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

  1. Select
    Actions
    ,
    Reconcile Bank Accounts
    , then the
    General Information
    tab.
  2. Make sure that the amounts you entered in the
    Statement Information
    section match the statement from the bank.
  3. On the Deposits & Additions tab, make sure that the Cleared Total matches the Statement Amount.
  4. On the Checks & Payments tab, make sure that the Cleared Total matches the Statement Amount.
  5. 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.

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.
  1. Select
    Actions
    , then
    Enter Transactions
    . Select the transaction in the list.
  2. 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.
  1. Select
    Actions
    , then
    Enter Transactions
    . Select
    Edit Multiple Transactions
    .
  2. Select
    Transfer
    from the Action field.
  3. Select the
    Destination bank account
    .
  4. 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.
  1. Select
    Actions
    , then
    Enter Transactions
    . Select the transaction on the list.
  2. 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.
  1. Select
    Actions
    , then
    Reconcile Bank Accounts
    .
  2. Select
    Edit
    , then
    Initial Open Items
    .
  3. Enter all of the "in transit" items from the last bank reconciliation, regardless if they are cleared on this reconciliation.

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.

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.
  1. Select
    Actions
    , then
    Enter Transactions
    . Select
    Bank Account Mode
    on the toolbar.
  2. 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.
  3. Select the Date column to sort the list of transactions by date. There should be a Balance column and a running bank balance.
  4. Select
    Actions
    ,
    Analyze Client Activity
    , and
    General Ledger
    .
  5. 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:
  1. Download the Transaction Date and Posting Period Mismatch Worksheet from the Accounting CS Custom Report Library.
  2. Select
    File
    then
    Print Reports
    to preview the report.
  3. 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.
  4. Select
    Actions
    then
    Enter Transactions
    .
  5. Find and fix any transactions that show on the report.

Make sure transactions are distributed correctly

Verify that transactions are correctly distributed.
  1. Select
    Actions
    ,
    Analyze Client Activity
    , then
    General Ledger
    .
  2. Locate the 999 (Undistributed) account and locate any transactions that are crediting or debiting this account.
  3. 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.
  1. Select
    Actions
    , then
    Enter Trial Balance
    .
  2. Select the
    View Maintenance
    .
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Select
    Actions
    , then
    Change Posting Period
    . Move to the earliest year with transactions.
  7. 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.

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