First Bank Reconciliation

[lindahurd]

I can clearly see how to enter checks dated prior to start date that are not on the first statement to reconcile, but am confused as to how to enter checks dated prior to start date that are on the first statement. Can someone clear this up for me?

[Deborah Bean]

Remember that a bank reconciliation does two things. 1) It balances the General Ledger Bank Account balance to the Bank Statement balance. The G/L balance includes all checks and deposits, the Bank Statement does not. 2) It shows which checks and deposits have cleared the bank so that deposits that don't show up may be traced and old outstanding checks may be voided or deleted.

If a previous month is available you can enter the check into PT - but you must verify that the Beginning G/L Balance for the bank account is correct for the starting date of the company after the additions. Or - as long as the Beginning G/L Balance is correct and prior months are not available, you can just clear the checks that are within the new company. Before you begin, you should have a list of all outstanding checks that can be manually cleared as your statements are reconciled. That way if a check does not clear within a few months, the check may be traced, voided, replaced, etc.