This is how I have tried to reconcile the bank account. I talked to some friends who have professional education and experience in accounting and auditing. After playing with the Manager, they recommended me to download bank statement in excel format, and mark/match all the incomes and expenses there in excel and also check if those in bank statement is recorded in the manager.
So i have been following this for over a year. But still my bank is not reconciled. Here are some points about my business;
For incomes i don’t have any pending/unrealized. Because i mark as payment received only when i see that amount in the bank statement. So the date i make a receipt is the same day the payment would be already realized in the bank.
For expenses, i enter a payment slip as soon as i make a payment. When i later gets the account statement, and when i see that transaction, i enter the cleared date in the respective payment slip.
So when i checked my payments, except last 2-3 days payments, all the past payments shows they have been cleared/realized in the bank statement.
There is no miss-match between the bank statement excel file and the payments/receipts in the manager. All the transactions has been identified. Then why my bank statement is still not reconciled? am I missing some steps here?
Please note that, the two reconciliations you see in the attachment is by my accounting friend who in the past did a manual/forced reconciliation. After that period i have been going as mentioned above, but statement is not reconciled. Also, incase you are curious, i am unable to get further help from the accounting friend i talked earlier.
Common Reasons for Failed Bank Reconciliation in Manager Accounting Software
If you’re experiencing issues with bank reconciliation in Manager, it may be due to one of the following reasons:
Incorrect Bank Balance Entry – Ensure you enter the correct closing balance from your bank statement for the last day of the reconciliation period.
Wrong Clearance or Realization Date – Mistakes in date entry, such as selecting 3/5/2024 instead of 5/3/2024, can cause discrepancies. Double-check that transactions are cleared on the correct date.
Unadjusted Bank Account – Before reconciling, ensure your records reflect all pending deposits and withdrawals, as well as deductions for cheques, electronic transfers, and bank charges that appear in your bank statement but haven’t been recorded in Manager.
Incorrect Transaction Dates – If a transaction is recorded with the wrong date, it may be excluded from the reconciliation period, or, appear in a wrong reconciliation period. Always verify transaction dates.
Wrong Bank Account Selection – Ensure the correct bank account is selected in transactions. For example, posting an entry to Citi Bank instead of Ecobank will misplace the transaction, leading to reconciliation failure.
There are so many other reasons that could make a bank reconciliation process unsuccessful.
Best Practice for Easy Reconciliation
To avoid reconciliation issues: Regularly update your bank account in Manager to include all bank charges and unrecorded transactions. Reconcile frequently, daily if necessary, especially if the cash flow position of your business is critical to your business decisions. Always verify transaction details before reconciliation.
I can assure you that something has been left out. If you take your time and go through everything carefully, you will find the issue and resolve it.
A helpful approach is to break down the reconciliation period, instead of reviewing a full month at once, try reconciling weekly. Continue narrowing it down until you identify the specific week where the first reconciliation failure appears. This will help pinpoint the error more easily.
Incorrect Bank Balance Entry – very unlikely. I have checked several times.
Wrong Clearance or Realization Date – unlikely, but yeah maybe.
Unadjusted Bank Account – All accounted.
Incorrect Transaction Dates – unlikely, but yeah maybe.
Wrong Bank Account Selection – Impossible. I have 1 bank account.
Best practice i impose; YES, I daily update bank account in Manager I Reconcile daily YES I always verify transaction details before reconciliation.
I am wondering why i am unable to reconcile anything, even if i made some mistakes, shouldn’t i be able to reconcile a month, a week or at least a single DAY? i have been doing this for a whole year, i am thinking i should not be making so much mistakes?
Regularly update your bank account in Manager to include all bank charges and unrecorded transactions.