Bank Reconciliation free essay sample

The word â€Å"reconciliation† means to make two sets of amounts correspond with each other (i. e. make them equal to each other) by explaining why the two sets of amounts differ. Bank reconciliation  is the process of matching and comparing figures from accounting records against those presented on a  bank statement. Less any items which have no relation to the bank statement, the balance of the accounting ledger should reconcile (match) to the balance of the bank statement.Bank reconciliation  allows companies or individuals to compare their account records to the banks records of their account balance in order to uncover any possible discrepancies. Since there are timing differences between when data is entered in the banks systems and when data is entered in the individuals system, there is sometimes a normal discrepancy between account balances. The goal of reconciliation  is to determine if the discrepancy is due to error rather than timing. We will write a custom essay sample on Bank Reconciliation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A bank reconciliation statement is a statement which indicates on a specific date why there is a difference between the bank account balance in the general ledger and the current account balance on the bank statement. Entries that appear on the bank statement, but are not recorded in the cash receipts journal or cash payments journal, are recorded in the relevant journal. The journals are therefore adjusted by the missing entries. Items recorded in the cash receipts journal or cash payments journal, but not appearing on the bank statement, are recorded in the bank reconciliation statement. * CAUSES OF DIFFERENCE:Differences between the cash book and the bank statement can arise from: †¢ Timing of the recording of the transactions †¢ Errors made by the business, or by the bank Also we can explain another way that the causes that lead to the disagreement of the balances in the cash book and the Pass book can be classified as follows: * Transactions that usually appear in t he cash book, but not in the pass book. * Transactions that usually appear in the pass book, but not in the cash book. Let us, now discuss in detail the nature of these transactions and show how they cause the difference in the balances of these two books. Transactions that Usually Appear in the Cash Book, but not in the Pass Book: When you compare the cash book entries with their corresponding entries in the pass book, you will find a number of transactions which appear in the cash book but not in the pass book. Such transactions have been discussed below. a) Cheques deposited into bank but not yet collected: When a payment is received by cheque, the firm sends it to the bank for collection and records it immediately on the debit side of the cash book. This increases the bank balance as per cash book. But the bank will not credit the firms account till the cheque is actually collected.So, the balance in the pass book remains unaffected till the proceeds of the cheque are collected and credited. Thus, on a particular date, it is possible that certain cheques which were sent for collection might not have been collected by the bank and so not shown in the pass book. All such cheques pending collection would make the cash book balance different from the pass book balance. For example, the firm sends a cheque of Rs. 2,000 on December 28, to the bank for collection. The cheque is collected on January 6. Now, if the balances as on December 31 are compared, they will be different because the credit of Rs. ,000 will not appear in the pass book by December 31. b) Cheques issued but not yet presented for payment: Whenever a payment is made by cheque, the cash book is immediately credited. Thus, it is possible when the pass book and the cash book are compared upto a particular date, there may be some entries which appear in the pass book but not in the cash book. Such transactions have been discussed below. a) Interest allowed by the bank, if any: The banks normally do not allow any interest on the current account balances. Some banks may however allow nominal interest. When interest is allowed, the bank credits it to the customers account. This increases the balance in the pass book. The firm would pass the corresponding entry in the cash book only when it receives the intimation from the bank or notices it in the pass book. Hence, the cash book balance will be lower till such entry is made. b) Amounts collected by the bank as per the standing instructions: The businessman often issues standing instructions authorizing his banker to collect on his behalf certain amounts due to him, such as interest, dividends, etc. The bank credits the customers account as and when it collects such amounts and sends the necessary intimation to him. The firm will pass the corresponding entry in the cash book when it receives such intimation. Sometimes the intimation may be misplaced and no entry is passed in cash book.Thus, as on the date of reconciliation, the balances as per the cash book will be lower than the balance as per the pass book. c) Direct payments into the bank made by firms customers: Sometimes, a customer may directly deposit an amount into a firms bank account. Firm shall record it in the cash book only when it learns about such deposit. But the pass book would show the entry on the date of deposit itself. If by the date of reconciliation, such entry has not been passed in the cash book, the balance shown by pass book will be higher than the balance as per cash book. ) Bank charges: The banks usually charge their customers for various service provided by them. They may charge for collection of outstation cheques, for making or collecting payments on standing instructions, and so on. The bank debits the customers account for such charges from time to time. However, the firm will know about these charges only when it goes through the pass book. So, on the date of reconciliation the pass book balance may differ from the balance as per cash book. e) Interest on overdraft: When a firm avails of an overdraft facility, the bank charges some interest which it debits to the firms account periodically.This would reduce the balance or add to the overdraft depending upon the nature of balance in the bank. However, the corresponding entry for interest on overdraft would be passed in the cash book only when the pass book is received. So, there may be a disagreement of the two balances on the date of reconciliation. f) Payments made by the bank as per the standing instructions: The businessman issues standing instructions to his banker to make certain payments on his behalf such as insurance premium, rent, etc. When the banker makes such payments, he would immediately debit the customers account. So, the balance in the pass book would get reduced. If the corresponding entries for such payments have not been recorded in the cash book, the balance as per cash book would remain unchanged. g) Discounted cheques/bills receivable dishonored subsequently: Sometimes, when the businessman deposits some outstation cheques and wants payment immediately, he may request the bank to credit his account immediately without waiting for the actual collection. The bank usually obliges him by discounting the cheque. This means the bank deducts certain amount towards interest (called discount) and credits the remaining amount to his account.Subsequently, if for some reason, such a cheque is dishonored, the bank would immediately debit the firms account. But, the firm would pass the entry for the dishonor only when it receives the intimation from the bank. Thus, the balance as per cash book would differ from the balance as per pass book till such entry has been passed. The same thing may happen when a discounted bill receivable is dishonored. h) Errors in the pass book: The bank may also commit errors while recording the transactions in customer’s accounts which may lead to disagreement of the two balances.Examples of such errors are: i) Omitting to record certain transactions in customers account. ii) Recording of a transaction on the wrong side of firms account. iii) Recording of a transaction in the wrong account where the firm has more than one account in the bank. iv) Recording of transactions which belong to some other customer in the firms account. Preparation of Bank Reconciliation Statement: After identifying the causes of difference, the reconciliation may be done in the following two ways: (a) Preparation of bank reconciliation statement without adjusting cash book balance. b) Preparation of bank reconciliation statement after adjusting cash book balance. * (a) Preparation of Bank Reconciliation Statement without adjusting Cash Book Balance: To prepare bank reconciliation statement, under this approach, the balance as per cash book or as per passbook is the starting item. The debit balance as per the cash book means the balance of deposits held at the bank. Such a balance will be a credit balance as per the passbook. Such a balance exists when the deposits made by the firm are more than its withdrawals. It indicates the favourable balance as per cash book or favourable balance as per the passbook . On the other hand, the credit balance as per the cash book indicates bank overdraft . In other words, the excess amount withdrawn over the amount deposited in the bank. It is also known as unfavourable balance as per cash book or unfavourable balance as per passbook. We may have four different situations while preparing the bank reconciliation statement. These are: 1. When debit balance (favourable balance) as per cash book is given and the balance as per passbook is to be ascertained. 2. When credit balance (favourable balance) as per passbook is given and the balance as per cash book is to be ascertained. . When credit balance as per cash book (unfavourable balance/overdraft balance) is given and the balance as per passbook is to ascertained. 4. When debit balance as per passbook (unfavourable balance/overdraft balance) is given and the cash book balance as per is to ascertained. * Dealing with favourable balancesThis does not appear in the debit column of the pass book. iv) In the debit column of the pass book there are two unticked items on October 30:(1) payment of insurance premium by the bank as per standing instructions, Rs. 500, and (2) bank charges debited by the bank, Rs. 30. But there are no corresponding entries on the credit side of the cash book for these two items. Each of the above items appear only in one book i. e. , either in the cash book or in the pass book. As such, these are the items which are responsible for the difference in the balances of the two books as on October 31. 987. * (b) Preparation of bank reconciliation statement after adjusting cash book balance: When we look at the various items that normally cause the difference between the passbook balance and the cash book balance, we find a number of items, which appear only in the passbook. Why not first record such items in the cash book to work out the adjusted balance (also known as amended balance) of the cash book and then prepare the bank reconciliation statement. This shall reduce the number of items responsible for the difference and have the correct figure of balance at bank in the balance sheet.In fact, this is exactly what is done in practice whereby only those items which cause the difference on account of the time gap in recording appear in bank reconciliation statement. These are as (i) cheques issued but not yet presented, (ii) cheques deposited but not yet collected, and (iii) due to an error in the passbook. Step 1. Adjusting the Balance per Bank We will demonstrate the bank reconciliation process in several steps. The first step is to adjust the  balance on the bank statement  to the true, adjusted, or corrected balance.The items necessary for this step are listed in the following schedule: Step 1. |   Balance per  Bank Statement  on Aug. 31, 2010| |   Adjustments:| |   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Add:  Deposits in transit| |   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Deduct:  Outstanding checks| |   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Add or Deduct:  Bank errors| |   Adjusted/Corrected Balance per Bank| Deposits in transit  are amounts already received and recorded by the  company, but are not yet recorded by the  bank. For example, a retail store deposits its cash receipts of August 31 into the banks night depository at 10:00 p. m. on August 31. The bank will process this deposit on the morning of September 1.As of August 31 (the bank statement date) this is a deposit in transit. Because deposits in transit are already included in the companys Cash account, there is no need to adjust the companys records. However, deposits in transit are not yet on the bank statement. Therefore, they need to be listed on the bank reconciliation as  an increase to the balance per bank  in order to report the true amount of cash. * A helpful rule of thumb is put it where it isnt. A deposit in transit is on the companys books, but it isnt on the bank statement.Put it where it isnt: as an  adjustment to the balance on the bank statement. Outstanding checks  are checks that have been written and recorded in the companys Cash account, but have  not  yet cleared the bank account. Checks written during the last few days of the month plus a few older checks are likely to be among the outstanding checks. Because all checks that have been written are immediately recorded in the companys Cash account, there is no need to adjust the companys records for the outstanding checks. However, the outstanding checks have not yet reached the bank and the bank statement.Therefore, outstanding checks are listed on the bank reconciliation as a  decrease in the balance per bank. * Recall the helpful tip put it where it isnt. An outstanding check is on the companys books, but it isnt on the bank statement. Put it where it isnt: as an adjustment to the balance on the bank statement. Bank errors  are mistakes made by the bank. Bank errors could include the bank recording an incorrect amount, entering an amount that does not belong on a companys bank statement, or omitting an amount from a companys bank statement. The company should notify the bank of its errors.