They say money isn’t everything, and while there is a lot of truth to that statement at the end of the day business owners can’t pay rent with happiness. Knowing how much money is coming in, how much is going out, and how much you have at any given time is imperative to managing a business. One mistake that is made by too many business owners is to blindly trust statements from their banks, or accounting tools without double checking. Mistakes happen, and it is up to you or your accounting partner to catch them!

As the name implies, monthly reconciliation is a close review of all accounts, expenses, incomes, and transactions to make sure everything is correct. This could mean looking for missing transactions, or identifying errors on transactions that have posted. This step makes sure that the amount you see available in your accounts is accurate. Accurate financial information is imperative in budgeting, planning for growth, and just everyday business operation.

Income

All streams of income should be tracked fervently! Understanding all streams of income and verifying that the amounts making it to your accounts are accurate is an important first step in monthly reconciliation. All records of sales or services should be correlated to a corresponding financial transaction and checked for accuracy. While it seems obvious that the sum of all sales and services should match your total monthly income, there are countless opportunities for mistakes.

Taking the time to verify that all incoming money is accounted for and accurate is half of the battle.

Expenses

The other half of the battle is making sure all expenses are accounted for, no unexpected expenses are occurring, and that the amount paid for each expense matches what was owed. Some expenses, like monthly subscriptions, can change without any notice. This process of monthly review can help catch those changes, or simply errors made in invoicing or payment.

Excessive expenses are brutal to a company’s bottom-line, and need to be caught early, Similarly, forgetting to pay a monthly expense and allowing the amount owed to build up can lead to a rude awakening down the line.

Banks make mistakes!

Banks usually do an amazing job, and that needs to be said upfront. That being said, Deitz Consulting once had a bank misplace a $30,000 deposit! While it may be hard to miss a mistake of that size, it is proof that going through all deposits in your accounts is actually necessary.

Like many tasks when it comes to accounting, many business owners find reconciliations to be quite daunting. Be sure to check out our video where Phyllis walks through the process using a demo company in Quickbooks for an example of how approachable this process really is.

Still seem like too much? Like most other accounting tasks, Deitz Consulting customers never have to worry about handling their own reconciliation. Reach out today if you are ready to focus on what you do best without worrying about the daily grind of accounting!