In my view, you cannot have a direction to pay an unspecified amount before the liability to pay that amount accrues. The Act does not require that either a direction or authority be in writing. The reason for this is plain. Normally, if it is just the word of the solicitor against the word of the complainant, the solicitor is not reasonably likely to be found guilty and would not be referred to the Tribunal. It all boils down to evidence and hence a solicitor is well advised to have the instructions regarding dealing with trust money, whether it be an authority or a direction, in the form of weighty admissible evidence.
Writing is usually such evidence.
The foregoing examples have been simplified in order to illustrate the fundamental concept. Often a solicitor who receives money on behalf of another person will not have a direction to deposit that money into a trust account. Such a direction is not necessary, as s.61 requires that the money be deposited into a trust account unless the client otherwise directs, or the money is money in transit. Solicitors do sometimes receive a direction to deposit the money into a controlled money account, and naturally must follow this direction. It often happens that the trust ledger shows that the money was transferred out on the same date as appears on the outline bill to the client.