NESFA^® Treasury Procedures:  Reconciling Bank Accounts

All our bank accounts should be reconciled monthly.

If the discrepancy between Peachtree and the bank statement cannot be resolved to zero, then if the discrepancy is the same as the previous month, at least the month in question is in balance, and the bank statement should be so noted.

Main checking account at TD Bank

1. On TD Bank's website
   1. Login
   2. Select the corporate account (number ends with 75)
   3. Click View History for this Account
   4. Click Select Date Range
   5. Select a date range from the 1st of the month in question to the last date of that month
   6. Click Get History
   7. At the bottom of the page, select output type .OFX (Open Financial eXchange)
   8. Click Download History
   9. Download the file to somewhere convenient (like the Desktop)
   10. Note the ending bank balance on the last line of the details in the report
   11. Logout (click Logoff)
2. In Peachtree:
   1. Set the accounting period to the month in question.  (This should normally be the month before the current month.)
   2. Select Tasks / Account Reconciliation
   3. Enter the Statement Ending Balance that you noted above.
   4. Select Import from the tool bar.
   5. Click Next
   6. Enter the full path and name of the .OFX file in the field Statement Location or click Browse and select the file.
   7. Click Import.
   8. Perform some sort of magic; exact procedure TBS
   • During this process, bank debits for debit card transactions which have not yet been turned in on expense reports can usually be identified.  Sometimes, the particular debit card is also identifiable.  The treasurer can take this opportunity to remind the persons holding debit cards to report their expenses. 
   9. If the account is in balance, or cannot be resolved further at this time, print a copy of the report for filing.
   10. Close the account reconciliation dialogue.
   11. Set the accounting period back (er, uh, forward) to the CURRENT month.
3. Paperwork
   • File the Peachtree report and the bank statement together in the file folder for the appropriate financial quarter.

The (usually) weekly report of income from PayPal, which is produced by the E-commerce clerk, has an unresolved transaction section at the bottom.  The total shown in this section, added to the Peachtree balance of AS-PayPal should equal the balance shown on the PayPal web site for our account less the most recent entries which have not yet been reported by the E-commerce clerk.

Boskone checking accounts at TD Bank and Sovereign Bank

These accounts are the responsibility of the Boskone Treasurer when actively being used for a Boskone.  When they are lying dormant, the NESFA Treasurer is responsible.  It is necessary to keep track of uncashed Boskone checks (which are not recorded in Peachtree).

Money market account at Fidelity

Normally, the only thing to do is to record the interest quarterly, however the Income Stabilization Account specified in the Standing Rules SR §2.8 is kept in this account. The unrestricted balance in Peachtree account AS-FidelityMMkt and the restricted balance in account AS-Fid-IncStab must be added together to get the balance actually at Fidelity.

PayPal account

PayPal is not a bank, but it is treated as such in Peachtree; i.e., it is a Cash account, just like the real bank accounts are, and so it should be balanced regularly to make sure all the transactions are entered correctly. 

Payment card resolution

We have accounts with Chase Paymentech, First Data Linkpoint, and American Express for which we must download and print the monthly account statements.  These sites can also be used to download and print details of daily submissions.  More details to be supplied.

This page is maintained by Treasurer at NESFA dot org.