Reconciling checking accounts

To ensure the accuracy of your business records, you should keep a record of your checking accounts' balances matched up with your bank's records. This task is called reconciling accounts. If this is the first time you're reconciling an account using MYOB BusinessBasics, be sure to see Reconciling an account for the first time for additional information.

Once you're sure all the checks and deposits that appear on your bank statement are entered in BusinessBasics, you're ready to reconcile your account.

If you download bank or credit card statement files from the Internet to your computer, MYOB BusinessBasics automatically matches transactions from the statement file to those within your company file. Once the match takes place, that transaction is marked as cleared in the Reconcile Accounts window. See Reconciling using statements downloaded from the Internet for more information.

If your account is out of balance, a window will indicate the amount by which your account is out of balance, and will provide you with a few ideas of how the out-of-balance situation might have occurred. Here are some additional things you might want to verify:

• Are all the checks and deposits that appear on your bank statement marked in the Reconcile Accounts window? Check to be sure the deposit and withdrawal amounts that appear on the Total Cleared line near the bottom of the Reconcile Accounts window are the same as the total deposit and withdrawal amounts on your bank statement.
• Did you mistakenly mark a transaction that doesn't appear on your bank statement?
• Did you make the correct entry in the New Statement Balance field? (Be sure you entered the ending balance from your statement, not your beginning balance.)
• Are all deposits accounted for? If the bank statement shows a higher balance than the balance calculated by BusinessBasics, a previously cleared deposit may have been deleted and not reentered, or reentered but not marked as cleared.

If you decide to exit the Reconcile Accounts window without successfully reconciling a checking account, the transactions marked as cleared remain marked. You can pick up where you left off at any time.

If you wish, you can enter bank service charges and interest using the Reconcile Accounts window. You'll click the Bank Entry button to open the Bank Entry window. If you've received bank service charges, enter an amount in the Service Charges section. If the account you're reconciling is a Detail Checking Account, the bank fee, when recorded, will appear as a check transaction assigned to the checking account you're reconciling. The next available check ID number is assigned to the transaction. (If the account you're reconciling is a Detail Account, a General Journal entry will be recorded.) Verify the date and enter the account you wish to allocate the charges to (usually an expense account). Add a memo if you wish.

If you received interest, you'll enter an amount in the Interest Earned section. If the account you're reconciling is a Detail Checking Account, the interest, when recorded, will appear as a deposit transaction assigned to the checking account you're reconciling. The next available deposit ID number is assigned to the transaction. (If the account you're reconciling is a Detail Account, a General Journal entry will be recorded.) Verify the date and enter the account you wish to allocate the bank interest to (usually an income account). Add a memo if you wish.

Step by step
To reconcile an account
To reconcile an account for the first time using BusinessBasics