Reconciling Department Accounts

Below are the guidelines and other factors to consider when reconciling departmental accounts:

• Department accounts should be reconciled within two weeks from the month-end closing date.
  
• Month-end closings are at EOB of the third working day of the following month. See SAP Month End Close Dates for monthly close dates.
  
• Departments are responsible for retrieving their departmental report online. It is recommended that the Cost Centers: Actual Line Items report, which should be used to reconcile departmental transactions, be retrieved and printed monthly for reconciliation purposes. (The SAP shortcut code KSB1 can be used to access this report or FMRA transaction code will access the departmental reporting tree, reconciliation (detail), cost center: actual line items.)
  
• It is important that the accounts be reconciled to ensure that they accurately include authorized transactions. Each transaction, other than mailroom and copier charges, should be supported by documentation. The mailroom and copier entries should be reviewed for reasonableness.
  
• Payroll transactions should be reconciled against the expense distribution reports that are mailed to departments semi-monthly. See Payroll reconciliation procedures.
  
• In addition to identifying unauthorized transactions, the reconciliation should include identification of transactions initiated by the department but not yet posted to the account. Financial information should be adjusted to reflect pending transactions identified, thereby providing up-to-date financial information to be used in the monitoring of the availability of funds.
  
• After completing the reconciliation, the statements along with the supporting documentation should be given to a second person for review. This review should be completed within a month. After the review, initial the statements and file them with supporting documentation. These records should be kept for at least five years.