Journal Entries not showing up in Bank Rec Window

[paygirl123]

When I go into Financial --> Reconcile Bank Statement - I can see the checks and deposits that have been booked against that particular bank account but I can not see any journal entries done using that bank account G/L account number.
This is making it impossible for me to reconcile bank statements since many EFT transactions are booked simply via journal entry.

HELP!

 

[LyleU]

G/L journal entries will never show up in the reconciliation. This is true for any subledger where the G/L account is a control, such as A/R or A/P for example. Think of the cash account as just another sub-ledger and do not make ANY entries directly to that G/L account.

The only way to make this happen correctly is to book the EFT transactions, and the like, via a transaction entry in the reconciliation module.

There is a way to fix this for your existing transactions. Post back if you need further assistance.

LyleU

 

[paygirl123]

I would love to know how to fix this and do it right moving forward - Please elaborate -

Not sure what you mean by a transaction entry.

Thanks!

 

[LyleU]

Since I don't have access to a version 10 installation here, I'll give you the version 9 process.

The window that you are looking for is found under Transactions > Financial > Bank Transactions. The type of transaction will be either a decrease or increase depending on the type of EFT transaction that you are working with. Since your G/L is already correct because of the previous journal entry, you only want to get the same transaction amount into the Bank Rec module so that you will have something to reconcile to your bank statement. When you enter the amount of your EFT transaction into the Bank Transaction Entry screen, the system will automatically populate the corresponding G/L account, for the bank, and amount into the grid in the bottom half of the screen. I always have my clients make the offsetting entry to the bank account as well. This has no effect on the G/L balance because it nets to zero as both the debit and credit go to the same place. The key is to use the same account for both the debit and credit halves of the entry so as not to throw something out of balance. You now have a Bank Rec transaction that has not affected your G/L and you can proceed with your reconciliation process.

From this point onward, you should use this same Transaction Entry screen to make these EFT entries to the bank by replicating what you would have put in the journal entry. As with an A/R or A/P entry, you need to affect both the sub-ledger (the Bank Rec module) as well as the G/L and the only way to keep it all in sync is to initiate the entries from the sub-ledger. If the journal entries were not originating in the G/L, this process may have to be adjusted somewhat to achieve the desired results.

I hope that this helps. If anything is still unclear, post back with your further questions.

Lyle

 

[paygirl123]

Thank you! This is working out great!

Does anyone happen to know why it is when you use the "Bank Transfer" feature - these entries do not apprear in the G/L account associated with the Bank Account?

I have to do the "Bank Transfer" (so I can reconcile it with the Bank Reconciliation) but then it seems like I have to do a journal entry as well so the change appears in that particular G/L account and on the Balance Shhet -

Any ideas? - seems like I'm doing the same thing twice - is this necessary?

 

[LyleU]

Paygirl,

No, you shouldn't have to do a journal entry after the transfer. The whole point of using an accounting system is to make your life easier.

I don't have time just now to walk through the process, but will have a look this evening and see if I can provide some pointers.

Lyle

 

[LyleU]

Paygirl,

I have tried a number of different scenarios and everything seems to work just fine in my test system.

Some questions:

Have you checked to see if the entries are waiting to be posted in a Financial batch? Is your system set to post these through or just to the G/L? When are you checking for the entries in the G/L? Nothing happens until you close the Transfer window. Are both checkbooks active? The transfer window defaults to the current date so are you sure that the G/L entries are not posted in a month where you haven't looked yet?

If you have solved this please post your solution to benefit other readers. Thanks

Lyle

 

[paygirl123]

Hi Lyle -

These transactions are not waiting to be posted in a Financial Batch.
I checked to make sure I am looking at the correct dates.
I post the Bank Transfer and they DO show up in the Bank Reconcilation but if I inquire on that particular checkbook G/L number - the transaction does not appear? (for either G/L account in question)
I checked to make sure both checkbooks are active - they are.
I'd love to post a solution but I haven't found one yet.
Where would I go in Great Plains to see if the "set-up" is correct? Is there somewhere I could check to see if the "set-up" for bank transfers is somehow set for them only to post to Bank Reconcile and not to the G/L itself?

 

[leopold31]

Here is how to address the issue properly.

Use "Bank Transaction" in the financial tab instead of General Ledger entry. When you use this, what posts to your cash account will also appear in your bank reconcilation window. We use this for our EFT items and it works beautifully.

Use a General Ledger entry when you don't want to affect the balance of your check book ledger. Note that a general ledger entry WILL affect your cash account in your general ledger, but will NOT affect the balance in your check register. Those registers are kept separately. For this reason, General ledger entries are rarely used when you want to affect the cash account UNLESS you want to reconcile a discrepency between the general ledger and the checkbook ledger.

Do NOT use transfer funds. That is just pushing the problem from one area to another, and is not the correct way to address what you want to do.

Common EFT transfers that we have are: Payroll, Sales Taxes, Retirement Plan funding, credit card processing fees, and more. Just set up your Bank Transaction the same way you would your journal entry. The only difference is will update your check register and you can reconcile it properly.

I hope this helps.

Leopold

 

[LyleU]

Sorry Leopold, but Bank Transfers are perfectly acceptable to use when documenting the transfer of funds from one bank account to another. That is why it is in there - one screen, no mess, no fuss, it just works for what it is intended.

Unfortunately, that part of the thread does not appear to be related to the first part and really should have been in a new thread, but the fact remains, the Bank Transfer facility is both usable and correct for its intended purpose. The question was not about using Bank Transfer to fix the problems in the first question but why there did not appear to be G/L entries when Bank Transfer was used.

Lyle

 

[paygirl123]

I think I fixed it!!!

I went to TOOLS --> SET-UP ---> POSTING ---> POSTING ----> Series: Financial ----> Origin: Bank Transfer Entry
and then clicked "Post to General Ledger"

It looks like this will work!!!

 

[LyleU]

Paygirl,

That is great. Sometimes we automatically assume that an issue is some obtuse and difficult problem and forget to have our users check the more obvious things.

I am sure that you have indeed found the problem.

Lyle