M.3 Revisión de una conciliación bancaria mensual elaborada por un contable

‍Authored by Winona Dorris and Poppy Davis 

What is a bank reconciliation and why should I review it? 

A bank reconciliation is a procedure for making sure that everything coming in and out of the bank account is recorded in the bookkeeping, and everything recorded in the bookkeeping is accounted for at the bank.

The bank reconciliation provides strong oversight for your bank account to ensure that all transactions coming in and out of the bank account are appropriate. Note, this especially includes fraud detection where unauthorized withdrawals may happen; the bank reconciliation is one key way of identifying these issues.

How do I review a bank reconciliation?

A critical step in the bank reconciliation process starts with a review of the bank statement, which happens independently from the bank reconciliation process. As owner/manager you should receive the bank statements each month and review them, noting any unusual or unexpected items. The bookkeeper may receive the bank statement at the same time. Once the bank reconciliation process is complete, you should review the reconciliation report.

Perform this process for each of your business bank accounts. 

1. Gather your reports:
   
   • Bank Reconciliation Report: Obtain this from your bookkeeper or directly from your bookkeeping system for the prior month.
   • Bank Statement: Obtain your bank statement for the prior month.
2. Verify Reconciliation Dates:
   
   • Reconciliation Period: Check the report to ensure it covers the period ending on the last day of the prior month.
   • Reconciliation Date: Look at the date the reconciliation was performed. Ideally, this should be within ten days of the prior month's end.
     
     1. If it's a month or more after the end of the prior month, your bookkeeper is likely behind. If you are providing information promptly, you should be receiving timely reports each month. Ask your bookkeeper for an explanation for any delays.

3. Review Your Bank Reconciliation Report for Balances:
   
   • Statement Beginning Balance:
     
     1. Compare this amount on the report to the beginning balance on your bank statement.
     2. The two numbers must match exactly.
   • Statement Ending Balance:
     
     1. Compare this amount on the report to the ending balance on your bank statement.
     2. The two numbers must match exactly.
   • Action for Discrepancies: If the beginning or ending balances on your bank reconciliation report and bank statement do not match exactly, there's a problem. Ask your bookkeeper why the numbers do not agree. 

4. Go to the section “Checks and Payments Cleared”
   
   • Scan the entire section, Do you see any large items that you were not expecting? Can you think what they might be? If you see any unexpected large amounts:
     
     1. Ask your bookkeeper to show you the details for that amount
        
        1. Be sure you understand their answer.
     2. You may need to contact your bank to dispute an unauthorized charge. 
        
        1. Generally you must dispute an unauthorized charge with your bank as soon as you become aware of it, and within 60 days. Some banks have shorter or longer periods of time in which to dispute a charge. 
5. Go to the section “Deposits and Other Credits Cleared”
   
   • Scan this section for large, important, or regular payments/deposits you expect to see (e.g., weekly farmers’ market deposits, a single large payment from a customer).:
     
     1. If an expected payment or deposit is missing, ask: Why? 
        
        1. Sometimes, the payment may have been recorded in the prior or next month.
        2. However, if a payment is truly missing, you want to know as soon as possible so you can investigate what happened.
6. Go to the section “Uncleared Checks and Payments”
   
   • Scan section for:  
     
     1. Checks more than one month old: Consider if the recipient lost the check, forgot to deposit it, or if you voided the check but didn't inform your bookkeeper.
     2. Checks more than six months old: These may need to be reissued as banks may not honor checks older than six months. 
        
        1. Important Note: Uncleared checks can clear at any time. Keep this in mind when looking at your bank balance to determine your available funds.
7. Any remaining unreconciled items will appear as a separate category to be able to easily identify. Make sure to clear these at the end of each month.