Unable To Reconcile - Scenarios

This article is for users who need further assistance finding the discrepancy after following the steps in Bank Account Not Reconciling help article. 

To help you identify the cause of the differences, below are some possible causes and further actions to help resolve the problem you are experiencing.

Scenario 1: Bank Account(s) Show A Difference Other Than Zero

Possible Cause 1: Incorrect closing balance.

Confirm with bank statement: A debit balance may have been recorded as a credit balance or vice versa.

Action:

1. Go to Home > Cashbook > Reconciliation.
2. Check that the Bank Statement Closing in your Reconciliation screen matches the paper or electronic bank statement e.g. the closing balance for July 2016.

   

Please Note

• Debit balances are entered with a negative (-) sign that precedes the figures.
• Confirm that the statement has the final day of the month included.
• Check for another bank account with a difference of the opposite amount.

Possible Cause 2: Incorrect opening balance. 

Confirm with bank statement: you may have had a false reconciliation in the previous month. Below are some actions you can take to help resolve this issue.  

Action:

1. Go to Home > Cashbook > Reconciliation.
2. Select the account you are trying to reconcile on the list then click Reconcile This Account.
3. Check that the bank Opening Balance figure matches your bank statement (paper or electronic). If the issue is still not resolved, follow the Action: If Your Reconciliation Is Still Out Of Balance steps below.
   
   

Action: If your reconciliation is still out of balance. 

1. You have established that the bank Opening Balance and the Statement Closing Balance match the bank statement. If you still have accounts out of balance, then you will need to re-reconcile the month’s transactions.
2. Go to Home > Cashbook > Reconciliation.
3. Click Reconcile This Account to take you to the Reconciliation screen for the account in question. 
4. Click UnClear All. This action will remove all the reconciliation markers (asterisks) from the OS column (as shown below).

   

5. When re-reconciling the transactions, take care to check that there are no duplicate transactions and there are no debits that have been recorded as credits or vice versa.
6. Check that you have not transposed figures (e.g. $657 entered as $576). 

Please Note

When reconciling your bank accounts, the golden rule is that you match the transactions on the bank statement to the transactions in the Reconciliation screen. 

Some banks will issue the final paper statement for the month that shows the bank charges and other ends of month charges. However, these charges may not appear on the electronic copy of your bank statement (internet banking facility or download the statement and automatic reconciliation feature). 

Action: View balances

1. Go to Home > Cashbook > View Balances.
2. At the Balances screen:
   • Report Type: Select View Balances.
   • Select Bank Account: Highlight the bank account that is out of balance.
   • Select Months: Highlight the previous month (or a range of months). 
   • Click the green tick.
3. At the Balances Report screen, check the Bank Statement Cash Flows and Balances (all reconciled transactions) section to confirm the Statement Opening figure matches the bank statement.
   • If this figure matches but the Statement Closing figure does not match the bank statement, you have found the month where a reconciliation error has occurred. Follow the steps in Action: Reconciliation Balances Report.
   • If the Statement Opening figure does not match the bank statement, then you will need to check the previous month and re-check the Statement Opening and Statement Closing figures to the bank statement until you have found the month where the reconciliation error occurred. Follow the steps in Action: Reconciliation Balances Report.
   

Action: Reconciliation Balances Report

Once you have found the month where the error has occurred, you can access the Reconciliation Balances Report to compare this report (being a list of all reconciled transactions) to the bank statement. This action will assist you to pinpoint where the error has occurred.

Scenario 2: Difference Amount Is An Even Number

Possible Cause: A debit was posted as a credit or vice versa or a transaction was posted twice.

Action:

• Divide the amount by 2.
• Search the transactions on the Reconciliation screen for an entry equal to the difference amount.
• Search the transactions on the Reconciliation screen for an entry equal to half of the difference amount.
• Investigate all matches.

Scenario 3: Difference Amount Is An Odd Number

Possible Cause: The item may have been posted in the wrong month or you may have either a transposition or a slide.

Transposition is where numbers are transposed. E.g. 1536.98 was entered as 1356.98, giving a difference of 180.00 which can be exactly divided by 9.

 A slide is where the decimal point is in the wrong place. E.g. 15369.80 was entered as 1536.98, giving a difference of 13832.82 which can be exactly divided by 9.

Action:

1. Search the transactions on the Reconciliation screen for an entry equal to the difference amount.
2. Investigate all matches.
3. If the issue is still not resolved, go to Step 4.
4. Divide the amount by 9. If the difference amount is exactly divisible by 9, it could be either a transposition or a slide.
5. Search the transactions on the Reconciliation screen for an entry equal to these amounts, not the difference amounts.
6. Investigate all matches.

Scenario 4: Two Accounts Have A Similar Difference

Possible Cause: An entry may have been posted to the wrong account.

Action:

1. Check the Reconciliation screen for two accounts that have a similar difference (one debit and one credit). 
2. Investigate all matches.