How Can We Help?
Bank Reconciliations
Create a Bank Reconciliation
Step 1: Log into your AltheaSuite account. Navigate to the Finance Books module, then click Bank Reconciliations.
Click New on the top left of the screen.
This will open the Create Bank Reconciliation screen. The system will assign a unique reconciliation number (e.g., BRC00045).
Step 2: On this screen, you will need to fill in the details from your bank statement.
- The Business Location field is pre-filled based on your user settings and is used for logging purposes.
- Click the dropdown menu in the Bank Account field to select the bank account you wish to reconcile.
- The Beginning Balance field shows the beginning balance for the statement period. This amount should match the balance in your account currently in AltheaSuite.
- The Last Reconciliation Date field shows the date of your last successfully completed reconciliation in AltheaSuite.
- Enter the ending balance in the Ending Balance in Statement field exactly as it appears on your bank statement for the period you are reconciling.
- Select the end date of the bank statement period you are reconciling in the Statement Date field.
Step 3: You have several options to control which transactions are displayed in the All Transactions table at the bottom:
- Check Show All Unreconciled Transactions to view all transactions that have not yet been cleared in a previous reconciliation.
- Check Show All Transactions to see every transaction for the selected account, regardless of its reconciliation status.
- Hide Transactions After the Statement End Date is checked by default to help you focus only on the relevant period. Uncheck it if you need to see future transactions.
Step 4: From the All Transactions list at the bottom, check the box next to each transaction that appears on your bank statement. As you select them, they will be moved to the Selected Transactions table for review. The Selected Credit (Cr) and Selected Debit (Db) totals will update automatically.
Step 5: Scroll down to account for any bank fees or interest that may not have been previously recorded in the system.
If your bank statement shows a service fee, enter the amount, the date it was charged, and select the appropriate expense account to categorize it under the Service Charge fields.
If you earned interest, enter the amount, the date it was credited, and select the appropriate income account under the Interest Earned fields.
Step 6: The summary section provides a complete overview of the reconciliation:
- Service Charge / Interest Earned: The totals from the adjustment fields.
- Beginning Balance: Your starting point.
- Reconciled Amount (Db): The net total of all the transactions you selected.
- Expected Ending Balance: Calculated as Beginning Balance + Reconciled Amount + Interest Earned – Service Charge.
- Ending Balance in Statement: The amount you entered from your bank statement.
- Difference: The discrepancy between the Expected Ending Balance and your Ending Balance in Statement. A difference of $0.00 means your account is reconciled.
Step 7: There are two options to save your work. Choose one of the following:
- Hold (green box): Click this to save your reconciliation in progress without finalizing it. You can return to it later.
- Save (red box): Click this to complete and finalize the reconciliation.
Step 8: If there is a difference between your records and the bank statement, the Difference field will show a non-zero amount. When you click Save, a confirmation pop-up will appear.
This alerts you to the discrepancy. You can choose No to go back and find the error, or Yes to save the reconciliation as-is.
These specific financial transactions will be created automatically when you save with a discrepancy:
- Reconciliation Discrepancies: This is an automatically generated account to track your discrepancies.
- Account Debit/Credit: The main account that you’re reconciling will also be debited/credited the discrepant amount so the account balance matches the Ending Balance you entered when making the document.
