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Bookkeeping is essential in the management of your business in a well-versed technique. It is vital that you take an organized, transparent and updated bookkeeping. One of the methods to maintain your business’s books is bank reconciliation.

Bank reconciliation is the procedure of matching and comparing figures from accounting records against those existing on a bank statement and finding any discrepancy in bank statement or accounting books. The discrepancy may occur n the balances due to the different timing of recording information in the bank account and company’s accounting books. Such discrepancy is normal and will be adjusted automatically within a short period. But sometimes the difference is due to an error, and it must be corrected manually and to catch the error you need bank reconciliation. Generally, companies perform bank reconciliation at the end of each month.

The reasons for the bank reconciliation

• Monthly bank reconciliation keeps your company’s financial statements clear and current.

• It eliminates erroneous backlog

• Easy access to reports, thus offering you clear picture how good or bad business is doing.

• It makes important updates to general ledger and receives timely entries from the other applications

• Provides the ability to eliminate bank statement errors

• Enables to control cash flow with the void checks and stop payments function

• Verifies the amount of cash in your account

• It uncover irregularities

It is important to go through the bank reconciliation process. If not, you take risks.

• In the absence of bank reconciliation, you can not have a clear idea of how much money is available in your account. You can return the checks and overdraft fees. With electronic replacement, you do not have much time to your account when you write checks.

• In the absence of bank reconciliation, you own risk. People can steal your account. If you have never informed of any transaction, you never know.

In today’s world, it is very difficult to verify a check. Finding the proper number to call can be a real chore.   

Although banks are under no obligation to verify an account or verify funds on any check drawn on their bank, there is a new 900 number, 1-900-868-2995 that allows you to verify checks and get the bank’s information with one call for $5.

INDIVIDUAL:

For an individual, you need only a land line phone to call.

To get additional information on the service see the check verification line website: CheckLookup.com.  Using the number, anyone can get the bank name and bank phone number with the 9 digit routing number at the bottom of the check.  The database is updated every banking day.

BUSINESS:

For business, you have another option. For nearly 9 out of 10 bank accounts in the U.S. businesses can verify checks in real-time when they establish a merchant verification account with a verification network like BetterCheck.

For companies taking several checks per day, or who do monthly check billing via check draft or ACH where you may bill dozens or thousands of customers monthly, there is a system that will verify checks and drastically reduce bounce rates.

Verify a check is real, that the routing number and account number are open and active at that bank, and that there is a positive balance in the account. Check for NSF, Stop Payment, Uncollected Funds, and many other status codes.

Businesses that use BetterCheck must be verified, and use of the system must be for legitimate business purposes.  Users must agree to the terms of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and must not use the system as the only reason to base the decision of approval or decline.

What does that all mean? It means it is not a check guarantee service and that it is designed to drastically reduce the number of bad checks deposited, and not to tell if any one particular item is absolutely going to clear.

BetterCheck cannot tell how much money is in an account, nor can it hold funds aside. The system is designed to significantly reduce the number of invalid items deposited to bring down bounce rates.

The BetterCheck system will pay for itself if used properly by any business.

CONCLUSION:

Individuals and business alike can benefit from RoutingTool to verify a check is real, get the bank name, bank phone number and then call the bank to verify the check.  This tool is free and can be used by anyone.  A professional version and private use database are also offered at the RoutingTool site.

Businesses doing a regular volume of check transactions, or monthly billing can benefit from BetterCheck by signing up for the service.  Once a user, you can verify a check is real, the account is open and active at the time and check for stop payment, uncollected funds and other status codes. 

Budget software reviews save you the time to search, compare, and try to figure out what’s the personal finance software available. With today’s programs you easily learn how to make a budget, reduce your debt and keep track of your personal financial planning. Keeping your finances organized saves you time, improves your financial future and gives you peace of mind.

These are what we consider the best personal budgeting programs:

Mvelopes – is quite different from its competitors. It incorporates an improved envelope system where you divide your income into “envelopes” assigned for particular bills and expenses. Their website is user-friendly and includes many features to match your personal needs. Their personal finance software allows you to enter all of your bank accounts and keeps track of your net worth

With Mvelopes you can link to thousands of financial institutions making it easier to keep your balances up to date without the need to balance each account. You don’t need to download and install personal finance software, this way you can have access to your personal budgeting from any part of the world. With the money you’ll save each month, Mvelopes will pay for itself in a few weeks. The program includes their famous “Top 10 Tips for Getting out of Debt”.

Note: We found out that Mvelopes is more advanced therefore; it will take you a little longer to learn. Their plan has repeating fees based on 2 year, 1 year, and quarterly subscription plans, but you’ll really learn how to make a budget.

You Need A Budget – is like a basic “envelope” system and provides plenty of features. With this program you only spend money you already earned instead of money you will earn in the future. This is very useful especially if you don’t have a steady income. Their personal finance software comes with 3 worksheets with instructions and explanations.

With this system you’ll know how to make a budget easily in a few minutes. After you install the software, you’ll need to update and review your personal budgeting only a few minutes each week based on their four principles.

Note: You Need A Budget is more user-friendly than Mvelopes, however it’s not compatible with Apple (yet). With your purchase you’ll get FREE: 5 spreadsheet bonuses, training support and the “The YNAB Way eBook”. YNAB doesn’t do an automatic upload of your financial transactions and category assignment, and has no bill pay functionality. On the other hand it has a one-time only payment.

Quicken Deluxe – here you’ll find a solid personal finance software whether you’re a novice or an experienced user of budget planner software. Manage your investments, savings, and classify your expenses efficiently. If you’re part of a starting family and are trying to save money for a new home, college fund, or other costly items, Quicken Deluxe is perfect for you.

“My Savings Plan” is a new upgrade very useful if you have problems setting money aside each month. Their new Bill Minder Gadget (Windows Vista) is a Desktop window to remind you of any overdue bills, and other money transactions. Their system links to more than 5,300 financial institutions, including PayPal.

Note: Quicken Deluxe does not offer import/ export for data of investment accounts, and it’s also a more complicated tool than YNAB. However, Quicken Deluxe is a better personal finance software for tracking your net worth and investments.