Initial Bank Reconciliation

[LynneDartnall]

Hi

I am having problems with one of my bank accounts reconciling.  I have started a completely new file from 1 April 2015 and put in the account opening balance.  To check where my error is I have undone all my reconciliations and when I put 31 March 2015 for the reconciliation date, it doesnt match the account opening amount.  I assume that I have entered a transaction that has got the wrong date on it (in the old MYOB you could do a search to see if you had something dated incorrectly) but I cant see to find anything in the Accountright.  I have run all sorts of reports, put dates in that go back to 1950(?) and forward to 2020 but cant seem to find anything.  The Bank Register is fine (that matches the bank account) but when I try to reconcile, it thinks I am short.  If I add in another transaction to make the reconcilation balance, my bank register is then out of balance.  Is there a way that I can find out where this transaction is?

Cheers

[gavin12345]

Hi @LynneDartnall

2 things to try, change the year to 9999 ( I have seen transactions dated in the year 2103 instead of 2013 as well as one in the 35th century) - the year 9999 will cover every possibility. Also generate a Balance Sheet dated at the end of the next financial year and check that Net Assets equals Equity. If not this suggests the reconciliation discrepancy may be caused by a bug in the program.

When calculating the bank balance at a particular date for reconciliation purposes, apparently MYOB starts with the current bank balance, then deducts any unreconciled transactions dated after the the bank statement date. So the problem might be from a transaction in a later period.

Regards

Gavin

[LynneDartnall]

Hi Gavin

Unfortunately with the new version it doesnt allow the date 9999 - only 2 digits which means I dont know if it is searching 1999 or 2099.

I can't tell from the Balance Sheet as our Accountant hasnt gone over the file yet to make sure everything balances from last year.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[gavin12345]

Hi @LynneDartnall,

What software and version are you using? If you are using MYOB Accountright, every date screen I have seen accepts 31/12/9999 as a date.

When looking for an incorrectly dated transactions, perhaps try the Transaction Journal, set dates From tomorrow's date for example 08/01/2016 To 31/12/9999 and then click the All tab - this will display any future dated transactions.

Whether MYOB balances or not is unrelated to whether your accountant has or hasn't finalised the previous financial year. At any time, Net Assets should always equal Equity. With AR2015, unfortunately this is not always the case, nor does AccountRight check for this. It just assumes the 2 will always match, and they do, until something goes wrong. If the 2 are not equal, this indicates a corruption in the file.

I always suggest the end of next financial year as this is the latest date MYOB will allow you to generate a Balance Sheet. If your current financial year (under Setup > Company Information) is say 2015, then generate a Balance Sheet as at 30 June 2016. Check Net Assets matches Equity. If not this could be what is causing your Reconciliation to be out. 

Regards

Gavin

[LynneDartnall]

Using Accountright 2015.4 (says I have the latest updates)

mmm...

my dates have the month in words and I can only put 2 digits in for the year (which is why it goes back to 1999).

Is there a setting I can change - had a look but can't find anything.

Cheers

[Steven_M]

Hi @LynneDartnall

AccountRight takes its date format from within Windows. It sounds like you have the short date format set on your computer to be d/MM/yy or something similar. If you are wanting to enter the full year i.e. xxxx as oppose to xx I would be closing AccountRight, navigating to the Region and Language section of your Windows Control panel and changing the short date format to be dd/MM/yyyy. Once that setting has been applied, reopen AccountRight and you should be able to see the full year date in order to enter the year 9999 as @gavin12345 has suggested.

Don't forget to change it back if required after you have taken a look or corrected the error.

[LynneDartnall]

Thanks Steven - that worked with the dates (currently living in the US so had it set for that date/time/language etc).

Tried the dates in all sorts of reports/registers etc and still cant find the amount.

So then did the balance sheet and yes, my Net Assets and Equity are out by $50 which is the amount less GST, that doesn't balance.

So I know what it is but I just cant find the transaction to either date it correctly or delete it.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[Steven_M]

Hi @LynneDartnall

As the Balance Sheet doesn't balance I've sent you a direct email in regards to getting that company file sent in for an investigation. All the information in regards to getting that company file sent in are included in that email but if you do have any further enquires do let us know.

While we have the company file we do encourage you to continue to work on the company file. The repair team will take a look at the file that you do send in and then get in touch once they have found a solution for that file sent in.