How do I use the Bank Reconciliation module in my RollMaster Software? This module is used to reconcile all bank accounts in your RollMaster System. When you enter this module, the screen will appear as follows:
If a Line of Credit is set up on an account, that data will appear at the top of the screen, as in the example above. If not, the top of the screen will appear as follows:
When you first enter this module, the screen will default to your main Bank Account and will display the newest entries at the top by Date. Deposits will be sorted within a date range by Payment Type Code, Branch, and then Sequence. This will group all the different payment types together so that a list of Visa charges for the day will be together, followed by the next Payment Type Code, etc. To change Bank Accounts, use the drop-down arrow in the field to make a selection. Next to the Bank Account field are display fields that cannot be accessed but will give you important information. The Undeposited Funds field will display the total of deposits/payments that have not been cleared via the Customer Payment Register module, although all deposits/payments will display in the grid below as soon as they are posted in the system. The Balance – Unmarked Items field displays the General Ledger value of the Bank Account selected, plus or minus any transactions made to the bank account, whether or not the G/L has been updated. The Available Balance field displays the sum of the previous balance, less any unmarked transactions that have not cleared the bank. Any “Undeposited” funds will not be included in this total.
The list of items you will see in this screen are as follows: Deposits/Payments that have been cleared off the Customer Payment Register (if a deposit/payment has not been cleared, it will be totaled and included in the Undeposited Funds value at the top of this screen), A/P checks, Payroll checks, Electronic Payments, Credit Card payments, and any Journal Entries created from this module. The Reference column field denotes different information based on the type of entry. Journal Entries will display the General Ledger sequence number assigned by the system when the entry was created. For A/P checks, Payroll checks, and Electronic Payments, the Reference column will display the six-digit check number. If the item is a Deposit or Payment, that column will display the Branch ID, Payment Type Code, and Sequence #. The Name column will display Vendor Names for A/P Checks and Description information for Journal Entries. The Entry column denotes the type of item, such as “Jnl” for Journal Entry, “Chk” for Check, “EP” for Electronic Payment, or “Dep” for Deposit/Payment.
Please Note: from the A/R Customer Account Maintenance module, if an entry impacts a Bank Account, the system will create a journal entry in the Bank Rec. with a type “R; the A/P Open Item Maintenance module will also write a journal entry if a Bank Account is impacted and will display a type “P”; and finally, if a G/L Journal Posting entry impacts a Bank Account, the system will write an entry to the Bank Rec. with a type of “G.”
The Debit and Credit columns display how each entry impacted the Bank Account. The Type column will display various codes for different types of transactions as follows:
This screen can be called up at any time within the Bank Rec. module via the Options menu at the top left of the screen under “View Types Explanation.” The Cleared column will display an “R” if the entry has been reconciled, a “Y” if marked as “Cleared,” or the field will be blank if the entry has not been marked as “Cleared.” Please Note: with regard to voided checks, you will not see the original check along with a negative entry. Instead, the entire check will disappear. You can scroll up and down within this screen by clicking on the arrows on the right-hand side.
Heading and sorting changes:
At the top left of the screen, if you click on the box for the Date heading field, the system will change the date order to display the oldest items at the top of the screen. If you click a second time, it will revert back to newest to oldest. Also, at the very bottom of the screen, you will see the following: Search (MMDDYYYY). If you type a date in this field, the system will find the first item it encounters with that date. You can sort by other column headings by first clicking on the heading and then typing the search data in the “Search” field, which changes based on the heading you selected. For example, to search by a name, click on the “Name” column header, and the Search field will display “Search Name” instead of “Search (MMDDYYYY).” Another option is to click on the Reference header column to sort that information in ascending order. Additionally, if you click this column heading, you can use the “Search” field to locate a specific Check Number. If there are any preceding zeros in the Check Number, you will need to enter those in the Search field. Another Reference item is a Deposit search. For this, you will need to type a combination of the Branch ID, Payment Type Code, and Sequence #, using a “/” in between. You will need to type up to two digits for the Branch ID, up to four digits for the Payment Type Code, and then the two-digit Sequence #. The sequence “00” represents the first deposit of that type on that date. The sequence “01” would be the second deposit of that type that day. Here is an example: 1 /AMEX/00.
If you click on the Entry heading column, the system will sort all Checks together, followed by Deposits/Payments, and then Journal Entries. You can also type a “D” in the Search field to jump to the first Deposit, a “C” for the first check, and a “J” for the first Journal Entry. If you click on either the Debit or Credit column headings, the system will sort all of the amounts in descending order regardless of whether they are debits or credits. Click again, and it will sort in ascending order. Additionally, you can enter an Amount in the Search field to jump to the first occurrence of that Amount. One final column heading sort option is to click on the Cleared column heading. The system will display all Not Cleared items first, then all Reconciled items, followed by any Cleared items. If you type a “Y” in the Search field, the system will find the first record marked as Cleared. Also, the Checks, Deposits, and Journal Entries marked with a “Y” will be showing in the four fields at the bottom of the screen as follows: 1) Deposits Cleared, 2) A/P Checks Cleared, 3) P/R Checks Cleared, and 4) Gen. J/E Cleared.
In the Cleared column, if the field is blank, you can click on the field to change the status to “Y,” which indicates the item has cleared the bank. As soon as you hit enter in the Cleared column for an item, the system will prompt the current date next to the “Y” for the yes indicator, and the Date will default to the current date, which displays until the reconciliation process is completed. (See the Options menu explanation below to change the default date for items cleared). You can also click on an item with a “Y” status and revert the item back to “Not Cleared.” When this happens, the system will first prompt the following: Are You Sure? You will need to type a “Y” for yes to unclear the item. As you “Clear” and “Un-Clear” items, the balance of the fields at the bottom right will increase and decrease. This can be done up until the point that an item has a status of “R” for Reconciled.
Two additional options appear at the bottom of the screen as follows: Mark All By Date and Unmark All By Date. To Mark (as Cleared) all items on or before a particular date, click the Mark All By Date option to display the following: Mark All Records with dates on or before. The system will default to the current date; if you would like to change the date, you can click on the down arrow to prompt a calendar to select a different date. Once a date is entered and accepted, the system will change the status of all Un-cleared items within the date range as Cleared with a “Y” in the Cleared column. Similarly, you can instantly “Unmark” any Cleared items the same way via the “Unmark All By Date” button. The Reconcile Now button should not be used until you have completed clearing all items and making any additional entries to reconcile.
Along the top of the Bank Rec. screen are Menu Items that will allow you to access additional information and programs while still in the Bank Rec. screen. Moving from left to right, if you click on the File button, you will see an option to Exit this menu. You can also use the Esc key to exit this screen or click on the “X” at the top right. If you click on the Options menu, a drop-down menu will display several options as follows:
The Reconcile Account feature will be used when you have marked all Cleared items, made any additional applicable entries not already entered in the system, and are ready to begin the Reconciliation process. This feature will be explained in detail below, following the explanation of the other items in the Options menu. The Make Journal Entry option will prompt a journal entry screen as follows:
At the Account Number -1- field, click the down arrow to select from a list of G/L Accounts. The Account selected will be impacted along with the Bank Account displayed at the top of the screen. The (D)eposit / (P)ayment -2- field is looking for a “D” for Deposit or “P” for Payment. Deposits will be added to the bank account, and Payments will be subtracted. Note: If you enter a minus sign in the Amount -5- field, the system will perform the reverse of what was just explained. You can only select one G/L Account in this module, so if you need to make an entry impacting more than one G/L Account, you will need to use the Journal Posting module. If you need to make an entry from the Journal Posting module, you will need to update the General Ledger prior to completing a Bank Reconciliation.
The G/L Period -3- field will default to the current posting period. You can type in a different period if applicable. The Date -4- field will default to the current date, but you can use the drop-down calendar to select another date where applicable. Type in a dollar figure in the Amount -5- field and add a Comment -6- if needed. The final step is to click on the Save and Close button. Or, if you need to make another entry, click on the Save and New button to stay on this screen. To exit without saving the entry, hit the Esc key or click on the “X” at the top right. All Journal Entries will automatically be marked as Cleared, but you can easily unmark any of these entries prior to reconciling by clicking on the “Y” in the Cleared column.
The Transfer Money feature is used to move money from one bank account or line of credit account to another. When you click on this feature, a box will appear as follows:
At the Account Transferring From -1- field, click on the down arrow to display a list of Bank Accounts and select the Account from which you will be moving money. In the Account Transferring To -1- field, click the down arrow to select the Account to which you will be transferring the money. The G/L Period -2- field will default to the current posting period. Type in a different period if applicable. The Date -3- field will default to the current date, but you can click on the drop-down arrow to select another date if applicable. At the Amount to Transfer -4- field, type in the dollar amount of the money transfer. In the Comment -5- field, you can type out a brief explanation for the money transfer. Click the Accept button to save the transfer. To exit without saving, click on the “X” at the top right of the screen or hit the Esc key. Once saved, in the Bank Rec. screen, the system will display a “T” in the Type column and “Jnl” in the Entry column for money transfers.
By selecting the Default Cleared Date option from the Options menu, you can change the Default Cleared Date for all records you are about to mark as Cleared. When you select this option, a Set Default Cleared Date box will prompt as follows:
The date will default to the current date. Use the drop-down arrow to prompt a calendar to select another date. By clicking on the new date in the calendar and then clicking the Exit button, all new records that you mark as Cleared will reflect the default date now selected. You can also change the Cleared date on any selected item via the Change Cleared Date option. Position the cursor in another column in the row for the item you want to change and then select the Change Cleared Date option from the menu. (Be careful not to position the cursor in the row beneath the item, as this will instantly unselect that item.) The system will prompt the following:
Use the drop-down arrow to prompt the calendar and select the proper date. Click the Exit button, and the system will change the Cleared Date to the date you selected. Please Note: after you change the date, the program will restart the browse from that record.
The Enter Credit Card Charges option will allow you to enter and then distribute expenses for credit card bills. Please Note: this option, along with the Pay Credit Card option (explained below), was designed for online bill paying. If you are going to write a check to the credit card company, you should stick to normal check printing procedures. Before you can use this option, you must first identify all applicable Credit Card G/L Accounts as Credit Cards via the General Ledger Account Maintenance/ Inquiry module. You can also set Credit Card Limit and Interest Rate data so that the Credit Card Balance and Available Balance data can be viewed in this module when a Credit Card Account is selected from the Bank Account field. Also, any Vendors you would like to set up for payment through this option should have the following field in the Vendor Maintenance module set to “N” for no: A/P Vendor Only. Once all set up is complete, select this option from the menu, and an Enter Credit Card Charges screen will display as follows:
You will generate the information in the Vendor Code and Vendor Name fields, but in the Default G/L Account field, click the down arrow to display a list of existing G/L Accounts to assign a default. Once this has been done, the system will return you to the Enter Credit Card Charges screen.
In the next -3- section, you will choose whether this is a “Charge” or “Credit” to this card. The G/L Period -4- field and the Date -5- field will default to the current period and date. Accept the defaults or select a new Period or Date if applicable. At the Amount -6- field, type in the total credit or charge for this transaction. As soon as you enter an amount in the first line of the fields below, the system will display the default G/L Account you previously selected in the Add New Vendor screen along with the total Amount entered in the field above, on the first Account -7- line. If this is the only entry that needs to be made, you can click the Save and Close or Save and New button to complete the process. Otherwise, change the Amount on the first line and continue to select Accounts and amounts until the full charge or payment has been distributed. This process does not pay the bill but allows you to enter all the financial distribution information for the credit card in preparation for making the payment to the credit card company. You will not see any listing in the Bank Rec. screen for the credit card charges, but you will see the financial data on your Cash Disbursements and A/P Journals for the entries made.
The Pay Credit Card option can be used once credit card charges have been added and distributed in the Enter Credit Card Charges option. Before you click on this option, be sure the applicable Credit Card G/L Account has been selected in the Bank Account field of the main screen. When you click this option, a Pay Credit Card screen will display as follows:
The Credit Card Account to be Paid field will display the Credit Card G/L Account number you selected in the Bank Account field. At the Account Paying From -1- field, click on the down arrow button to display a list of Bank Accounts from which the payment is to be made. Accept the default G/L Period -2- and Date -3- prompts, or click on those fields to make changes if applicable. In the Amount to Pay -4- field, type in the amount of the payment, and in the Comment -5- field, you can add a note applicable to the payment. Once you click the Accept button, the process will be complete, and you will be able to view the payment on the Bank Rec. main screen. You will also be able to see all history of Credit Card payments by selecting the Credit Card G/L Account in the Bank Account field.
The View Deposit Details option will allow you to view all details of a deposit entry. Note: the cursor must be positioned on a Deposit entry of the main Bank Rec. screen when you click on this option. When this option is selected, the system will display a Deposit Screen with the deposit details as follows:
For any Deposits not Marked as Cleared, additional functionality will allow you to click on any line in the screen above to prompt a Change Deposit Screen as follows:
There are two options from this screen, and both appear at the bottom. The first -1- option is Delete from this deposit and Mark as Undeposited. Use this option to delete the selected deposit amount from the Deposit and return the entry to the Customer Payment Register. When this option is used, the Undeposited Funds field will automatically change to reflect the deletion. The second -2- option is Delete from this deposit and Add to another deposit. If you click this option, the system will prompt a Deposit Selection Screen. From this screen, you can click in the Select This Deposit column to select the Deposit to add the amount. If you select Move deposit to selected deposit button, which adds the selected Deposit entry from the previous screen to the selected Deposit, it will change the amounts on both Deposits before displaying the screen again. You can also use the Exit and cancel moving deposit button to cancel the Deposit move. Please Note: this feature will only let you add to a Deposit from the same Branch.
With the cursor positioned in any field on an “EP” or “Chk” item in the main screen, you can click on the Options menu and select View Check/Electronic Payment Details to see all applicable details of the check or electronic payment. For either item type, the system will prompt a Check Screen as follows:
From this screen, if an “*” appears in the Notes column on a line, you can click the Vendor Invoice Notes -1- button to view those Notes. Be sure the cursor is positioned on the line before you click any of the buttons. The View Invoice Journal Entries -2- button will prompt the Entries made in Open Item Maintenance for an item. You can also click the View Invoice Detail -3- button to view Inventory Data for material Invoices and/or the Purchase Order Data on items tied to a system PO.
With the cursor positioned on a Vendor ID in the Name column, you can select the View Vendor Information feature from the Options menu to display the Vendor Maintenance screen for that Vendor. This is a display-only screen. You can, however, click on the Vendor Notes button to prompt existing Notes for the selected Vendor.
With the cursor positioned on a Journal Entry or Credit Card Payment item, you can select the View Journal or Credit Card Payment option to display a View Journal Detail Screen as follows:
This is a display only screen. Hit the Esc key to return to the main screen.
For the Bank Account selected in the main screen, you can select the View Undeposited Funds option to display a listing of all Undeposited funds as follows:
This is a display-only screen also, but you can click on the Print Undeposited Funds Report button to print a listing of all Deposits appearing on this screen.
The View Types Explanation option displays a list of abbreviations found in the Entry and Type columns as a handy reference. When you select this option, the system will display a View Types Explanation Screen as follows:
Click the Exit button to return to the main screen.
The final options appear as follows: Home Key Programs and Calculator. The first will prompt the Home Key menu of programs, and the Calculator will prompt an on-screen calculator.
The next drop-down menu to the right of the Options menu appears as follows: Reconciliation Reports. The report options available from here appear as follows:
The Print Outstanding, Print Cleared, and Print Previous Reports items can be printed at any time; if there are no Previous Reports available, the system will prompt you that no reports are available. Also, the Print Outstanding and Print Cleared reports will export to Excel. Within each of those reports, you can select which items you wish to appear via a Report Option box as follows:
You can click on the Accept button to print all items or click on the arrow to remove any items you don’t want on the report. The Print Reconciliation Recap report will only print data once you have begun the reconciliation process. Ideally, you will want to print a complete report just prior to finalizing a Bank Reconciliation. During the Bank Reconciliation process (explained below), you will also be prompted to print these reports, but they can be printed at any time via this drop-down menu.
The Master Menu option allows you to access any system module without leaving the Bank Rec. screen.
When you are ready to begin a Bank Reconciliation, you will first begin by clicking in the Cleared column for all items that are cleared on your bank statement, making sure each has a “Y” in that column to indicate it has cleared the bank. You can click on an item with a “Y” status and revert the item back to Not Cleared at any time. As you Clear and Un-Clear items, the balance of the fields at the bottom right will increase and decrease. This process can continue on any item up until the point that it displays a status of “R” for Reconciled. Two other options to be aware of appear at the bottom as follows: Mark All By Date and Unmark All By Date. To Mark (as Cleared) all items on or before a particular date, click the Mark All By Date option to display the following: Mark All Records with dates on or before. The system will default to the current date; if you would like to change the date, you can click on the down arrow to pop up a calendar to select a different date. Once a date is entered and accepted, the system will change the status of all Un-cleared items within the date range to Cleared. Similarly, you can instantly Unmark any Cleared items the same way via the Unmark All By Date option.
When all items for a Bank Rec. have been marked as Cleared and you are ready to finalize the Bank Rec. process, click on the Reconcile Account option from the Options drop-down menu. The system will prompt a Reconcile Screen as follows:
Important Note: When using lines of credit and credit cards in the Bank Reconciliation module, make sure the Ending Balance is entered with a (-) minus sign. These account types are listed in the system as Liability accounts and should reflect a Credit balance on your Financial Statements.
In the Beginning Balance -1- field, the system will automatically prompt the ending balance from the last completed Bank Reconciliation. However, this field can be overridden if applicable. The Ending Balance -2- field will default to the Available Balance field from the main screen but should reflect the ending balance from your current bank statement. At the G/L Period -3- field, type in the applicable period for this Bank Reconciliation if different from the default period. At the Current Year -4- field, the default is “Y” for yes, meaning that the data will post to the Current Year reflected in the system General Ledger. In a situation where your Accounting year is January through December, but only the first six periods (January through June) of the current year are closed, and you are about to move into a new Accounting year, your January and subsequent months will be considered Next Year in the system until you finish closing all the remaining periods of the Current Year and perform a physical End of Year close in the system. In this case, you would need to change the default to “N” to post to the Next Year.
At the End Date -4- field, enter the date, using the calendar via the down arrow, to select the last date you would like to see any items displayed during the Bank Rec. Prior to hitting the Accept button, you can exit this screen at any time by hitting the Esc key or by clicking on the “X” in the upper right-hand corner. If you hit the Accept button, the Bank Rec. screen will re-display with items and values based on the information you just entered. The Total Cleared and Difference fields will display values at the bottom right of the screen to let you know if the Bank Rec. info is correct. You can only complete the reconciliation if the Difference field is 0.00. You will not be able to click the Reconcile Now button until the difference is 0.00. If you attempt to use the Reconcile Now button prior to successfully completing the reconciliation, you will receive a prompt indicating why you cannot proceed.
When the Difference field is 0.00, and you are ready to complete the reconciliation, you will then click the Reconcile Now button to complete the process. All items that were marked as cleared will then be reconciled, and an “R” will appear in the Cleared column next to those items. Also, the system will prompt a Reconcile Account Report Options menu. You can check or uncheck the reports that you want printed. If you don’t print any reports at this time, they will be archived and available for printing later once the reconciliation is successfully completed. Once you hit the Accept button from the reports menu, the system will prompt the following: Reconciliation Final Confirmation. Are you sure you want to mark all cleared items as reconciled? To complete the process, click “Yes” to proceed.