Close the month

Bring the statements in

Download the month’s statement from the bank and bring it in here. The file the bank hands out is the file the app takes. The app reads the lines and holds them against the books; nothing is recorded by the import itself.

A statement is the second set of books: everything after this step is the two being brought to agree.

If the society spent on its card this month, the card’s statement comes in the same way, against the card account — every statement for the month stands in before the month can close.

(Done on the Bank page.)

Match and record

Work the statement lines one at a time. Most match a record already standing. A line with no match is new money to record: a payment the society made that never reached the books, a deposit no one entered.

A card line matches the purchase recorded from its receipt when the thing was bought — the card statement proves the purchase; it does not record it a second time. A line you cannot place can be parked, named as parked, and come back to; a parked line is visible, never buried.

(Done on the Bank page.)

Prove the month balances

This is the reconciliation. The books and the statement are made to agree to the cent. The closing balance on the statement is the closing balance in the books. If they differ, the difference is a real thing to find: a missed line, a wrong amount.

The screen shows what is still open. When it balances, the proof stands in the record. Each statement is proved on its own account: a month is not proved while any statement for it stands unmatched, the card’s included.

(Done on the Bank page.)

Answer the month’s questions

Four short questions about the exact entries they name. Did each spend from a restricted fund fit the giver’s purpose? Are the bills and grants still open after sixty days still owed as they stand? Has one category quietly gathered unlike things?

Do the entries at the month’s edges belong to this month? A “not sure” is a fair answer — it goes to the accountant on the next pack’s cover note.

(Done on the Routine page.)

Clear the forecast exceptions

The forward picture keeps a list of things that no longer line up. Money expected that is past its date. Forecast items that look like the same money twice. Settle each one here: it arrived, it is not coming, or it stands corrected. So next month’s picture starts clean.

(Done on the Routine page.)

Lock the month

Locking is the society’s own act. From here the month’s figures stand still, so a statement given out last month still matches the books next year. The screen names anything that stops the lock.

It also names anything that can instead be named as an exception on the lock record, where it stays visible. A locked month can be unlocked by an authorised person with the reason written down. The posted entries never change.

(Done on the Routine page.)