Modules»Accounts Payable»A/P Daily Balancing
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Last modified on 12/3/2015 2:24 PM by User.

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A/P Daily Balancing

 

One of the recommended month-end procedures is to add up the Voucher Postings and Check Registers on a calculator.  These totals are verified against the Voucher History and/or the A/P to G/L Interface.  However, Balancing A/P daily will help to speed up the month-end balancing procedures.  Each day, after vouchers are entered and posted in Task #1 (Voucher Entry & Editing) and whenever AP checks are printing and posted through Task #25 (Voucher Payment Preparation), enter the information into either a notebook or a spreadsheet that can be used to balance Accounts Payable. 

 

Posting Vouchers with a previous month’s date is not recommended once that month is closed & balanced.  If posting through Task #1 (Voucher Entry & Editing) for a previous months date, the BEGINNING BALANCE on the current spreadsheet (or notebook) will have to be changed.  Also, the vouchers dated the previous months date should NOT go on the current month spreadsheet (or notebook).  They should go on the previous month’s spreadsheet.  Then there are the General Ledger repercussions to consider.  Was A/P interfaced, obtained and posted to G/L for the previous month?

 

The spreadsheet (or notebook) should have eight (8) columns altogether. 

  • Column A -- BEGINNING BALANCE.  This is the balance brought forward from the end of the previous month.  This column will have only one figure in it. This beginning balance figure is in A2.
  • Column B -- BATCH #. Batch number of the voucher posting
  • Column C -- STARTING / ENDING VOUCHER #
  • Column D -- VOUCHER POSTING   The “GRAND INVOICE TOTAL” from the voucher postings. 
  • Column E -- STARTING / ENDING CHECK #’S  from the check register
  •  Column F -- ­CHECK REGISTER   The “PREPAID AND COMPUTER CHECKS” line, the Check Amount column total from the check register.
  • Column G -- ENDING BALANCE    A “formula” column
    • Assume Row 2 is the first row with data.  The formula for G2 would be “=A2+D2-F2”.  This is the Beginning Balance figure plus the Voucher Posting amount minus the Check Register amount, to give a new ending balance.
    • The formula for G3 should be “=G2+D3-F3”.  This formula should be dragged down in every line in the G column. 
    • Variations in the columns or rows would mean different formulas would need to be used.
  • Column H -- A/P AGED TRIAL BALANCE  Figure from the Aged Trial Balance

 

Columns D & F should have a ‘total’ at the bottom as these figures will be used at month-end. Or if at any time the spreadsheet doesn’t balance. See NOTE: below for more information on the ‘totals’.

 

The spreadsheet should be updated with every voucher posting and every check register.  Column G should be verified everyday, or even after every voucher posting and check register.   To verify column G print an A/P Aged Trial Balance to screen.   The ending “Grand Total” from the A/P ATB will go into column H.  Columns G and H must match.

 

 

To run the A/P Aged Trial Balance, go to:

  • Aged Trial Balance (Task 9),  Aged Trial Balance with Optional Detail (Sub-task #3)
  • When the printer-option screen appears, Change #5 (Spool Rpt) to “PRE” for print preview.
  • Answer the prompts, using the current month/period for Aging Date and Document Cut-Off Date.  For Aging Basis, use 2 – Document 

When the report appears on the screen, type in an L (for last screen) to see “The GRAND TOTAL”.  This figure should be the same as column G in the spreadsheet.  Enter this amount into column H to prove you verified it.

 

 

If it doesn’t balance, find the error before continuing.

  • “Print-preview” the Aged Trial Balance again to make sure that all of the questions were answered correctly.
  • Verify the correctness of the amounts on the notebook/spreadsheet
  • Check the dates of the vouchers on the postings.  Are they in the correct month/period and year?
  • Check the dates of the pre-paid and regular checks on the check registers.
  • Are there any voided checks? (see document: Task 05 - Void a Check for instructions)

 

NOTE:  Column D and F are used in Month-End procedures:

Column D “VOUCHER POSTING” total at the bottom should equal the “REGULAR ENTRIES   REGULAR TOTAL (NET CHANGE TO A/P”, on the Voucher History report and it should also match “INCREASE IN ACCOUNTS PAYABLE” on the A/P to G/L Interface report at month-end.  . 

 

Column F, CHECK REGISTER” total should equal the “PAID ENTRIES WITHIN DATE RANGE   PAID TOTAL (NET CHANGE TO CASH)”, on the Voucher History report and it should also match “PAID AND REGULAR CHECKS“ from the A/P to G/L Interface report at month-end. 

 

To print a voucher history report:

  • Voucher history (Task 19), Print selected Vch history records (subtask 4)
  • When the printer-option screen appears, Change #5 (Spool Rpt) to “PRE” for print preview
  • Please enter – starting batch number: ALL
  • Please enter – starting vendor #: ALL
  • Please enter vendor type(s)? ALL
  • Please enter – starting division #: ALL
  • Please enter – starting invoice date: First day of the month / Ending invoice date: Last day of the month
  • Please enter – starting voucher #: ALL
  • Suppress detail records? (YES/NO): NO

 

When the report appears on the screen, type in an L (for last screen) to verify the totals with the spreadsheet.

  • If the “VOUHER POSTING” column (D) is not the same as the voucher history report, something is wrong with the column.  Verify the vouchers against the voucher history report.
  • If the CHECK REGISTER (F) column is not the same as voucher history report, something is wrong with the column.  A Voucher History by Check report (Task 14) may be printed for each group of checks to verify totals.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Nothing should be entered, changed or deleted directly in the Voucher history (Task 19) or the A/P Open Items (Task 21) unless instructed by us. Doing so may cause imbalances.  Check with us for assistance on setting Subtask passwords to help prevent this.