Objective
This article will provide an overview of two distinct approaches to Cheque Batch usage.
Applies To
AccountsPrep integrated companies.
Procedure
Cheque batches are imported and posted by users before they are reconciled against bank statement data.
The result of this is that your bank reconciliation report will show all outstanding unreconciled cheques at period end.
Users tend to post cheque batches in one of two ways:
Upload details for all cheques in the period via a cheque batch entry, then reconcile against bank statement data.
Our bulk cheques matching feature makes it fast & easy to reconcile with bank statement data.
Add the outstanding cheques at period end in the cheque batch entry.
This requires you to determine which cheques did not appear in the bank statement.
Then simply add only these ones via cheque batch and they will be listed as outstanding at period end, while still available to reconcile with bank statement data in the next period.
By working this way, users can include the cheque details & cheque numbers within the bank statement batch entry under the details & reference columns.
There are merits to both approaches depending on the client, but we recommend taking the first approach where possible.
By uploading all cheque data via a cheque batch entry:
The system will ensure all cheque numbers are unique.
Cheque matching (reconciliation) is very quick and will find the outstanding cheques so you don't have to do it manually.
You will get to view all cheques (and their status) in a well-presented view in the Cheque Listings section.
Cheques written will be distinguished from normal bank payments (useful for filtering in Formatted Trial Balance movements etc.)
'Cheques written date' can be entirely distinguished from 'cheques presented date'.
Ideally, you will have a system where the client will record cheque details in excel during the year (column format: Date, Cheque Number, Details, Amount) and you can simply upload this to save time re-typing!