Features of BRS

Suppose if you made a transaction in the bank no matter how small or big that is but you need to keep a record of the transaction that you have done and for that this BRS or more precisely this Bank Reconciliation Statement will play its role. A bank reconciliation statement records the difference between the bank statement and a general ledger. Now what is this ledger? Whenever any transaction is made in a bank it is recorded in the journal. After the statement is recorded in the journal it gets recorded in the principle book that is known as ledger.

There can be some cases in which the amount that is specified in the bank statement that a bank issues is different from the one that is mentioned in the accounting book of the company that is made by the charter accountant . So this bank reconciliation statement just checks the entities on the monthly basis so that there may not be any issued in the future for the company. In simple language you can regard this bank reconciliation statement or BRS to be a matching record for the cash account entry in correspondence to the statement issued by the bank. Bank Reconciliation Statement is going to check the differences that will be between them and then it will make the appropriate changes that are required. In this article you are going to get this brief information about Bank Reconciliation Statement,  it's importance, the features that bank reconciliation statements have, and the reason why there are different cash books and bank's passbooks, how to make a bank reconciliation statement and other important points. Let's just have a look at all of them.

The record book or transactions of a bank account is known as a bank reconciliation statement. This statement allows the bank holders to keep a track of their funds and update transaction records they have made. In other words, the bank reconciliation statement is the bank's passbook. The balance given in the bank passbook statement should ally with the balance given in the cash book. In the statement, all the deposits shown in the credit column should be shown in a deposit column as well. 

However, if the withdrawal is more than the deposits, it will show a debit balance (overdraft). Generally, saving’s bank account holder is given a passbook whereas current account business is given a Bank Statement. 

Importance of Bank Reconciliation Statements

In most of the comparisons between the bank balance and the company’s cash book, the balance figure doesn’t tally. Therefore, it is important to know the reason for the difference and show it in the bank reconciliation statement and then tally the two balances. This statement reveals the cause of differences in funds in the bank balance and the company’s cash book. This also helps to understand the characteristics of bank reconciliation statements.  

What are the Features of a Bank Reconciliation Statement?

A business entity or firm records the deposits of a bank on the debit side of the bank column in the cash book and withdrawals on the credit side of the bank column in the cash book. Likewise, all these transaction details are registered by the bank in their books. It is a little different as the bank records deposits on the customer’s credit side and withdrawals on the customer’s debit side. 

The Features of a Bank Reconciliation Statement

The features of the bank reconciliation statement are given below:

• The bank reconciliation statement (as the name suggests) is a statement.

•  It is not any type of account and doesn’t include part of the account’s process. 

• A firm can prepare it any time of the financial year when they require it. 

• The bank reconciliation statement is prepared on a particular day. 

• An individual or firm may prepare it to reconcile the reasons for the differences between the bank balance according to the passbook or bank balance according to the cash book.

Reasons for Differences Between Cashbook and Bank’s Pass Book

The main reason for the differences between the cash book and the bank’s passbook is the time in recording the transactions. There are many things that cause a difference in timing.

•  The cheque was paid in the bank but is not yet cleared. 

• The cheque is bank-issued but not yet deposited for payment.

• Direct debit made by the bank from the customer’s side.

•  Interest and Dividends collected by the bank.

• Direct deposition of an amount/ cheque in a bank account. 

• Bills discounted/ cheques deposited dishonoured. 

• Errors made by the bank or by the company.

In a few instances, the error in two balances can be made on the company’s cash book or from the bank side. The errors are as follows:

• Errors made at recording the transaction by the company.

• Errors made at recording the transaction by the bank.

Types of Bank Reconciliation Statement

There are two processes in which a bank reconciliation statement can be prepared:

• Making documentation of bank reconciliation statements without modifying the cash book balance.

• Filing for a bank reconciliation statement after making changes in the cash book balance.

Steps Involved in Making Bank Reconciliation Statement

• At first, the statement’s record date is noted. 

• After this, the balance mentioned in the cash book is recorded in the statement. Sometimes, the balance mentioned in the bank’s passbook is recorded.

•  The deposited cheques that are not collected are removed.

•  Then the cheque is issued but deposited for payment, and the amount directly deposited in the bank account is noted. 

• It deducts all the transactions like amounts debited by the bank and overdraft interests not recorded in cash books, bills discounted, and cheques. 

•  All the profits and credits collected by the firm and deposited in the bank directly gets added.

•  Adjustments related to errors and mistakes are made.

After implementing these steps, the balance between the cash book and bank statement should be the same.

Did You Know?

When the total debit column of the cash book exceeds the total credit column of the cash book, it is called a debit balance. This debit balance is also termed as a favourable balance. For an account holder, a favourable balance is an asset. Favourable balance explains a situation when an account holder has an abundance of deposits over withdrawals.

Conclusion

From the above article we can easily conclude that it is necessary to have a bank reconciliation statement. There can occur faults in the bank statements and at that time these BRS are going to be a great help for you. If you are looking to make huge transactions or even for making an Income Tax return statement, bank statements are going to be helpful for you. This bank statement is the basic medium of transaction in any bank. If the basic documents are having problems then it is obvious for the other ones to have some issues so it is necessary for any organisation to justify the basics.

Reconciliation statement is going to make the bank statement error free and along with this any additional charges will be cleared. Therefore before closing accounting the reconciliation is going to check whether the statement is safe and error free.