I really need some help as I am stressing about a situation with one of my clients.
They use an accounts software called Access. I received very little handover from the previous bookkeeper and from what I can tell the bank account was not reconciled by him on a monthly basis.
They are now approaching year end and I need to reconcile the bank statements, bank nominal account and trial balance.
i have created a bank reconciliation with the help of their accountants, however there is a difference between the bank nominal account on Access and the trial balance on Access. I have been through the statements one entry at a time and checked off all the entries against the Nominal account, however even with the few adjustments for incorrect or missed postings I can not get the Access nominal account to balance with the trial balance.
The client says that I should have brought this to their attention earlier and is not prepared to pay me for my time to correct this so I need a focused approach and some clue where to start.
I've not used Access, but is the bank reconciliation not within the bank nominal account, which automatically goes onto the TB? I use VT software, so once bank reconciliation is done the TB will equal the reconciled figure (say at month or year end) plus or minus any uncleared transactions.
If you have ticked off all entries from bank statements to computer and sure that all is correct, have you checked the opening balance? Does it agree with the previous year-end reconciliation? Does the bank figure differ to the previous year final accounts done by the accountants?
I was always taught to balance the bank to the penny, which I still do to this day (surprising how many don't) but nothing more frustrating than not getting something to balance. Sometimes all you need is to come back to it after a break and you notice it.
If you can provide any further details someone maybe able to give better advice.
Total agree Gill re balance bank rec to the penny - i like you do this also
One client i took on the previous book keeper had a whole load of "unidentified differences" listed !!! I'm serious they were recoreded with that exact wording!!!
I didnt know whether to laugh or cry when i saw it
With abit of unravelling i identified the unidentifed differences and posted all necessary corrections!!!
And reading that I'm going to have a gripe... no question in here, just want to throw my dummy out of my pram as this threads close to my heart at the moment.
I've got a client where the year before I took over the bookkeeping mid year they changed bank.
It was pure internet banking.
They have no bank statements from the old bank, no way to print them now as the account is closed and write as much as either of us like we cannot get the bank to give us prinouts from them. (been two months now and it's approaching me getting in touch with the banking ombudsman about this).
I've got what I assume to be all invoices and receipts plus Paypal statements (god, those things are awful espechially the foreign currency translation bits) and after much pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth I've recreated the trial balance as it should be but with an serious black hole in the reconcilliation which coming from a background in banking is driving me absolutely crazy as like yourselves if I cannot verify to the penny I'm not a happy lil bunny.
Going forwards I know that everything will be verifiable but cannot help but have this feeling that I'm building a castle on a swamp... Just hoping that I can eventually get those bank statements so at least then I'll be able to pour some concrete into that swamp.
Ok, gripe over, feel better already.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I hate having jobs where you're sat waiting for missing information for a long time... I like to get them done as quickly as possible. Constantly remind customers to ensure bank statements are complete when they bring their books in, but without fail there's at least one missing!
The Joys!
Kelly... did you have any luck with the reconciliation work?
Good morning all,
Thanks so much for all the comments.
I am still working on the bank rec. I have managed to discover some differences and will be posting them onto access today to get a revised trial balance figure.
I am still pretty stressed out about the whole thing as it is the company's year end at end of feb, everything needs to be done right now and I am the only one who can do it!
I am trying to be methodical and work through a month at a time.
The company is getting a new accounts system in may so hopefully the whole process will be a lot smoother.
Thanks for you support.
Kelly
