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Download bank reconciliation template in Microsoft Excel format.

Understanding The Bank Reconciliation Form

Businesses and even some individuals will have large volumes of transactions with their banks. The balances reflected in the bank statement and that obtained from the bank book of the business can tally only when a bank reconciliation is done. A bank reconciliation form is a useful tool in helping you with this task. The following data would need be generated for the purpose of a bank reconciliation:-

Checks issued but not debited by bank

Credits given by bank but not entered in the books of the business

Bank charges debited by bank but not accounted in the books of the business

Checks deposited but not credited by the bank

ATM withdrawals if any

Debit card purchases if any

A bank reconciliation form provides for the appropriate debit credit adjustments to the account resulting in matching the two figures at the end of the exercise. For better appreciation of the bank reconciliation form, the steps involved in a bank reconciliation exercise are explained below.

The total of checks issued by you but not debited by the bank is deducted from the balance shown in the bank statement. For accounts enjoying overdraft facility, if the bank statement shows a negative balance, the total of checks pending to be debited (because the payee has not claimed it) will be added to the negative balance and the total of the two sums would therefore be the new liability.

Credits given by the bank, but not entered in the books of the business are added to the balance shown in the bank book of the business.

Bank charges debited by the bank but not accounted in the books of the business are reduced from the credit balance in the books of the business or added to it, if it is showing a debit balance.

The total of Checks deposited but not credited by the bank is added to the balance shown in the bank statement (a negative balance can turn positive in some cases).

Any ATM withdrawals and Debit card purchases not accounted in the books of the business, but reflected in the bank statement should be appropriately deducted from the balance shown in the books of the business (added if the books are showing a negative balance).

To get the best results out of the bank reconciliation form, care should be taken to provide precise information while attempting the reconciliation. Arriving at the net difference between the two sets of figures and adding or deducting the unadjusted items manually was the way to reconcile bank accounts before the digital universe introduced automated tools such as the bank reconciliation form. Nevertheless, reconciling bank accounts at periodic intervals continue to be a major exercise for large businesses even in modern times.