has selected. During an investigation an inspector can require you to produce records, books and accounts, and to give written authority for your bank to release documents on your accounts (section 66 of the Act). The audit tests records you should already hold, so the checklist below starts from the law.
How often does the PSRA audit a letting agent?
The PSRA schedules compliance audits on risk. Its 2025 annual report lists the factors: previous findings of non-compliance, the number and severity of earlier sanctions, and how long it has been since the business was last audited. A business with a new licence is audited after two years of trading. The anti-money laundering audit takes place alongside the compliance audit, and the PSRA states that every licensed business will undergo one at least once every five years. The pace is rising. The PSRA completed 375 compliance audits in 2024 and 479 in 2025, and at the end of 2025 it had 77 audits under way and a further 347 assigned to staff but not yet started. Oversight of the PSRA moved from the Department of Justice to the Department of Housing on 1 August 2025. The PSRA says the move changed none of the regulatory requirements or processes for licensees.
What breaches do PSRA audits find?
2025 audits
62 of 479Breaches in 13%, all closed with minor sanctions. 387 (81%) compliant.
2024 audits
92 of 375Breaches in 24.5%: 90 minor and 2 major sanctions. 257 (68%) compliant.
In 2025 the PSRA found breaches in 62 of 479 audits, and every one ended in a minor sanction: advice, a caution, a warning or a reprimand. In 2024 the figure was 92 of 375, and the High Court confirmed two major sanctions, a direction to pay €13,000 in audit costs and an €11,000 financial penalty, both cases involving client money breaches. The PSRA does not publish a count by breach type, but most of the examples it lists in both annual reports involve the client account:
- not maintaining proper books of account;
- lodging non-client money to the client account;
- paying office or personal expenditure from the client account;
- allowing a debit balance on the client account or a client's ledger;
- not withdrawing fees from the client account in a timely manner;
- no balancing statement available at the time of audit, or no bank account register.
The other examples include missing or unsigned letters of engagement, CPD not completed and records of offers not kept in the required format.
What are the PSRA client money rules?
Client money is money a licensee holds for a client while providing a property service. The PSRA's guidance on client funds says rent, security deposits, tax collected for non-resident landlords and similar receipts go into the client account in the first instance. The Client Moneys Regulations, S.I. No. 199 of 2012, then set the rules. The client account is kept at a bank in the State, and money received for a client is lodged without unnecessary delay. Withdrawals are limited to set purposes, such as paying the client or someone the client has named in writing, recovering outlays already paid, or taking fees the client has been told will be deducted, and those fees move to the office account within three months of the statement of fees. Your own money may not sit in the client account for more than a month. No client ledger may go into debit, office or personal spending never comes out of the client account, and accounting records are kept for at least seven years.
The Act defines property management services as managing a multi-unit development for its management body. If that is the only property service your business provides, only Regulations 1 to 4, 12, 13 and 16 apply: service charges and sinking fund contributions go into a "relevant account" nominated by the client, with their own records and their own accountant's report form. Collecting rent for landlords is different: the PSRA's guidance puts rent and deposits in the client account.
What is a balancing statement?
A balancing statement is the check that proves the client account adds up. As of each balancing date it compares three figures: the total owed to clients on the clients' ledger accounts, the balance on the clients' ledger control account, and the balance on each client bank account shown on current bank statements, adjusted for outstanding lodgements and withdrawals. There are two balancing dates a year: six months after the start of your accounting period, and your accounting date at its end. Each statement must be completed within two months of its balancing date and a copy kept, and the statements go to your accountant, who relies on them for the annual report. You may not net a debit balance on one client's ledger against a credit on another client's ledger. At the accounting date you also prepare an office balancing statement for the office side of the ledgers, and your accountant passes that information to the PSRA.
What is the PSRA accountant's report?
The accountant's report is an independent accountant's opinion on whether you complied with the Client Moneys Regulations over your last accounting period. Regulation 12 of S.I. No. 199 of 2012 requires one every year, signed by an auditor or accountant who belongs to a prescribed accountancy body, is in practice, holds professional indemnity insurance, and has never been an owner, principal officer or employee of your business. The PSRA collects it with your business licence renewal: section 35 of the Act requires an employer or independent contractor renewal to come with an accountant's report that client money controls are in place. The PSRA's forms are S35 Renewal ABC, where you hold a client account, and S35 Renewal D, where service charges or sinking fund contributions go into a relevant account. The accountant samples your books of account and checks your balancing statements and client account interest against them. You then add your bank mandate details and explain any breach the accountant records.
Without the accountant's report the PSRA must refuse a business renewal (section 35(4)(b) of the Act).
How does PSRA licence renewal work?
A PSRA licence lasts one year, so every licensed business and person renews annually. Section 35 of the Act requires the renewal application at least six weeks before the licence expires. Most licences expire on 5 November, so the PSRA's deadline for those is 24 September. About 12 weeks before expiry the PSRA sends a renewal invitation with a PIN, and you apply at psralicences.ie. A business renewal comes with the accountant's report, evidence of professional indemnity insurance, a duplicate certificate of incorporation dated within four weeks, the licence fee and the Compensation Fund contribution. Since 3 March 2025 the minimum indemnity cover is €1 million, from each licensee's next policy renewal, and the PSRA can ask for evidence at any time with 14 days to reply. Miss the deadline and the licence lapses on its expiry date: you apply for a new licence and stop providing property services until it is issued. The PSRA says a missing invitation or an unfinished accountant's report will not excuse a late application.
- Every 6 monthsBalancing statement, complete within 2 months of each balancing date
- About 12 weeks before expiryPSRA renewal invitation and PIN arrive
- 24 SeptemberRenewal deadline for licences expiring on 5 November
- 5 NovemberExpiry date for most PSRA licences
PSRA audit file: what to have and where it lives
This is the record set the Act, the Client Moneys Regulations and the anti-money laundering rules require, grouped the way an inspector works through a file. The PSRA sends its own document request before an audit, so treat this as preparation, not as the request itself.
PSRA audit file checklist
Licence and insurance
- Current PSRA licence for the business and for each licensed person, displayed at your principal place of business Office wall and psralicences.ie Act s.31, s.37
- Your licence number on adverts, business correspondence and signs Adverts, email footers, letterheads Act s.37(5)
- Professional indemnity insurance policy or broker's Certificate of Compliance, at least €1 million cover from your next policy renewal after 3 March 2025 Your insurance broker Act s.45; S.I. No. 699/2024
- Continuing professional development records for each licensee Staff training file Maintenance of Professional Competence of Licensees Regulations
Client money
- Bank account register: bank, branch, account name and number, opening date, who can withdraw, closure date Books of account S.I. No. 199/2012, Reg 11(1)(e)
- Client cash book and a separate client ledger account for each client matter Books of account Reg 10(3), Reg 11(1)(a)(b)
- Record of lodgements, split between client account and office account Books of account and bank Reg 11(1)(c)
- Journal of every transfer between ledger accounts, with a narrative Books of account Reg 11(1)(d)
- Balancing statement for each balancing date, completed within two months Books of account, copy to your accountant Reg 10(5)
- Copies of every statement of fees and outlays sent to clients Fees file or book Reg 11(1)(g)
- Copies of each accountant's report Your accountant and your records Reg 11(1)(i), Reg 12
Client files
- Letter of engagement signed by you within 7 working days, and the client's signed copy back within the next 7 working days Each client file Act s.43
- Correspondence and copies of adverts for the property, kept with the record of the service Each client file Act s.44 (6 years); PSRA letting files checklist
Anti-money laundering
- Business risk assessment and client risk assessments AML file CJA 2010 s.30A, s.30B
- Customer due diligence, including politically exposed person checks Each client file CJA 2010 s.33, s.37
- Suspicious transaction reporting, written procedures and staff training records AML file CJA 2010 s.42, s.54
- Retention of AML records AML file CJA 2010 s.55
Rentalize's summary of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, S.I. No. 199 of 2012 and the PSRA's published guidance. It is not a PSRA form and not legal advice. "Reg" means a regulation of S.I. No. 199 of 2012; CJA 2010 is the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. If you only manage multi-unit developments for a management body, the relevant account rules apply instead of most client account rows.
How Rentalize helps you keep PSRA records
Rentalize Core keeps client money and PSRA licence records in the same system your team uses to let and manage property. It does not make a business compliant: the PSRA judges your records and how you run your business, and your external accountant still examines and signs the accountant's report.
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Growth and above
Client money accounts
Client money accounts with a ring-fenced ledger for every landlord and tenancy, reconciled against your pooled client account (Growth and above).
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Growth and above, Ireland
PSRA Accountant's Report pack
An Accountant's Report pack for each S.I. 199/2012 half-year: your client money position, the reconciliation status of each client account, management fees held and extracted, and a compliance checklist, exported to PDF for your external accountant and saved as a fixed record of that half-year (Growth and above, Ireland).
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Every plan
PSRA licence tracking
Rentalize holds the PSRA licence details for your agency and its agents, and flags a licence that is missing or expired.
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Growth and above
Landlord payouts
SEPA payout files for landlord remittances (Growth and above).
Related: letting agent software, software for property management companies and RTB compliance software.
Where these facts come from
- PSRA Annual Report 2025 (July 2026): audit, sanction and AML figures for 2025.
- PSRA Annual Report 2024 (June 2025): audit, sanction and AML figures for 2024.
- S.I. No. 199 of 2012, Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (Client Moneys) Regulations 2012.
- Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, revised (Law Reform Commission, updated to 17 June 2026).
- PSRA: Renewing a Licence and Forms and Resources for Licensees, including the S35 accountant's report forms and the 2025 indemnity insurance changes.
- PSRA: Information on Audits.
Checked on 27 October 2026. This guide explains the rules in plain terms and is not legal or accounting advice. For your own position, speak to your accountant or the PSRA.
PSRA audit questions
What happens at a PSRA compliance audit?
A PSRA inspector, or IP Forensics (Ireland) Limited acting for the PSRA, checks your business against the audited sections of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 and its regulations, chiefly the Client Moneys Regulations, S.I. No. 199 of 2012. You upload documents beforehand through the PSRA's ShareFile system, and the audit takes place at your premises or remotely. An anti-money laundering audit runs alongside it. Findings can lead to advice, a caution, a warning or a reprimand, or in serious cases a major sanction, which takes effect only when the High Court confirms it.
How often does the PSRA audit letting agents?
The PSRA schedules audits on risk: previous findings, earlier sanctions and the time since the last audit. A business with a new licence is audited after two years of trading, and the PSRA states that every licensed business will have an anti-money laundering audit at least once every five years, alongside its compliance audit. The PSRA completed 479 compliance audits in 2025, up from 375 in 2024.
What are the most common PSRA audit breaches?
The PSRA does not publish a count by breach type, but most of the examples in its 2024 and 2025 annual reports involve the client account: not keeping proper books of account, lodging non-client money to the client account, paying office or personal expenditure from it, allowing a debit balance, not taking fees out in a timely manner, and having no balancing statement available at the time of audit. Missing or incomplete letters of engagement and unfinished CPD also appear.
When is the PSRA accountant's report due?
With your business licence renewal. The PSRA requires an accountant's report from every property services employer and independent contractor applying to renew, and the renewal must be made at least six weeks before the licence expires: by 24 September for licences expiring on 5 November. The report covers your most recent accounting period. Book your accountant early, because the PSRA says an accountant's report that is not ready is not a reason it will accept for a late renewal.
How long must a letting agent keep client money records?
At least seven years. The Client Moneys Regulations require accounting records, including the cash book, ledgers, bank account register, balancing statements, statements of fees and outlays and accountant's reports, to be kept for at least seven years from the last entry or the last dealing with client money, whichever is later. Section 44 of the Act separately requires a record of each property service to be kept for at least six years after the transaction is completed.
Does software make a letting agent PSRA compliant?
No. Compliance depends on how your business handles client money and runs its files, and the PSRA judges that at audit. Software can keep the records in order. Rentalize provides client money accounts with a ring-fenced ledger for every landlord and tenancy, reconciled against your pooled client account, and a PSRA Accountant's Report pack for your external accountant, both on Growth and above, plus PSRA licence tracking on every plan. Your accountant still examines and signs the accountant's report, and you submit it to the PSRA.