When your “NextStep” Button says “Reconcile Bank Statements,” click on it, or click Reconcile above Reports & Graphs.
This will open the Bank Reconciliation introduction screen.
This screen lists your active bank accounts, the last time each account was reconciled (“Reconciled Through”), the most recent ending balance (“Ending Balance”) and how often this bank account will be reconciled (“Statement Frequency”) which then gives you the “Next Date.” (If you need to edit the “Statement Frequency”, click here.)
To start, find and double click on the bank account that you are ready to reconcile.
Verify the correct “Ending Date" from the bank statement. That date should be the final day of the month that you are reconciling. Your statement may use “Current Date” or some other term.
Double check the “Beginning Balance” on the bank statement, then on Jewel, to verify that they match.
If they do not, stop and figure out why.
Find the “Ending Balance” on the bank statement and enter it in Jewel.
NOTE: Your “Ending Balance” should always come from the statement. Never adjust the “Ending Balance” to make your bank rec “Difference” equal zero. Entering the exact “Ending Balance” from the bank statement of the exact month that you are reconciling will ensure accurate reports.
Locate the deposits that are on the bank statement. Some banks list them separately from the checks, some do not.
Find the checks/withdrawals on the bank statement. Some banks list them separately from deposits, some do not.
The easiest and most accurate way to enter electronic payments is to add them during the reconciliation, using the “Write Checks” button in the “Add Entry” box in the bottom right corner of the bank rec page. Click on the “Electronic Payment” box, found just below the signature line, when entering the payment.
Use the withdrawal date on the statement as the date of the electronic payment check in Jewel.
NOTE: All purchases and payments should be entered into Jewel as Checks, never as General Journal Entries.
After you have gone through all the deposits, checks and withdrawals, and if all of them from the statement are checked off in Jewel, the amount marked “Difference” in the Balances box above the photo should be “$0.00”.
If it says $0.00, celebrate by clicking on the green OK checkmark in the top right corner. When the message pops up asking if you want to print, click “YES” and then staple the printed reconciliation report to the bank statement that you just reconciled. Drop it in your “Bank Statements” file folder and you are DONE! Yay!
If the difference is not zero, check to see if you circled any items that were on the statement but were not in Jewel, and enter them into Jewel.
If the difference is still not zero, follow these steps to find and fix the problem.
Click here for more topics related to Bank Reconciliation
The original version of this page was provided to Jewel by the Georgia-Cumberland Conference Audit Team. Created by Linda McCabe.