Bank reconciliation tips?

Anyone with any tips on bank reconciliation? Off hand I can think of looking for breaks in sequences, seeing if they showed up in subsquent months, until finally you reach December.

Reply to
Enda
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That's not so much a reconciliation issue as it is one of internal controls, and a flag for possible fraud. Reconciliation is a pretty simple process, whereby you start at one side or the other (your books, or the bank's records) and add in/back out items not known about on either side. Like deposits in transit, monthly fees not recorded, outstanding checks, errors and the like.

What you are talking about is more along the lines of reasonableness related to outstanding items. Are checks missing in a sequence really outstanding? Why is it taking so long for them to clear? (did the vendor go out of business? is it a HUGE amount? did someone STEAL them? are they voided?) What is the company's policy about checks outstanding after a certain time, and are they or are they not adhering in a given situation. Etc.

Make sense?

Reply to
Holly J. Sommer

There is also the issue of how long it is taking to your deposits credited to the bank account. If you use an armored car service, do the deposits get credited timely. I have had the situation where deposits sat in a warehouse (secured) for 36-48hours. It was a national armored car service btw. Another timely issue was with the remote location making the deposits daily instead of putting them off. A third issue was in the commercial vault of the bank we used, deposits would sit 2-3 days before they could get to them. They had more work to do than help to do it.

In the restaurant industry we have the problem of the waitstaff not depositing their payroll checks timely. With the amount of taxes that are pulled off their checks for the tips received daily, these checks are small. They may hold them til they have six or seven. I was an accountant for a chain where my sister was a bartender. I counted twelve on her dresser on a visit home.

Enda wrote:

Reply to
TKnTexas

Many banks offer check reconciliation services for businesses and individuals, (or can provide software to help with account reconciliation

Reply to
Steve

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