Hi all, first post but been hanging around for a while.
I have a client that has lost his cheque stubs and has not entered them into his accounts. Which is the best and quickest way for me to get around this problem?
He pays suppliers, wages and cash for various things. I really don't want to have to sift through all the receipts etc to match but I can see no other way at the moment. He could go to the bank and see if they will give him details but that will also cost.
Yes he has the bank statements that gives me the cheque number and amount but he is no idea what these payments are for and does not want me spending hours trying to match them. Basically they have never done accounts before and decided to try it themselves but have missed most of the information off. They have just put bits on here and there but not taken anything from a bank statement or tried to reconcile.
If you list all the cheque numbers out with the amounts and when they cleared the bank you might be able to see some patterns, like wages clearing just after the month end or some repeat balances that he pays regularly.
Payments clearing after the 19th of the month might relate to PAYE/NI.
That might help the number of cheques a bit, but I can't really see how you can avoid 'matching' or requesting copies of cheques.
If you sat down with him, would he not be able to point out the larger cheque values for you?
Oh, you could also ask his accountant what's best. Dependent on the mix of work they might be happy with you only sorting cheques above a certain value and they'll make a judgement call on the smaller items.
Hope that helps
Andy
__________________
Bookkeeping and payroll services in and around Swindon www.m4books.com