How to Reconcile Bank Accounts

In PowerChurch Plus versions 9 and above, the Maintain Check Register screen has been combined with the Reconcile Bank Accounts screen. You will now clear checks and reconcile the bank all on one screen.

Reconciling your bank account

We will walk through how to reconcile your bank account in PowerChurch Plus versions 9 and above.

To reconcile the bank account:

1. Choose Fund Accounting from the Accounting menu and select Reconcile Bank Accounts.
   You will see the Reconcile Bank Accounts dialog.

1. Enter the following items on the Reconcile Bank Accounts dialog screen.
   • Account to reconcile. Choose the bank account that you want to reconcile. Type the number directly or click the magnifying glass to choose the account from the Lookup table.
   • Bank statement date. Enter the date of the bank statement. Prior to Version 11, this date has no affect on the transactions shown in the reconcile screen, it is just the date that will appear on the reconciliation report. In Versions 11 and higher, this date is used to limit the list of transactions that are included on the reconcile screen.
   • Balance per bank statement. Enter the ending bank balance figure from the bank statement. PowerChurch will compare this balance to the system's bank balance, taking into account all of the unreconciled checks and deposits.
   • Sort by. Choose how you want the checks to sort in the check register screen. You can sort by check number or date sequence.
   • Include. Choose whether to include all transactions or just the transactions that have not yet been reconciled.
2. Click Next.
   You will now see the Reconcile Bank Accounts screen.

(Versions 10 and prior)

1. On the Reconcile Bank Accounts screen you will see the following items:
   • Statement Date. This is the date that you entered on the previous screen for the bank statement date. You can change it by typing in the correct date or by clicking on the arrow to pick a date from a calendar.
   • Only show items dated before statement date. This check box option (available in Versions 11 and higher) excludes transactions dated on or after the bank statement date.
   • Deposits and Other Additions. This section lists all of your deposits and additions to the bank account. You can click on each of the column headers to sort on that field. There are 2 options for the status of a transaction: C = cleared, but has not yet been reconciled, and Y = reconciled. If the status is blank then that transaction has not been cleared or reconciled. To change the status to C, select the transaction and press the space bar or enter key on your keyboard. The status of the transaction will automatically change from C to Y when you click Done to finish the reconcile process. If you click Postpone, the items marked with a C will show up in this screen when you come back to finish reconciling along with the unreconciled transactions.
   • Checks and Other Subtractions. This section shows all of your checks and subtractions to the bank account. You can also sort by any field by clicking on the column header. The C and Y options work the same here as they do in the deposit section.
   • Bank statement balance. This shows what you typed in as the bank statement balance on the previous screen.
   • Outstanding checks. This item shows the sum of the outstanding checks that are listed above. As you change the status of transactions to C you will notice that this amount changes. This amount is subtracted from the bank statement balance.
   • Outstanding deposits. This item shows the sum of the outstanding deposits that are listed in the deposit section. As you change the status of deposits to C you will notice that this amount changes. This amount is added to the bank statement balance.
   • Adjusted bank balance. The adjusted bank balance shows the Bank Statement Balance, minus any outstanding checks, plus the amount of outstanding deposits.
   • Account 1110 balance. This is the amount of your bank balance according to what has been entered into the system.
   • To balance. This will show any difference between the adjusted bank balance and the account 1110 balance.
   • Items you have cleared. The Checks and subtractions is the total amount of checks that have been cleared in the screen (marked with a C). The Deposits and additions is the total amount of deposits that you have cleared for this reconciliation.
   • Postpone. The postpone button allows you to exit the Reconcile Bank Accounts screen without losing the changes you have made, but without finishing the reconciliation process. When you come back later to finish the reconciliation, the transactions that were marked as Cleared will still show in the screen with a status of C.
2. Mark the checks and deposits that have cleared.
   Change all of the items that have cleared to a status of C. As you do this, the balances at the bottom of the screen will update. When you are finished, if everything reconciled properly, the To balance amount will be zero.
3. Click Done.
   When finished clearing transactions, click Done. If you need to come back and finish later, click Postpone. You can come back at a later time and finish the reconciliation process. If you click Done and the To balance is not zero you will see a warning which will give you another opportunity to Postpone and come back later to finish.
4. Run reconciliation report.
   Choose whether you want to print the reconciliation report or view the report on the screen. If you view the report on the screen, you can choose to print it by clicking the printer icon. If no report is needed click Don't Run Report. Note that the reconciliation report cannot be rerun.