...
The 'Complete Reconciliation' button is only available when the bank statement balance is in agreement with the calculated closing balance on Wise Owl Legal.
Make sure to run the reports for Trust EOM at this point in time; including the bank reconciliation, the trust trial balance, the cashbook, and the client accounting ledger for trust only.
An interim bank reconciliation report can be printed by opening up the in progress bank reconciliation, through Trust Accounting > Bank Rec > Continue Bank Reconciliation, then .
Then selecting the browsers print function: either by right clicking and selecting print or selecting print from the top menu bar.
...
This report will be displayed with an 'In Progress' watermark.
Trust End of Month Reports
The following reports should be saved and printed each month and filed in your trust account folder in preparation for audit.
...
- Bank Reconciliation
...
To enter a new Bank Adjustment, select the black Enter Adjustment button on the bank reconciliation screen.
Wise Owl Legal software has made adjustments easy, by having a pre-existing list of adjustments to choose from, spelt out in layman’s terms.
When in the adjustment screen and your mouse has selected the 'type of adj' field, this list can be brought up by pressing the down arrow on your keyboard.
The adjustments have also been pre-numbered for your convenience. The list of adjustments, and additional information, is detailed below:
- There is money deposited into my account that I have not yet processed
- This is the most common type of adjustment and usually occurs because of the trust accounting regulation that states that trust receipts cannot be backdated
- There is an error on my bank statement that the BANK will put BACK INTO my account
- There is an error on my bank statement that the BANK will TAKE OUT of my account
- There is money taken out of my account that the FIRM will PUT BACK
- A cheque was presented for LESS than our records
- A cheque was presented for MOER than our records
- Money deposited was MORE than the receipt we wrote – Firm will receipt
- Money deposited was for LESS than the receipt we wrote – Firm will deposit more
- Deposit for General was put into trust – bank will correct
- Deposit for General was put into trust – we will receipt and process correction
1000. None of the above describes my problem
Once you have chosen the appropriate Type of Adjustment, the following details also need to be filled out.
- The date is the date the money was physically received by the firm (in the case of direct deposits, this is the date the funds appear on the bank statement)
- The description is what the funds are for. E.g. professional fees
- The Txn Ref is the receipt number for the transaction, when it has been processed.
- The matter ref is the matter number the funds relate to
...
- Report
Once the trust bank account is reconciled for the month a Bank Reconciliation Summary will appear on the screen. From here select print report.
Bank reconciliation reports can be printed at any time, not just upon completion of the bank reconciliation, through the reports tab.
A new tab will open with the Trust Bank Reconciliation.
2. Trust Trial Balance
3. Trust Matter Ledger
4. Trust Cash Receipts by Date
5. Trust Cash Payments by Date
To print reports 2-5 click the reports icon from the top menu bar.
Click on the necessary report from the list.
Enter the date parameters if prompted. Make sure to select the dates of the first day of the month to the last day of the month (EXACTLY the same as the closing date used on the bank reconciliation).
The Reports then need to be checked to ensure that the bank reconciliation was completed correctly.
An easy way to check this is to confirm the following:
- The Trust Matter ledger balance equals the Trust Trial Balance.
- This amount also equals the Cash book Balance on the Bank Reconciliation.
- The cash receipts and payments reports must equal the figures for receipts and payments on the Bank Reconciliation for that same period.
