Using the Bank Reconciliation FunctionΒΆ
The purpose of the Bank Reconciliation function is to ensure that the actual balance of your bank account and the balance as recorded in the ledger are in step and that no transactions have been lost (or gained). On a regular basis you should check the content of your bank statement with the transactions listed in the Bank Reconciliation screen and mark those that appear on the bank statement as Reconciled.
[Space Bar (See Set Up), F5, Alt-M or click the button].
Flag the entries as reconciled (using the space bar) in the order of the bank statement. This way you can check the balance as you go, if there is a slight difference in the two it will be easier to find.
You may Search for a particular transaction by Type and Reference [e.g. Cheque Number]
There are five fields at the top of the screen.
| Statement Number: | |
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Here you may record the Bank Statement Number so that the entries that were reconciled from each statement may be identified. |
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| Buttons: | The functions available on this screen may be invoked by Buttons on the right hand side. |
| Show Balance: | This displays a summary of the:
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| Delete: | This button deletes the current transaction. Use this with great care. It should not normally be necessary to delete transactions from this screen. |
| Search: | This function allows you to search for a particular transaction. The search criteria are Transaction Type and Reference. Both criteria must be set. |
| Mark/Unmark: | This button allows you to mark (as reconciled) and where necessary unmark a transaction. This is main function of the Bank Reconciliation screen. You will be asked to confirm the Reconciliation date. Note that you may also Mark and Unmark with the space bar. You will always be asked to confirm the Reconciliation date where the Button is used. Optionally you may turn off this where the space bar is used at M/S Setup, Database Setup, General. |
| Date: | This allows you to search for an entry with a specific date by moving to the first entry with that date. |
| Cancel Chq: | This allows you to mark this cheque as cancelled. Where it was printed but not sent for example. |
| Add Entry: | This allows you to add an entry manually. This should be done only in unusual circumstances. |
| Edit Entry: | This allows you to edit an entry. Use this feature with care it it not normally necessary to edit an entry. |
| Set Open Balance: | |
This allows you to record the initial opening balance as it is in your actual bank account so that it balances with the value in the database. |
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| Import File: | This allows you to import details of your actual bank account that have been down-loaded from your bank electronically. The process will look for matches between the records on the screen and the records in the down-loaded file and will mark matched records automatically. |
| Accept: | Click this button to accept the changes you have made in this editing session. |
| Cancel: | Click this button where you wish to abandon all of the changes you have made in this session. No changes will be recorded and the screen will be the same as when you started this session. |
| Flags Column: | This records some status history about each entry.
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