Reconciliations serve a purpose! Reconciliations are critical to great books. Why? Because when you reconcile, you confirm that the correct data is recorded. Not too much (duplicate transactions), not too little (missing transactions), but just right! (If we can quote our friend, Goldilocks).
Melinda often says that great books come from two main phases –
- Phase One is to ensure everything is recorded and confirm that by reconciling all the appropriate accounts.
- Phase Two is to ensure that everything got coded properly – that’s the review of the financials to ensure consistency in the coding/posting to accounts.
So as you can see, reconciling is a key step to success and the basis for Phase One. But too often, we find that reconciliations are painful because the books are not set up in a way that records the activity properly in the first place. FAIL!
The key to clean, great books is to set up systems to record the activity the same way. That means we take the time to ensure that bank deposits are recorded in your books exactly as they hit your bank account. This may sound simple, but it often does not get done that way.
At ZümiFi, we take the time to design the data entry in such a way that we get it right the first time. This ensures two things –
- We can trace through all transactions and make a compelling and logical case in the event of an audit.
- Reconciliation, which is just a confirmation process, is a breeze!
It just makes sense to get things right the first time. If your books require you to make assumptions or adjustments to complete a reconciliation, then quite frankly, they are vulnerable to mistakes or mischief. It also makes it difficult for another bookkeeper or CPA to review and take over. With Great Books, any professional should be able to pick up your books and continue with minimum disruption.
If you have difficulties reconciling each month cleanly and quickly, call ZümiFi! We can help you troubleshoot your systems!