Reconciliations

The bank's records and your own records should be agreed (reconciled) regularly for each bank account - preferably once a month when you receive a statement.

The records should agree. There are several possible reasons why they may not:

• Error or fraud by the bank
• Error or fraud by the bookkeeper or accountant, e.g. cheque payments or bank transfers that have not been entered in the Cash Book.

Worked example

The bank reconciliation is an important control. If someone else does it, you should check and sign that it is accurate.