In the bank accounts tab when drilling down on Cleared balance, the transactions are listed by cleared date which is acceptable.
However, when drilling down on Actual balance, the transactions are also listed by cleared date. which I don’t consider as acceptable. Shouldn’t they be listed by the actual date?
When considering a bank balance, transactions are known to the bank only when they are cleared. The bank has no way of knowing when you entered a transaction into your records. The reason both are shown in order of cleared date is so the running balance will better match the bank’s running balance. The only difference between the cleared balance and the actual balance figures is that the actual balance takes into account pending transactions that you know about but the bank does not. Listing actual running balance according to clearance dates increases the likelihood that, on some dates, Manager’s running balance will match the bank’s. Only once you get to the dates of pending transactions will they differ.
If you think about it, unless you have very few bank transactions spaced far enough apart that all clear before the next is entered, a running balance ordered by transaction entry dates would be completely useless.
If you can access the Summary Page you can open a cash/bank account on the summary page and see transactions of bank accounts listed by ‘Actual Dates’. The Summary page presents actual balances only.
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Thanks @Abeiku your reply is helpful and makes sense. However, if the summary drilldown can show actual dates I can’t see why the bank listing actual balance can’t do it. After all the actual balance is meant to display transactions from the business’s perspective, not the bank’s perspective.
It is not a matter of “can’t,” it is a matter of designed purpose.
No, this is where the designed purpose comes into play. The Summary page is from the business’ perspective. The Bank Accounts tab is intended to show balances from the bank’s perspective for comparison with statements. In fact, the column labeled Cleared balance used to be labeled Statement balance. Actual balance only adds the pending transactions. As I wrote earlier, in both columns, the intent is to furnish meaningful running balances that maximize the chance of matching the bank’s. On the other hand, as @Abeiku’s post suggests, the Summary is meant to reflect your business’ activity.
The display philosophy in the two locations is admittedly different, but not accidental.
c’est la vie, Que Sera Sera, it is what it is.
The Receipt and Payment tab also shows transactions with the actual dates. Enter the bank account into the search box and all the transactions for the account will be displayed but without a running balance.
Thankyou. Another example to support my argument that the bank account listing “Actual balance” should list the transactions by ‘Actual date’.
That doesn’t support your argument, @AJD. The Receipts & Payments tab has a different purpose from Bank Accounts.
Of course it does. Actual balance should have actual dates.
There are two balances in the bank listing. Which balance are you referring to?
When you focus on the cleared balance (what the bank has recorded without any reference or concern to what the business may have recorded) the cleared date is acceptable.
When you focus on the actual balance (what the business has recorded) the expectation is that you will see the date that the business completed the transaction.
The term “Balance” refers to a snapshot in time. If the dates are not referenced to the actual date of the transaction then the snapshot in time is inaccurate.
That is why I pointed you to the balance sheet. The balance sheet is the place to go for a snapshot in time but I do understand you. If you are worried about limited users who can access a bank account but not the summary page, give them access to the Bank Account Summary report. They will only see bank accounts they have been allowed to see. The report is based on actual balances, drill-down and you see actual transaction dates. I’m not against your suggestion.