How to Balance Your Bank Reconciliation

Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls

Denise Hanson

Recalculate Button Setup

– Feature will recalculate your bank reconciliation while work is in process.

• Setup >> User Options >> Click box for recalculate

Recalculate Setup

Once setup, the recalculate button appears on your reconciliation screen, when you start clearing checks and deposits.

Interest/Bank charge Setup

– The system will make a MJE (manual journal entry) for you to record the interest and or bank charges.

• Accounts >> Quick Find account >> bank account checked >> Complete accounts to charge/increase.

Interest/Bank charge Setup

Be sure to verify the service charge account and interest account are in the same fund as your asset account.

Quick check would be to look at the asset and note the entity numbers are the same.

Notice that all start with 1 therefore they are all in the same entity.

Questions/Discussion

Why is it important to Reconcile? • I can call the bank and get my balance at

anytime, why should I have to do this monthly?

• In our Diocese the priest needs to initial the bank statement and reconciliation report – this is why.

• Banks don’t make mistakes

Reconciliation Process

• Look at bank statement to get all your information to input into the system.

• Process >> Bank Reconciliation >> Create a new statement

Entering Bank Statement Information

• Select your bank account

• Enter the statement date – system is date sensitive

• Ending balance off the bank statement

• Service charge

• Interest income

Entering Bank Statement Information

Even if the date on the bank statement is before the end of the month, you may have entered month end transactions with last day of the month.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling

• You can quickly clear transaction on your bank statement with the use of “clear range”.

• This will give you the following box to enter #’s in.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling • Once you are finished with clearing all your checks

and deposits, verify the amounts match with your bank statement vs. cleared checks and cleared deposits. If there is a difference then you know where to look for it.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling • Check out the knowledgebase from Parishsoft on

reconciling as well.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling

• Make your system mirror the bank statement.

• Enter in deposits on the system the way you deposit them at the bank. Example 3 deposits at the bank, make 3 deposit entries on the system.

• Be sure to enter your EFT – Automatic deductions the same way they send them to you.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling

• Void checks will need to be cleared in the check section AND the corresponding journal entry. Again this is date sensitive so if you voided the check in a month other than the current, you will need to wait to clear that transaction until the journal entry appears in that month.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling

• Returned check items.

• Be sure to enter in a negative deposit this will reverse your income and your cash.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling • Look for transactions in the amount you are off.

For example if you are off $ 100.00 and you have a $100 deposit that is cleared , double check the deposit in find deposit, same thing with a check as well. If you are using the cash account for the income or expense, this will cause you to be off on your bank statement even if you are correct with cleared deposits/checks.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling

• Verify your ending balance is correct.

• Verify the service charge and interest income entered is correct.

• If any of this information is incorrect you can change it.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling

• Verify the Statement date, as this system is date sensitive and if your bank has a cutoff date that is before the end of the month but your transactions are entered with the last day of the month – they will not appear on your bank reconciliation screen.

• If a date needs to be changed, then you will delete the bank reconciliation and create a new one.

Tips and Tricks to Reconciling

• If you have tried all of the above tips then seek out another pair of eyes to verify for you.

• Print the bank reconciliation report and have them compare the bank statement to the recon report to see if they can find any discrepancies you may have missed.

Questions/Discussion