Bank Reconciliation in Dynamics GP - Getting Started

The Bank Reconciliation module in GP is very simple. Like most things, the basics are straight forward but the devil, as they say, is in the details.

To get started you need to setup a checkbook. Checkbook is GP’s term for a bank account. The Checkbook is linked to a unique GL account and should be used anywhere that bank account and therefor the GL account needs to be used. I will get into more details about setting up the Checkbook in a video post later.

If you have to create a Checkbook for a new bank account just as you open the bank account, it would be simple. You can setup all the required information and start off with a zero balance. Your first deposit would be your first transaction and you simply recreate every activity that happens against your bank account against the checkbook going forward. In this scenario, the first slightly complicated step would be when you do your first bank reconciliation, typically at the end of the first period.

But in most real life scenario’s, you are probably looking to setup a checkbook for an existing bank account. And that is where things get a little complicated. But if we breakdown the individual components we need, then you will realize that it is not as complicated as it might first appear.

There are only two things you need to set up a checkbook for an existing bank account. We are assuming here that you are not concerned with the historical activity on the bank account.

1.       Bank statement ending balance. You should always start with the ending balance from a bank statement. Obviously, this means that you don’t want to start reconciliation in the middle of a period.

2.       List of outstanding transactions. These are the transactions that have posted to your financial books but have not yet cleared the bank.

If you add/subtract all the outstanding transactions to the statement balance, you should have the account balance of the GL account that is associated to the Checkbook.

We will explore and demonstrate the various aspects of the Bank Reconciliation module in GP with video posts on the following sub topics.

·         Setting up a Checkbook

·         Different types of Bank Transactions & Transfers

·         Bank Deposits

·         Bank Reconciliation process