Why does my bookkeeper need to sight my bank statements?

There are a number of reasons why we as bookkeepers need to sight bank statements and the main goal by doing this is to make sure there is a recorded balance of your business and the recorded balance of the bank match up.

Here is why we need to sight your bank statements and reconcile your bank feeds.

1. Validation – Data entry

Checking your bank statement we can pick up any irregularities, such as duplicating entries, entering wrong amounts and data errors.

  1. Accuracy of Financial Statements

This is such an important one, where we check that your financial statements match those of the bank. Sometimes, on rare occasions, the bank may make a mistake, so normally it is the business owner that has, so checking that these match-up is paramount.

  1. Tax Reporting

This may sound simple, but making sure your reconciling your bank statement correctly so we can generate a correct tax return for you.

This just enables us as your bookkeeper to monitor and spot any irregularities between your financial statement and that of the bank. It is also a precaution to control theft as it prevents employees or others from stealing from your company.

So to give you a prime example, we had a client once who had not done a bank reconciliation for 5 years. The client’s accountant had been doing the tax returns, but not checking it either. There were duplicated sales, missing expenses, everything you could think of. Therefore the client’s tax returns for the last 5 years were incorrect. So in this case, we had to go back and go through everything over the last 5 years.

If this sounds familiar to you, then save yourself, time and stress and call Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping on 0429 363 047 and outsource your bookkeeping today.

Maree Punzet
Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping
M: 0429 363 047
W: www.mareesmobilebookkeeping.com.au