95715

How to use Bank Reconciliation

Resolution:

Both the automatic and manual bank reconciliation can be found under the Finance & Administration module, specifically speaking, the automatic bank reconciliation is found in Finance & Administration > Month-End, the manual bank reconciliation is at time of writing found in Finance & Administration > Import, Export & Maintenance but will later be moved to Settings. The purpose of automatic bank reconciliation is to compare the transactions on the bank statement, with the postings on the corresponding holding account in the WorkBook General Ledger. This ensures that the actual bank account and the finance account for the bank within WorkBook are reconciled and differences known and highlighted.  The manual bank reconciliation is only used to set up the starting balance on the holding account. Thereafter the Automatic Bank Reconciliation, found in the Month End sub menu should be used.

Manual reconciliation:

Under the manual bank reconciliation you can specify a date to indicate that all financial postings up to this date have been settled. The amount entered is the balance of the chosen holding account as of the selected date
Let's say we'd like to start reconciling the bank from 1st of June. In this case, we'll tell WorkBook that all postings have been settled up until 31st of May by ticking checkbox by the balance column at the last posting on 31st of May or the most recent entry prior to this date. Otherwise, financial postings that have already been reconciled will still appear under automatic reconciliation, when we settle June 30th.

Automatic Reconciliation:

1. To run the Bank Reconciliation users need to first import the Bank Statement transactions for the period you are reconciling. When importing this file for the first time, some setup will be required, which is described in detail in KBA#96322.  Now users will see two tables next to each other, the one on the left contains the un reconciled postings in the WorkBook ledger account, and the one on the right contains the imported transactions from the bank statement. Users can filter the Bank account transactions up until a particular date, by using the Date field. Workbook can assist in reconciling transactions using the Auto elimination function. This matches transactions with the same date and amount. It also approves the reconciled items at the same time, which gives a shaded highlight to each matched item. It also applies a number to each reconciliation. Any pairings can be un reconciled using the Remove Eliminations button, which removes the reconciliation, removes the shading and the number, and makes each line once more available for reconciliation. 
2. Users can also choose to manually match items, but have Workbook close each reconciliation once the user has selected items that balance. To do this, tick the Close elimination when in balance check box. This is particularly useful if users are matching off items that have different number of line items in each window. As soon as the selection balances, Workbook will automatically close the elimination, again applying the shading and providing a numeric value to that elimination.  Again, any elimination can be un reconciled using the Remove Eliminations button, which removes the reconciliation, removes the shading and the number, and makes each line once more available for reconciliation. 
3. Finally, users may choose to manually apply the matching and close the elimination yourself. To do this tick each line item individually in the two upper boxes that you wish to reconcile, and once users are happy with the selection which needs to be eliminated, use the Approve button in the upper menu bar to approve and close the elimination. This again applies a shading to the eliminated items and a numeric value. Any manually reconciled eliminations must first be approved before the Eliminations are finalized. 
4. Once users have completed the reconciliation, you should finalize it using the Finalize eliminations button. Workbook will ask users to provide a name for the reconciliation, and a date up until which the elimination is being applied. Users can provide any name, but must ensure that the date which is being applied is not in the future, and does not pre-date any of the transactions which have been reconciled.
   Reconciled transactions are removed from each of the upper squares, leaving those entries that are un reconciled. This would suggest that items in the top left hand square have been posted to the general ledger, but not yet appeared in the bank statement. Users should review these items to ensure they are all genuine timing issues. Transactions showing in the upper right hand square of those entries that have appeared on the bank statement, but which have not been posted to the Bank ledger account. Users should review these items to ensure they are all valid and thereafter they should be posted to the bank account in the general ledger. Once posted to your ledger, they will become available as items for reconciliation in the upper left hand square.