Ris Assist 

How to Balance the Checkbook

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Step 4.  Enter the date of the bank statement and the bank ending balance.

 

• Select Checkbook on the Menu Bar

• Click the Balance Checkbook Tab. 

• Click the button Add/Edit Bank Statement.

• On the Bank Statement List, click the add button and enter the date of the bank statement and the ending bank balance as shown on the bank statement.

• Click the save button and again the save button to save you entries and close the window.

• Check the screen to make sure that the correct date is showing on the Navigation Bar in the window “Bank Statement Ending.”  If not, navigate to the correct date.

• Proceed to step 5.

 

Step 5. Check off the items that cleared the bank.

 

• Click the balance button.

• Check off each item that cleared the bank.

• TIP: Before you click the Balance button, you can sort and filter the items that will show in the balance window to make your work easier.  For example, you can select deposit to view just the deposits and you can sort the deposits by date or amount.  When you finish checking off deposits, you can select checks and sort them by check number.

• When you are finished checking of the items, click the save button.

• Continue working until you have checked off all of the items on the bank statement.

• You are done.  Look at the numbers in the Bank Ending Balance and Your Ending Balance windows.  They should be equal.  Also, the amount in the Difference window should be zero.

   

   

  Problems and Frequently Asked Questions:

   

  Q?  There are items on the bank statement which did not show up in the balance window.

  A.  There should not be any items on the bank statement that are not on this list.  If there are any missing items, it means that you did not enter them into the computer as deposits or disbursements or journal entries.  It could also mean that the item you are looking for has a date beyond the date of the bank statement or that you cleared the item in a previous bank statement.  You will have to review your data to find your error.

   

   

  Q?  There was a bank charge on the bank statement.  How do I enter it?

  A.  Bank charges can be entered as disbursements or journal entries.  After you enter the items, return to the balance window and check off the item.  TIP: If you enter the charge as a check, before you “save and close” the check entry, change the check number by clicking the Input Check Number button on the footer bar.  You can enter a check number such as “bank1”, etc. 

   

  Q? There was interest earned on the bank statement.  How do I enter it?

  A.  Interest earned on the checking account can be entered as a deposit or a journal entry.  The deposit will be a “non-tenant” deposit and you should post it to the interest income general ledger account.  After you enter the items, return to the balance window and check off the item. 

   

  Q?  I checked off all of the items but I am still not in balance.

  A.  You probably did not start out in balance.  Look at the Bank Starting Balance, Your Starting Balance and Difference windows.  If you did not start in balance then you cannot end in balance.  Use the navigation bar to review prior months and see when you fell out of balance.  Go all the way back to January and see it you started with the balanced numbers.  If you did not start with the balanced numbers in January, review steps 1, 2 and 3 above.

   

  Q?  Continued from prior question.  I am sure that I started in balance in January but now I am not in balance.  What happened?

  A.  Probably, someone changed the opening cash entry or the outstanding items from the prior year.

   

 

End of Year/ Beginning of New Year:

 

When you close the year in December to start the new year, the program will bring forward your checkbook balance as an opening entry, but the program does NOT bring forward the outstanding checks AT THIS TIME.  The reason is simply that you have not yet balanced the December bank statement so it would be futile to bring forward the outstanding checks until you receive the December bank statement and balance the December bank statement in the prior year.

 

After you balance the December bank statement in the prior year (which will occur sometime in January after you receive the statement from the bank), the RIS program has special features for you to bring forward the outstanding checks at that time.

 

• In the RIS program, select Checkbook on the Menu Bar

• Click the Balance Checkbook Tab. 

• Click the button Year Starting Outstanding Items.

• Click the button on the footer bar Add Missing Items from Prior Year.

• A box will open listing the items from the prior year that did not clear the bank.  Click on each of these items and then click the save button.  This will import the open items from last year.

• You are done.  You should now see all of the outstanding items listed.  Click the save button on the footer bar.

• Note: If for any reason you need to return here to correct any missing or incorrect items, you can use the add and delete buttons or you can re-run the program Add Missing Items from Prior Year.

• (IMPORTANT: If you are using the add button, checks are entered as negative amounts while deposits are entered as positive amounts.)

 

 

The End