Reconciling a check

[willsell]

During the check off of cleared checks I discovered a check showing as cleared on the statement but have no record of that check in PowerChurch. Any suggestions on how to resolve this problem?

[JohnDMeyers]

Step 1 is to see if anything like that check was entered (perhaps with an incorrect date, or it was never posted) into PowerChurch.

You can search Accounts Payable and/or Payroll for the amount or for the date. If you do not find it at all, then simply enter the check. You can probably get an image from your bank. Post the information, and reconcile it.

We allow handwritten checks to go out. Sometimes, we forget to enter them into PowerChurch. If this turns out to have been a handwritten check, enter the information into PowerChurch as a Manual Check, and post it.

[willsell]

ty
It appears that this was a manual check. Therefore I will post as a manual check.

[willsell]

my predecessor left a big mess. we have unreconciled items from prior years. how should I resolve them so that they no longer appear when doing the reconciliaions?

[JohnDMeyers]

Once you get reconciled to the present date, and you have a bunch of old unreconciled items hanging out there - here is how I would approach it (this isn't to say it is the ONLY way to approach this).

After I can demonstrate that our bank account is sound and current (by reconciling it to the most recent bank statement) , I would go through and reconcile each outstanding item in the reconciliation window. This will throw the current reconciliation way off, either too high or too low.

I would make sure the church board is aware of the reasons for doing this, and for doing this next step.

Correction Entry:
Make one huge entry that will affect the bank account and the unrestricted net assets (in other words, you are going to make this part of the current year's beginning balance).

Date this transaction: 1/1/11 and post it in the current working month.
DB or CR 01-1110-000 checking
DB or CR 01-3110-000 unrestricted net assets

Then, post this transaction and reconcile it.

The reason I leave it open for DB or CR is that I don't know if you will need to add or subtract from your bank account to make it come out right.

I would also put a note on the annual statement that says something like this: "The bank statement was reconciled to 5/17/11 (or whatever date) and many items had been unreconciled for many years. These amounts were added to (or subtracted from) this year's beginning balance."

[willsell]

Scenario to cleanup old transactions:
Selected transactions
Created an adjusting entry
cr bank 1110 500.00
db unrestricted 3110 500.00
posted the correcting entry
In reconcile:

bank balance 1000.00
Adjusted bank balance 1000.00
account 1110 balance 1000.00
to balance 0

Problem 1
when I select the correcting entry to clear, the adjusted increases to 1500.00
account 1110 balance remains at 1000.00
to balance is now 500.00

What am I doing wrong?

If I click done and then look at the balance sheet I do not see account 1110 = 1000.00

[JohnDMeyers]

The balance sheet will show the reconciled amount plus-or-minus any outstanding deposits or checks, so the reconciled balance, and the balance sheet will usually be different (unless you have no outstanding deposits or checks).

In your example, it appears that the bank balance of $1000 and the adjusted balance $1000 are equal. I am not understanding why you are making the $500.00 correction.

It may be that you are trying to get the balance sheet to some amount, which should not be your goal. Your goal is to get the reconciled amount (to balance) equal to zero, which it appears you have accomplished without the $500 correction.