Troubleshoot an unreconciled amount in bank account reconciliation
There are a variety of reasons why you might have an unreconciled amount on your bank reconciliation in Accounting CS. Use the following steps to troubleshoot where the unreconciled amount is coming from and how you can fix data to reconcile the bank account.
Double-check the bank reconciliation
Select
Actions
,
Reconcile Bank Accounts
, then the
General Information
tab.
Make sure that the amounts you entered in the
Statement Information
section match the statement from the bank.
On the Deposits & Additions tab, make sure that the Cleared Total matches the Statement Amount.
On the Checks & Payments tab, make sure that the Cleared Total matches the Statement Amount.
Make sure that all of the transactions on the bank statement appear on both the Reconcile Bank Accounts and Enter Transactions screens in the application.
note
You'll need to select the bank account in the Transactions detail field on Enter Transactions for them to appear in the bank reconciliation screen.
Double-check the transaction date falls within the bank statement period
Make sure that the transaction date falls within the statement period on the General Information tab. Transactions are listed on the Reconcile Bank Accounts screen based on the transaction date and not the posting period.
Select
Actions
, then
Enter Transactions
. Select the transaction in the list.
Make sure that the Date field has a date that falls within the Statement dates on the Actions, then Reconcile Bank Accounts screen on the General Information tab.
Double-check that the transaction is distributed correctly
Make sure that the transaction is distributed to the correct bank account. Use these steps to move transactions between bank accounts.
Select
Actions
, then
Enter Transactions
. Select
Edit Multiple Transactions
.
Select
Transfer
from the Action field.
Select the
Destination bank account
.
Select the transactions to transfer, then
OK
.
Double-check that the transaction hasn't been previously cleared
Make sure that the transaction was not previously cleared on a different reconciliation.
Select
Actions
, then
Enter Transactions
. Select the transaction on the list.
On the status bar, make sure that there is not an item saying "Cleared on [date]."
Double-check if this is the 1st bank reconciliation for a client
If this is the 1st bank reconciliation for a client in Accounting CS, use the following steps to enter the transactions that were still open when you completed the final bank reconciliation in the previous software without re-posting them to the General Ledger.
Select
Actions
, then
Reconcile Bank Accounts
.
Select
Edit
, then
Initial Open Items
.
Enter all of the "in transit" items from the last bank reconciliation, regardless if they are cleared on this reconciliation.
tip
If you have more than one transaction to enter, you can enter the sum of the transactions that are cleared on this reconciliation, and then enter the rest of the transactions individually.
Use the Initial Open Items dialog to enter transactions that won’t affect the bank account balance but are needed for reconciliation purposes only. In other words, the transactions you enter in this dialog were already accounted for at some point in the account balance, but they are not listed with the other transactions available for clearing in the reconciliation. This dialog is typically used to correct or enter outstanding transactions from previous reconciliations that were completed in your previous accounting application.
Don’t use this dialog to add checks or deposits that have never been recorded.
Double-check where unreconciled amount is coming from
If the statement is still unreconciled, use the Reconciliation Analysis tab to determine where the unreconciled amount is coming from.
note
Skip this step if this is the 1st reconciliation for the client.
Double-check if transaction date is outside posting period
A transaction may have a date that falls outside of the posting period. Follow these steps to check.
Select
Actions
, then
Enter Transactions
. Select
Bank Account Mode
on the toolbar.
To display the running balance in the Balance column (when the Bank Account method is selected in the Enter Transactions Options dialog), sort the transactions by date and remove any Searching or Filtering that eliminates bank transactions.
Select the Date column to sort the list of transactions by date. There should be a Balance column and a running bank balance.
Select
Actions
,
Analyze Client Activity
, and
General Ledger
.
Locate the account assigned to the bank account, and compare the balance on the GL to the balance on the Enter Transactions screen.
You can also run the Transaction Date and Posting Period Mismatch worksheet, which indicates if there are any mismatched transactions. Do the following to run the report:
This report works best for clients with a monthly processing period frequency. If you have a client with a different period frequency, you may not need to edit all of the items that show on the report.
Select
File
then
Print Reports
to preview the report.
Any transactions that show on the report have dates that don't fall in the same month and year as the posting period. Print this report or move it to another monitor so you can reference it.
Select
Actions
then
Enter Transactions
.
Find and fix any transactions that show on the report.
Make sure transactions are distributed correctly
Verify that transactions are correctly distributed.
Select
Actions
,
Analyze Client Activity
, then
General Ledger
.
Locate the 999 (Undistributed) account and locate any transactions that are crediting or debiting this account.
If there are transactions listed under the 999 account, select the amount to go directly to that transaction on the Enter Transactions screen and correct the distribution.
Make sure that the ending balances match
Verify that the ending balances match the beginning balances for the following year.
Select
Actions
, then
Enter Trial Balance
.
Select the
View Maintenance
.
Add columns for the adjusted balance of a year followed by the beginning of the following year for as many years as you have data for the client.
If you find a mismatch, select
Actions
, then
Enter Transactions
in Bank Account Mode. To display the running balance in the Balance column (when the Bank Account method is selected in the Enter Transactions Options window), sort the transactions by date and remove any Searching or Filtering that may eliminate bank transactions.
Sort the list of transactions by date, and then go to the earliest dated transaction. Make a note of what year this transaction is dated.
Select
Actions
, then
Change Posting Period
. Move to the earliest year with transactions.
note
Before you move the general ledger to the earliest year with transactions, consider creating a backup of the client data using the Client Data Management Utility. The utility only creates a backup of the client you are working with.
Select
Actions
, then
Change Posting Period
again and close to the next year. Repeat this step until you're in the current processing year.
Bank makes an error
If the bank makes an error on the statement that was used for the reconciliation, you can select
Bank error
from the GL Account dropdown list. The application doesn’t write bank error adjustment amounts back to the general ledger because these errors don’t usually result in money being deposited in or withdrawn from the bank account. The application records these bank errors in the Balance per Bank Statement section in the Account Summary tab.