Bank Reconciliation Process

Step 1. Adjusting the Balance per Bank
We will demonstrate the bank reconciliation process in several steps. The first step is to adjust the balance on the bank statement to the true, adjusted, or corrected balance. The items necessary for this step are listed in the following schedule:

Step 1.	Balance per bank statement on Aug. 31, 2011
	Adjustments:
	Add: Deposits in transit
	Deduct: Outstanding checks
	Add or Deduct: Bank errors
	Adjusted/corrected balance per bank

Deposits in transit are amounts already received and recorded by the company, but are not yet recorded by the bank. For example, a retail store deposits its cash receipts of August 31 into the bank's night depository at 10:00 p.m. on August 31. The bank will process this deposit on the morning of September 1. As of August 31 (the bank statement date) this is a deposit in transit.

Because deposits in transit are already included in the company's Cash account, there is no need to adjust the company's records. However, deposits in transit are not yet on the bank statement. Therefore, they need to be listed on the bank reconciliation as an increase to the balance per bank in order to report the true amount of cash.

• A helpful rule of thumb is "put it where it isn't." A deposit in transit is on the company's books, but it isn't on the bank statement. Put it where it isn't: as anadjustment to the balance on the bank statement.

Outstanding checks are checks that have been written and recorded in the company's Cash account, but have not yet cleared the bank account. Checks written during the last few days of the month plus a few older checks are likely to be among the outstanding checks.

Because all checks that have been written are immediately recorded in the company's Cash account, there is no need to adjust the company's records for the outstanding checks. However, the outstanding checks have not yet reached the bank and the bank statement. Therefore, outstanding checks are listed on the bank reconciliation as a decrease in the balance per bank.

• Recall the helpful tip "put it where it isn't." An outstanding check is on the company's books, but it isn't on the bank statement. Put it where it isn't: as an adjustment to the balance on the bank statement.

Bank errors are mistakes made by the bank. Bank errors could include the bank recording an incorrect amount, entering an amount that does not belong on a company's bank statement, or omitting an amount from a company's bank statement. The company should notify the bank of its errors. Depending on the error, the correction could increase ordecrease the balance shown on the bank statement. (Since the company did not make the error, the company's records are not changed.)

Step 2. Adjusting the Balance per Books
The second step of the bank reconciliation is to adjust the balance in the company's Cash account so that it is the true, adjusted, or corrected balance. Examples of the items involved are shown in the following schedule:

Step 2.	Balance per books on Aug. 31, 2011
	Adjustments:
	Deduct: Bank service charges
	Deduct: NSF checks & fees
	Deduct: Check printing charges
	Add: Interest earned
	Add: Notes receivable collected by bank
	Add or Deduct: Errors in company's cash account
	Adjusted/corrected balance per books

Bank service charges are fees deducted from the bank statement for the bank's processing of the checking account activity (accepting deposits, posting checks, mailing the bank statement, etc.) Other types of bank service charges include the fee charged when a company overdraws its checking account and the bank fee for processing a stop payment order on a company's check. The bank might deduct these charges or fees on the bank statement without notifying the company. When that occurs the company usually learns of the amounts only after receiving its bank statement.

Because the bank service charges have already been deducted on the bank statement, there is no adjustment to the balance per bank. However, the service charges will have to be entered as an adjustment to the company's books. The company's Cash account will need to be decreased by the amount of the service charges.

• Recall the helpful tip "put it where it isn't." A bank service charge is already listed on the bank statement, but it isn't on the company's books. Put it where it isn't: as an adjustment to the Cash account on the company's books.

An NSF check is a check that was not honored by the bank of the person or company writing the check because that account did not have a sufficient balance. As a result, the check is returned without being honored or paid. (NSF is the acronym for not sufficient funds. Often the bank describes the returned check as a return item. Others refer to the NSF check as a "rubber check" because the check "bounced" back from the bank on which it was written.) When the NSF check comes back to the bank in which it was deposited, the bank will decrease the checking account of the company that had deposited the check. The amount charged will be the amount of the check plus a bank fee.

Because the NSF check and the related bank fee have already been deducted on the bank statement, there is no need to adjust the balance per the bank. However, if the company has not yet decreased its Cash account balance for the returned check and the bank fee, the company must decrease the balance per books in order to reconcile.

Check printing charges occur when a company arranges for its bank to handle the reordering of its checks. The cost of the printed checks will automatically be deducted from the company's checking account. 

Because the check printing charges have already been deducted on the bank statement, there is no adjustment to the balance per bank. However, the check printing charges need to be an adjustment on the company's books. They will be a deduction to the company's Cash account.

• Recall the general rule, "put it where it isn't." A check printing charge is on the bank statement, but it isn't on the company's books. Put it where it isn't: as an adjustment to the Cash account on the company's books.

Interest earned will appear on the bank statement when a bank gives a company interest on its account balances. The amount is added to the checking account balance and is automatically on the bank statement. Hence there is no need to adjust the balance per the bank statement. However, the amount of interest earned will increase the balance in the company's Cash account on its books.

• Recall "put it where it isn't." Interest received from the bank is on the bank statement, but it isn't on the company's books. Put it where it isn't: as an adjustment to the Cash account on the company's books.

Notes Receivable are assets of a company. When notes come due, the company might ask its bank to collect the notes receivable. For this service the bank will charge a fee. The bank will increase the company's checking account for the amount it collected (principal and interest) and will decrease the account by the collection fee it charges.Since these amounts are already on the bank statement, the company must be certain that the amounts appear on the company's books in its Cash account. 

• Recall the tip "put it where it isn't." The amounts collected by the bank and the bank's fees are on the bank statement, but they are not on the company's books. Put them where they aren't: as adjustments to the Cash account on the company's books.

Errors in the company's Cash account result from the company entering an incorrect amount, entering a transaction that does not belong in the account, or omitting a transaction that should be in the account. Since the company made these errors, the correction of the error will be either an increase or a decrease to the balance in the Cash account on the company's books. 


Step 3. Comparing the Adjusted Balances
After adjusting the balance per bank (Step 1) and after adjusting the balance per books(Step 2), the two adjusted amounts should be equal. If they are not equal, you must repeat the process until the balances are identical. The balances should be the true, correct amount of cash as of the date of the bank reconciliation.


Step 4. Preparing Journal Entries
Journal entries must be prepared for the adjustments to the balance per books (Step 2). Adjustments to increase the cash balance will require a journal entry that debits Cash and credits another account. Adjustments to decrease the cash balance will require a credit to Cash and a debit to another account.

Sample Bank Reconciliation With Amounts

In this part we will provide you with a sample bank reconciliation including the required journal entries. We will assume that a company has the following items:

Item #1.	The bank statement for August 2011 shows an ending balance of $3,490.
Item #2.	On August 31 the bank statement shows charges of $35 for the service charge for maintaining the checking account.
Item #3.	On August 28 the bank statement shows a return item of $100 plus a related bank fee of $10. The return item is a customer's check that was returned because of insufficient funds. The check was also marked "do not redeposit.
Item #4.	The bank statement shows a charge of $80 for check printing on August 20.
Item #5.	The bank statement shows that $8 was added to the checking account on August 31 for interest earned by the company during the month of August.
Item #6.	The bank statement shows that a note receivable of $1,000 was collected by the bank on August 29 and was deposited into the company's account. On the same day, the bank withdrew $40 from the company's account as a fee for collecting the note receivable.
Item #7.	The company's Cash account at the end of August shows a balance of $967.
Item #8.	During the month of August the company wrote checks totaling more than $50,000. As of August 31 $3,021 of the checks written in August had not yetcleared the bank and $200 of checks written in June had not yet cleared the bank.
Item #9.	The $1,450 of cash received by the company on August 31 was recorded on the company's books as of August 31. However, the $1,450 of cash receipts was deposited at the bank on the morning of September 1.
Item #10.	On August 29 the company's Cash account shows cash sales of $145. The bank statement shows the amount deposited was actually $154. The company reviewed the transactions and found that $154 was the correct amount.

Before we begin our sample bank reconciliation, learn the following bank reconciliation tip.

Put it where it isn't.
If an item appears on the bank statement but not on the company's books, the item is probably going to be an adjustment to the Cash balance on (per) the company's books.

If an item is already in the company's Cash account, but has not yet appeared on the bank statement, the item is probably an adjustment to the balance per the bank statement.

Our approach to the bank reconciliation is to prepare two schedules. The first schedule begins with the ending balance on the bank statement. We refer to this schedule as Step 1. The second schedule begins with the ending Cash account balance in the general ledger. We call this schedule Step 2.

Items 1 through 10 above have been sorted into the following schedules labeled Step 1and Step 2. The item number is shown in the far right column of each schedule.

Step 1.	Balance per bank statement on Aug. 31, 2011	$  3,490	Item #1
	Adjustments:	0
	Deposits in transit	+  1,450	Item #9
	Outstanding checks	–  3,221	Item #8
	Bank errors	0
	Adjusted/corrected balance per bank	$  1,719

Step 2.	Balance per books on Aug. 31, 2011	$     967	Item #7
	Adjustments:
	Bank service charges	–       35	Item #2
	NSF checks & fees	–     110	Item #3
	Check printing charges	–       80	Item #4
	Interest earned	+        8	Item #5
	Note Receivable collected by bank	+     960	Item #6
	Errors in company's cash account	+        9	Item #10
	Adjusted/corrected balance per books	$  1,719

Step 1 Amounts
Let's review the schedule for Step 1. In all likelihood the balance shown on the bank statement is not the true balance to be reported on the company's balance sheet. The bank reconciliation process is to list the items that will adjust the bank statement balance to become the true cash balance. As the schedule for Step 1 indicates, the amount of deposits in transit must be added to the bank statement's balance. Also, the amount of checks that have been written, but not yet appearing on a bank statement, must be subtracted from the bank statement's balance. Next any bank errors should be listed and should be reported to the bank for correction. (The company does not report deposits in transit and/or outstanding checks to the bank.)

 


Step 2 Amounts and Required Journal Entries
Step 2 begins with the balance in the company's Cash account found in its general ledger. The bank reconciliation process includes listing the items that will adjust the Cash account balance to become the true cash balance. We will review each item appearing in Step 2 and the related journal entry that is required. Remember that any adjustment to the company's Cash account requires a journal entry. Generally, the adjustments to the books are the result of items found on the bank statement but have not yet been entered in the company's Cash account.


Item #2 Bank service charges. Since the bank deducted $35 from the company's checking account, but the company has not yet deducted this from its Cash account, the following journal entry needs to be made.

Date	Account Name		Debit	Credit
August 31, 2011	Bank Service Charge Expense		35
		Cash		35

(If the annual amount of service charges is small, debit Miscellaneous Expense.)

Item #3 NSF checks and fees. Since the bank deducted these legitimate amounts from the company's bank account, the company will need to deduct these amounts from its Cash account. As mentioned, the NSF check of $100 was from a customer. Therefore, the company will likely undo the reduction to Accounts Receivable that took place when the company originally processed the $100 check. If the company wishes to recover the bank fee of $10 from the customer, it should add the $10 fee to the amount that the customer owes the company. The journal entry might look like this:

Date	Account Name		Debit	Credit
August 28, 2011	Accounts Receivable		110
		Cash		110

(If the amount cannot be recovered from the customer, charge an expense.)

Item #4 Check printing charges. Because this expense is not yet entered on the company's books, but the amount has been deducted from its bank account, the company will make the following journal entry.

Date	Account Name		Debit	Credit
August 20, 2011	Supplies		80
		Cash		80

Item #5 Interest earned. The bank increased the checking account balance by $8 on August 31. Since the bank did not notify the company previously, the company must now increase the balance in its Cash account.

Date	Account Name		Debit	Credit
August 31, 2011	Cash		8
		Interest Revenue		8

Item #6 Notes receivable collected. The bank increased the company's checking account when it collected a note for the company on August 29. It was determined that the company had not yet made an entry to its Cash account for this transaction. As a result the following journal entry is needed.

Date	Account Name		Debit	Credit
August 29, 2011	Cash		960
	Bank Service Charge Expense		40
		Notes Receivable		1,000

Item #10 Company error. The company had entered $145 in its Cash account on August 29, but the bank statement showed the correct amount: $154. The transaction involved the cash sales for the day. As a result the company's Cash account will have to be increased by $9 as follows:

Date	Account Name		Debit	Credit
August 29, 2011	Cash		9
		Sales		9

Step 3 Comparing the Adjusted Balances
In the above schedules the adjusted balance for Step 1 is $1,719 and the adjusted balance for Step 2 is $1,719. The company believes that all items involving cash have been included in the schedules. As a result the company has successfully completed its bank reconciliation as of the August 31, 2011

Introduction to Inventory and Cost of Goods Sold

Inventory is merchandise purchased by merchandisers (retailers, wholesalers, distributors) for the purpose of being sold to customers. The cost of the merchandise purchased but not yet sold is reported in the account Inventory or Merchandise Inventory.

Inventory is reported as a current asset on the company's balance sheet. Inventory is a significant asset that needs to be monitored closely. Too much inventory can result in cash flow problems, additional expenses (e.g., storage, insurance), and losses if the items become obsolete. Too little inventory can result in lost sales and lost customers. 

Because of the cost principle, inventory is reported on the balance sheet at the amount paid to obtain (purchase) the merchandise, not at its selling price.

Inventory is also a significant asset of manufacturers. However, in order to simplify our explanation, we will focus on a retailer. 

Cost of Goods Sold

Cost of goods sold is the cost of the merchandise that was sold to customers. The cost of goods sold is reported on the income statement when the sales revenues of the goods sold are reported. 

A retailer's cost of goods sold includes the cost from its supplier plus any additional costs necessary to get the merchandise into inventory and ready for sale. For example, let's assume that Corner Shelf Bookstore purchases a college textbook from a publisher. If Corner Shelf's cost from the publisher is $80 for the textbook plus $5 in shipping costs, Corner Shelf reports $85 in its Inventory account until the book is sold. When the book is sold, the $85 is removed from inventory and is reported as cost of goods sold on the income statement.

Inventory Systems

Each of the three cost flow assumptions listed above can be used in either of two systems (or methods) of inventory:

A.   Periodic
B.   Perpetual

A.  Periodic inventory system. Under this system the amount appearing in the Inventoryaccount is not updated when purchases of merchandise are made from suppliers. Rather, the Inventory account is commonly updated or adjusted only once—at the end of the year. During the year the Inventory account will likely show only the cost of inventory at the end of the previous year.

Under the periodic inventory system, purchases of merchandise are recorded in one or morePurchases accounts. At the end of the year the Purchases account(s) are closed and the Inventory account is adjusted to equal the cost of the merchandise actually on hand at the end of the year. Under the periodic system there is no Cost of Goods Sold account to be updated when a sale of merchandise occurs.

In short, under the periodic inventory system there is no way to tell from the general ledger accounts the amount of inventory or the cost of goods sold.


B.  Perpetual inventory system. Under this system the Inventory account is continuously updated. The Inventory account is increased with the cost of merchandise purchased from suppliers and it is reduced by the cost of merchandise that has been sold to customers. (The Purchases account(s) do not exist.)

Under the perpetual system there is a Cost of Goods Sold account that is debited at the time of each sale for the cost of the merchandise that was sold. Under the perpetual system a sale of merchandise will result in two journal entries: one to record the sale and the cash or accounts receivable, and one to reduce inventory and to increase cost of goods sold.

Inventory Systems and Cost Flows Combined

The combination of the three cost flow assumptions and the two inventory systems results in six available options when accounting for the cost of inventory and calculating the cost of goods sold:

A1.   Periodic FIFO
A2.   Periodic LIFO
A3.   Periodic Average

B1.   Perpetual FIFO
B2.   Perpetual LIFO
B3.   Perpetual Average

A1. Periodic FIFO

"Periodic" means that the Inventory account is not routinely updated during the accounting period. Instead, the cost of merchandise purchased from suppliers is debited to an account called Purchases. At the end of the accounting year the Inventory account is adjusted to equal the cost of the merchandise that has not been sold. The cost of goods sold that will be reported on the income statement will be computed by taking the cost of the goods purchased and subtracting the increase in inventory (or adding the decrease in inventory).

"FIFO" is an acronym for First In, First Out. Under the FIFO cost flow assumption, the first (oldest) costs are the first ones to leave inventory and become the cost of goods sold on the income statement. The last (or recent) costs will be reported as inventory on the balance sheet.

Remember that the costs can flow differently than the goods. If the Corner Shelf Bookstore uses FIFO, the owner may sell the newest book to a customer, but is allowed to report the cost of goods sold as $85 (the first, oldest cost).

Let's illustrate periodic FIFO with the amounts from the Corner Shelf Bookstore:

Number of Books Cost per Book Total Cost Inventory at Dec. 31, 2010 1 @ $85 = $  85 First purchase (January 2011) 1 @ 87 = 87 Second purchase (June 2011) 2 @ 89 = 178 Third purchase (December 2011) 1 @ 90 =     90 Total goods available for sale 5 $440 Less: Inventory at Dec. 31, 2011 4 - 355 Cost of goods sold 1 @ $85 $  85

As before, we need to account for the total goods available for sale (5 books at a cost of $440). Under FIFO we assign the first cost of $85 to the one book that was sold. The remaining $355 ($440 - $85) is assigned to inventory. The $355 of inventory costs consists of $87 + $89 + $89 + $90. The $85 cost assigned to the book sold is permanently gone from inventory.

If Corner Shelf Bookstore sells the textbook for $110, its gross profit under periodic FIFO will be $25 ($110 - $85). If the costs of textbooks continue to increase, FIFO will always result in more profit than other cost flows, because the first cost is always lower.

Periodic LIFO

"Periodic" means that the Inventory account is not updated during the accounting period. Instead, the cost of merchandise purchased from suppliers is debited to an account calledPurchases. At the end of the accounting year the Inventory account is adjusted to equal the cost of the merchandise that is unsold. The other costs of goods will be reported on the income statement as the cost of goods sold.

"LIFO" is an acronym for Last In, First Out. Under the LIFO cost flow assumption, the last (or recent) costs are the first ones to leave inventory and become the cost of goods sold on the income statement. The first (or oldest) costs will be reported as inventory on the balance sheet.

Remember that the costs can flow differently than the goods. In other words, if Corner Shelf Bookstore uses LIFO, the owner may sell the oldest (first) book to a customer, but can report the cost of goods sold of $90 (the last cost).

It's important to note that under LIFO periodic (not LIFO perpetual) we wait until the entire year is over before assigning the costs. Then we flow the year's last costs first, even if those goods arrived after the last sale of the year. For example, assume the last sale of the year at the Corner Shelf Bookstore occurred on December 27. Also assume that the store's last purchase of the year arrived on December 31. Under LIFO periodic, the cost of the book purchased on December 31 is sent to the cost of goods sold first, even though it's physically impossible for that book to be the one sold on December 27. (This reinforces our previous statement that the flow of costs does not have to correspond with the physical flow of units.)

Let's illustrate periodic LIFO by using the data for the Corner Shelf Bookstore:

Number of Books Cost per Book Total Cost Inventory at Dec. 31, 2010 1 @ $85 = $  85 First purchase (January 2011) 1 @ 87 = 87 Second purchase (June 2011) 2 @ 89 = 178 Third purchase (December 2011) 1 @ 90 =     90 Total goods available for sale 5 $440 Less: Inventory at Dec. 31, 2011 4 - 350 Cost of goods sold 1 @ $90 $  90

As before we need to account for the total goods available for sale: 5 books at a cost of $440. Under periodic LIFO we assign the last cost of $90 to the one book that was sold. (If two books were sold, $90 would be assigned to the first book and $89 to the second book.) The remaining $350 ($440 - $90) is assigned to inventory. The $350 of inventory cost consists of $85 + $87 + $89 + $89. The $90 assigned to the book that was sold is permanently gone from inventory.

If the bookstore sold the textbook for $110, its gross profit under periodic LIFO will be $20 ($110 - $90). If the costs of textbooks continue to increase, LIFO will always result in the least amount of profit. (The reason is that the last costs will always be higher than the first costs. Higher costs result in less profits and usually lower income taxes.)

Perpetual FIFO

Under the perpetual system the Inventory account is constantly (or perpetually) changing. When a retailer purchases merchandise, the retailer debits its Inventory account for the cost; when the retailer sells the merchandise to its customers its Inventory account is credited and its Cost of Goods Sold account is debited for the cost of the goods sold. Rather than staying dormant as it does with the periodic method, the Inventory account balance is continuously updated.

Under the perpetual system, two transactions are recorded when merchandise is sold: (1) the sales amount is debited to Accounts Receivable or Cash and is credited to Sales, and (2) the cost of the merchandise sold is debited to Cost of Goods Sold and is credited to Inventory. (Note: Under the periodic system the second entry is not made.)

With perpetual FIFO, the first (or oldest) costs are the first moved from the Inventory account and debited to the Cost of Goods Sold account. The end result under perpetual FIFO is the same as under periodic FIFO. In other words, the first costs are the same whether you move the cost out of inventory with each sale (perpetual) or whether you wait until the year is over (periodic).

Perpetual LIFO

Under the perpetual system the Inventory account is constantly (or perpetually) changing. When a retailer purchases merchandise, the retailer debits its Inventory account for the cost of the merchandise. When the retailer sells the merchandise to its customers, the retailer credits its Inventory account for the cost of the goods that were sold and debits its Cost of Goods Sold account for their cost. Rather than staying dormant as it does with the periodic method, the Inventory account balance is continuously updated.

Under the perpetual system, two transactions are recorded at the time that the merchandise is sold: (1) the sales amount is debited to Accounts Receivable or Cash and is credited to Sales, and (2) the cost of the merchandise sold is debited to Cost of Goods Sold and is credited to Inventory. (Note: Under the periodic system the second entry is not made.)

With perpetual LIFO, the last costs available at the time of the sale are the first to be removed from the Inventory account and debited to the Cost of Goods Sold account. Since this is the perpetual system we cannot wait until the end of the year to determine the last cost—an entry must be recorded at the time of the sale in order to reduce the Inventory account and to increase the Cost of Goods Sold account.

If costs continue to rise throughout the entire year, perpetual LIFO will yield a lower cost of goods sold and a higher net income than periodic LIFO. Generally this means that periodicLIFO will result in less income taxes than perpetual LIFO. (If you wish to minimize the amount paid in income taxes during periods of inflation, you should discuss LIFO with your tax adviser.)

Once again we'll use our example for the Corner Shelf Bookstore:

Number of Books Cost per Book Total Cost Inventory at Dec. 31, 2010 1 @ $85 = $  85 First purchase (January 2011) 1 @ 87 = 87 Second purchase (June 2011) 2 @ 89 = 178 Third purchase (December 2011) 1 @ 90 =     90 Total goods available for sale 5 $440 Less: Inventory at Dec. 31, 2011 4 - 351 Cost of goods sold 1 @ $89 $  89

Let's assume that after Corner Shelf makes its second purchase in June 2011, Corner Shelf sells one book. This means the last cost at the time of the sale was $89. Under perpetual LIFO the following entry must be made at the time of the sale: $89 will be credited to Inventory and $89 will be debited to Cost of Goods Sold. If that was the only book sold during the year, at the end of the year the Cost of Goods Sold account will have a balance of $89 and the cost in the Inventory account will be $351 ($85 + $87 + $89 + $90).

If the bookstore sells the textbook for $110, its gross profit under perpetual LIFO will be $21 ($110 - $89). Note that this is different than the gross profit of $20 under periodic LIFO.