Time, Billing and Accounting FAQ
Table of Contents
- Time & Billing
- Accounts Payable
- General Ledger
- Trust Accounting
- Payroll
- Bank Reconciliation Troubleshooting
Bank Reconciliation Troubleshooting
OPERATING AND TRUST ACCOUNT :
Here are the steps to follow when trying to reconcile a bank
statement to the checkbook register:
-
Print the checkbook register for the date range you are
reconciling. (Same as the date range of the Bank Statement)
-
Place the Checkbook Register report just printed and the
Bank Statement side by side. Take the first item on the
Bank Statement verify it is in the Checkbook Register - if it
is put a checkmark next to the item on the Bank Statement
and the item in the Checkbook Register. At the end any item
that does NOT have a checkmark on either must be reviewed - (this
will find the majority of problems)
-
Items on the bank statement that are not checked off
- this could be a timing issue - ie it hit the bank with
an earlier date then the checkbook register. These items
just need to be carried in Other Outstanding Transactions
when doing the Bank Reconciliation and will clear the next
month. Other possibilities might be missing deposits, checks
etc. How you correct will just have to be on a case by
case basis
-
Review outstanding transactions (deposits, checks, other)
from prior month's Bank Reconciliation Report. These should
either clear on the bank statement or remain outstanding
on the current reconciliation.
-
On the bank reconciliation - review the VOID checks. The
only Void checks that should be cleared are those where the
void entry actually appears in the check register with a
date prior to the end date of the statement. On V18 this
is a little trickier to follow - with Voids there are now
2 entries to clear, and they are NOT always right next to
each other. Easiest thing to do is take the Checkbook Register
from step #1 - locate all VOID check entries - then verify
these void checks are cleared on the bank reconciliation.
Another thing to keep in mind in V18 there are 2 entries
that need to be cleared - V17 and earlier versions only
1 entry.
-
Verify the beginning balance on the check register is the
same as the GL Ledger Balance on page 1 of the Bank Reconciliation
Report from the last month's reconciliation:
-
If they are NOT then an entry has been made in the system
AFTER the last month's reconciliation with a date PRIOR
to the END date of the last month's reconciliation. You
then would have to review the prior months check register
for changes. Easiest thing to do is print the check register
for the prior months now and compare to the check register
printed when the prior months bank rec was originally completed.
This will only work if they did print the checkbook register
at the time they did the bank recon. If they have not printed
the register, then just scan the register for the dollar
amount, and/or look at the journal entry number for any
that are out of sync with the rest. This doesn't happen
a whole lot.
NOTE : If this is the first bank reconciliation
the firm is doing another problem could be with the beginning
balance entered in the system and any outstanding items from
the old system that need to be brought over to Accounting.
(Remember outstanding items from the old system are entered
in Accounting using the Demand Check Writer. Use the actual
date of the check, payee and amount - the Checking Account
AND Expense Account with be the cash account.)
When all of these steps are completed then, in the system,
go to the bank Reconciliation and clear all items except those
that you are outstanding.
TRUST RECONCILIATION :
There are 2 parts to the trust reconciliation. First part
is balancing the check register to the bank statement. The
second part is done automatically by the system - the total
of all Matter Trust Activity ledgers must total up to the checkbook
register balance also. If this does balance you will see nothing - if
it does NOT balance a message will be displayed indicating
what the total of the trust ledgers are, the check register
balance and the difference. You will not be allowed to finish.
To determine what the problem is you do the following:
NOTE: At the end of this procedure if you find that everything
ties in there could be a linking problem. Run the Relink Matters
Tool - could be some orphan records that need to be fixed
-
If you get the msg that the Trust Ledger balance does not
equal the Checkbook Balance, but the Trust Report Detail
does tie into the Checkbook balance then you probably will
find some sort of linking problem (ie there is activity in
Trust Ledgers.ADT that has a client/matter number assigned
that is different then the client/matter number in Matters.ADT
) Run the Relink Matters tool under the Utilities menu.
NOTE : For IOLTA accounts all interest earned
is remitted to the bar - to show this in the system setup a
matter specificly to track this - I usually assign it a matter
number of IOLTA. Then each month before starting the bank rec
you will have to do 2 trust deposits. A positive trust deposit
for the amount of interest earned and a negative trust deposit
for the amount of interest remitted.
Have
Abacus call me 
