Looking for Methodical Way to Approach Bank Rec When There's an Out of Balance Amount (A Checklist? A Strategy List?)

SUGGESTED

I have been using Sage 100 for about a year... it's been a steep learning curve but I'm getting there. I am an office manager who make lots of entries in the GL but I also oversee the entries of two other bookkeepers who do the RA and AP. (Which is to say that it's not only my own errors I need to watch out for.) Bank Rec remains challenging for me.  My understanding of the mechanics of it and how the different journals interact with it is pretty good but I'd like a good checklist of strategies to use when it's out of balance.

For example: This month, every item on my bank statement corresponds with an item in my GL but Bank Rec still shows an out of balance amount. I know this means there's an error somewhere in my GL... possibly something that's in there that doesn't belong in this month.  I am floundering around searching for the error, ruling out possible sources, but I think there must be a more methodical way for me to approach this.  Any tips or resources would be greatly appreciated. (I was in balance at the end of last month.)

  • 0
    (Where's Tom and his link to BR tips?).

    Don't assume there is an error in the GL and look for entries in the GL that aren't in BR. Also, don't ever clear anything beyond the date you're reconciling.

    There are some transaction types that aren't automatically put into BR (like GL Journal Entry) and when you find something missing you can then know your places to look in future months.
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    You could also try rebuilding the sort files for BR if you're sure everything has been entered and cleared correctly.

    Joe
  • 0 in reply to jnelsonut
    The mystery remains... in Bank Recap Cleared Doc Only Report, the total checks cleared amount matches my bank statement and my GL as do the total deposits. Bank Code Maintenance balance matches GL. Bank Rec Recap All Docs matches GL balance. And all this also matches the handwritten register that I keep during the month. Spent time w/Sage support on the phone yesterday. Ran the Bank Rec utility (didn't help) and went through check history to tie each of our AP checks to the checks in bank rec to make sure there weren't any corrupt records in there. I'll dig into the numbers a little more today then call Sage. Joe, I'll ask about rebuilding sort files. Kevin, great suggestions... I found Tom's Tips & Tricks List, thanks, it's a good resource. Any further suggestions appreciated.
  • 0 in reply to JennLee
    Is the beginning balance accurate?
  • 0
    SUGGESTED
    Run the bank recap report for cleared items only, using the bank code and the month end date in the right hand column. Then run for cleared items, but do not put a date in either field. The cleared totals should be the same. If they are not, then something has been cleared for a date past the bank statement ending date you are trying to reconcile too. Checking that the beginning balance on the bank recap report when run for all items should match the beginning balance on the bank statement.