Bank Account Reconciliation Preparation and Review
Introduction
With the increased sophistication of reconciliation tools from banks and third-party account reconciliation software solutions, the process for reconciliation and review of bank accounts has changed significantly over the past decade. Today, with no shortage of available tools, there is significant flexibility for who reconciles bank accounts, where reconciliations take place, and how reviews of reconciled bank accounts are performed. With many primary bank accounts likely for large global companies, opportunities exist to standardize and streamline the process of bank account reconciliation.
iPolling Results Review
A recent Peeriosity poll submitted by the R2R Global Process Manager at a Peeriosity member company ask members to provide details about where bank account reconciliations take place and how reviews of completed reconciliations are performed. Here are her comments, “Our current process for primary reconciliation preparation and review is mixed, with some taking place in Shared Services, some taking place within Corporate Finance, and some taking place in local business Finance. We would like to standardize on one approach as much as possible.”
The poll results indicate that for 74% of Peeriosity member companies, primary reconciliations are performed in Shared Services, with 42% performed globally, and 32% performed regionally. Of the remaining 26%, 5% are performed globally by Corporate Finance, 16% are performed regionally by Corporate Finance, and 5% are performed locally by local business Finance.
The next polling question asked about the bank account reconciliation review process. Interestingly, the results indicate a slight shift to regional and local reviews. The percentage reviewed in Shared Services drops slightly to 69%, with 32% performing the review globally and 37% performing the review regionally. Regional review in Corporate Finance jumps to 16% and locally by local business Finance increases to 11%. Here are the details:
A few of the comments from members include:
- Bank reconciliations are performed at Global Shared Services. However, the reviews are spread among Corp Finance and local business finance.
- We do bank reconciliations either centrally through Corporate (most of our large accounts) or within Field Accounting Functions.
Closing Summary
Having the right software and tools to complete bank account reconciliation and reviews is only one part of having an optimal solution in place. The actual process for where reconciliations are performed and reviewed, and by whom, needs to be carefully evaluated, with as much consistency and standardization for all primary bank accounts as possible.
Where are primary bank account reconciliations performed and reviewed at your company? What efforts have you taken to standardize the bank account reconciliation process?
Who are your peers and how are you collaborating with them?
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