Uncleared check in MLS not on Finance Statement

Can someone remind me again what it means if I have uncleared checks in the MLS reconciliation but they don't appear on the Finance Statement? (Or point me to the correct resource)

I have six checks from November and December of 2008 that are unchecked in the reconciliation, but they all appear as cleared checks in the finance statements between November of 2008 and February of 2009. Our accounts have also reconciled every month since then.

I checked out the Outstanding Checks page on the wiki and didn't see anything that matched this scenario (please point out if I missed it).

Any ideas?

nutterb wrote:Can someone remind me again what it means if I have uncleared checks in the MLS reconciliation but they don't appear on the Finance Statement? (Or point me to the correct resource)

I have six checks from November and December of 2008 that are unchecked in the reconciliation, but they all appear as cleared checks in the finance statements between November of 2008 and February of 2009. Our accounts have also reconciled every month since then.

I checked out the Outstanding Checks page on the wiki and didn't see anything that matched this scenario (please point out if I missed it).

All this means is that someone neglected to check off the checks as cleared in some previous month's reconciliation. Because of the way Budget and Fast Offerings checks work (they are automatically reimbursed), failing to check off a check as cleared, or accidentally checking off a check that has not cleared, will not impact your ability to balance.

The fix is simply to check off the checks as you do your current reconciliation. After all, you are simply indicating that they have cleared, not necessarily that they cleared in this month.

Some people might think they have to go back to those old months' reconciliations and check them off there, but that will most likely create a big mess. Just fix the current month and move forward.

n the future, one of your reconciliation steps should always be to make sure that the list of outstanding checks on the financial statement matches exactly the list of outstanding checks on the reconciliation report.

Glad to hear it's so simple. The fact that not clearing a check in MLS will still allow you to reconcile is such an odd idea to me. I'm going to have to tattoo that on my arm so I remember it.

nutterb wrote:Glad to hear it's so simple. The fact that not clearing a check in MLS will still allow you to reconcile is such an odd idea to me. I'm going to have to tattoo that on my arm so I remember it.

As long as it is a budget or fast offering check. [grin]