Difference btwn Journal Report & Selected Paid Items

[kjang]

A cheque was written in December for $208.93. I went to reconcil January's bank statement, but when I was checking off the cheques, the amount was for $36.17, naturally my bank balance is out the difference. I checked my selected paid items and then I ran a journal report. I don't remember changing the cheque amount and my December's bank balance wouldn't have balanced. Any ideas? Any suggests on how to fix it?

Thanks.

[Jeff]

This is a complicated topic and you may wish to enlist the help of a CPA familiar with non-profit accounting.

FASB 124 says: http://www.fasb.org/st/

This Statement establishes standards for accounting for certain investments held by not-for-profit organizations.
It requires that investments in equity securities with readily determinable fair values and all investments
in debt securities be reported at fair value with gains and losses included in a statement of activities. This Statement
requires certain disclosures about investments held by not-for-profit organizations and the return on those
investments.

You are going to need accounts like the following:

01-1810-000 Mutual Fund Original Value
01-1811-000 Mutual Fund Valuation
01-9810-000 Unrealized gain/loss on mutual fund

* I am putting the Unrealized account in the transfer section of your chart of accounts. We don't want the unrealized amount to effect total income or total expense. You can change the 01-9000-000 account from "Transfers" to "Other Changes" to give the section a more appropriate title.

To record a loss of 5,000 you would credit 01-1811-000 and debit 01-9810-000.

[Eden Whitehead]

Ummm, does Jeff's response need to be moved to the "Recording an unrealized loss" question?

[JohnDMeyers]

Kathryn:

Several possibilities. Since you checked off the cheque in January, I assume it was unreconciled in December. I'm not following why you think December would not have balanced. Anyway, I will proceed assuming that the cheque was unreconciled in December.

One possibility is that the cheques were inserted in the printer out of order, and that the check with the correct amount is really there, it just has a different cheque number.

I also assume you meant to pay $208.93, but somehow the bank recorded and paid the vendor the lessor amount, meaning that you still owe someone some money.

If that is the case, you could make a correction either in Acct Payable, if that is where the cheque originated, or in Fund accounting as follows:

In acct payable, use the same vendor and put in a negative amount for the difference. Make sure the bank acct is DB and the expense is CR. This will update the vendor record and, after posting, make your bank acct equal to the "real" bank acct. You can now check off the $208.93 and the correction transaction to reconcile your bank account. (use a reference description that starts with the cheque number, like 2354CORR and it will appear next to the original check in some reports).

Now, you owe the vendor the difference, apparently. Cut another check for the difference and wait until next month for it to show up on your bank record.

[Jeff]

oops, sorry i meant to reply to the unrecognized loss question. Sorry.