This chapter contains the following topics:
This Passport Business Solutions (PBS) module provides the means to apply the advantages of a computer to two accounting tasks, which every business must perform accurately:
| • | Keeping checkbooks for money deposited and disbursed in Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Payroll. |
| • | Reconciling checkbooks periodically with bank statements. |
The Check Reconciliation module can be integrated with any or all of Passport's Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Payroll modules. You can transfer information from these modules automatically or transfer in batch into Check Reconciliation.
The module can also be used as a stand-alone product.
This Check Reconciliation module provides these features:
| • | Automatically gets deposits, checks and ACH payments when posting from the Passport Business Solutions Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Payroll modules. Or, you may choose to transfer deposits, checks and ACH payments in a batch process. |
| • | Handles an unlimited number of checking accounts, fully integrated with the PBS Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Payroll. |
| • | Provides the ability to enter, change, delete, or print a list of checkbook entries. |
| • | For each checking account, offers the option of either bank-to-book or book-to-bank reconciliation. |
| • | A Close checkbook selection is provided to remove an obsolete checkbook from the system. |
| • | To save computer time, the program allows reports to be stored on disk where they may be printed later at your convenience. |
| • | Provides the following reports and more: |
Reconciliation Report
Checkbook Report
Account Activity Report
| • | Minimizes the amount of information by allowing compression of entries, which have been cleared. |
| • | Includes on-line field-by-field Help, available to you at any time. |
| • | Handles stop-payment checks and checks that are voided after they have been transferred to the checkbook. |
| • | Provides safeguards against getting your information out of balance or getting tangled up during the reconciliation process. |
| • | Has a start-up procedure that lets you set up the balances in your checkbook quickly and easily, whether or not you are using any other PBS modules. |
| • | You may import checks and cash receipt data from an external system using Data Import. This is a separately licensed product. See you PBS provider for details. |
| • | Passwords are required to access PBS. A password is a unique code assigned to each individual using your PBS software. Each potential user must first enter a valid password before he or she is allowed to access PBS. |
| • | You can easily select any printer for printing reports. In Windows and Thin client, HTML file display, PDF file/display and Windows printer are other options for printing reports. |
CashPoint™ offers the NCR Counterpoint user the most completely integrated back-office accounting solution available. The Passport Business Solutions Financials: PBS Accounts Payable, Check Reconciliation, and General Ledger combine with the exclusive CashPoint interface to allow NCR Counterpoint users to manage their cash flow like never before.
CashPoint™ reduces redundant data entry work, improves efficiency, and provides the professional standard of back office money management busy retailers need.
For more information see the CashPoint web site.
Check Reconciliation is a key component of CashPoint. The information contained in this documentation will help you set up and run Check Reconciliation.
To understand how to use the PBS Check Reconciliation, you should understand some key concepts and words that are used in this module.
Reconciliation means to bring into agreement.
Check reconciliation is the process of balancing your checkbook, or bringing into agreement the balance of your checkbook and the balance shown on your bank statement.
Check reconciliation enables you to evaluate entries you have made that have not cleared the bank at the time your statement is prepared: checks you have written which haven’t arrived at the bank yet, and deposits which were made after the bank prepared your statement.
Entries made by the bank, e.g., interest they paid you, service charges, and returned checks, are also shown on the statement.
To clear means to mark an entry as having been recognized and recorded by the bank.
In the case of a check that you write, a check that is cleared is received and recognized by the bank as valid. The bank transfers money from your checking account to the bank in which the payee deposited it (the payee is the person or company to whom you wrote the check).
In the case of any other entry, e.g., a deposit, bank charge, etc., the bank recognizes the deposit or charge and updates your account in its own records.
At the point that an entry is cleared, your account balance (the amount of money you have in your checking account) is changed accordingly.
As used in accounting, transaction refers to a business event involving money and goods or services. For example, a transaction occurs each time you put gas in your car, since you pay money in exchange for gasoline (goods).
Because computer software deals primarily with business events that have already taken place, in the Passport Business Solutions software, transaction means the record of a completed business event involving money and goods or services.
The records of sales made and payments received are examples of transactions from the area of accounting called accounts receivable. The records of your purchases and the payments you make for such purchases are transactions from the accounting area called accounts payable. The records of quantities of goods received or sold are transactions from the area of accounting called inventory control.
In the Passport Business Solutions software, when a transaction is entered into the system (into a file or table), it is often referred to as an entry.
Accounting is the function, which provides quantitative information about economic entities through the collection, categorization, and presentation of financial records.
General Ledger account numbers are often formatted as cost centers, main accounts, and subaccounts with each part or segment classifying transactions in different ways. PBS allows General Ledger account numbers to be configured in a variety of formats to suit the varying needs of different enterprises. Most examples used in the documentation are in Dept.-Main-Sub format. Refer to the Company Information chapter in the PBS Administration documentation for more information on account number setups or a complete explanation of possible account number arrangements
Cost centers are generally used to gather transactions by lines of authority and responsibility (such as division or department). Main accounts are used for primary designations (such as separating wage expense, rent expense and tax expense). Subaccounts are used to keep separate items in the same general ledger main account (such as notes due to different banks).
The minimum format in the Passport Business Solutions is a single segment account number consisting of a four-digit account number. The maximum format is a four segment account number. When four segments are used, they are sequenced as two cost centers (such as division and department), main account and subaccount. The full account number may not exceed 17 characters, including the characters in all the segments and required separators between segments. Except for the main account, the segments may be omitted or designated in length from one to eight characters. The main account must be from four to eight characters. Use of letters is allowed on a segment-by-segment basis.
The layout of examples in the documentation is normally Dept.-Main-Sub. The setup is xxx-xxxxx-xxx (dept. of three digits, a dash, main of five letters and subaccount of three letters).
In bank to book reconciliation, the checkbook is regarded as fixed, and the bank statement is brought into agreement with the checkbook.
In book to bank reconciliation, the bank statement is regarded as fixed, and the checkbook is brought into agreement with the bank statement.
This is an acronym for American Bankers Association. The ABA is a free-trade and professional association that promotes and advocates issues important to the banking industry in the United States. The ABA's national headquarters are in Washington, D.C. For more information go to http://www.aba.com/default.htm.
The American Banker’s Association has provided ABA transit numbers. An ABA transit number is a unique identifier to each U.S. financial institution. This number is used for ACH processing in Accounts Payable and Payroll.
Automated Clearing House (ACH) is the name of an electronic network for financial transactions in the United States. ACH processes large volumes of both credit and debit transactions which are originated in batches. Rules and regulations governing the ACH network are established by NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association, formerly the National Automated Clearing House Association, and the Federal Reserve System.
There is a standard ACH file format as determined by NACHA that banks expect when processing electronic payments. Accounts Payable can be set up to produce an ACH file during payment (check) processing. This file is sent to your bank.
Refer to the Cost Center/Sub Accounts chapter in the System documentation for information concerning Cost Center numbers.
Accounts Receivable
Accounts Receivable pertains to sales made by your company and the amount of money it is owed.
Accounts Payable
Accounts Payable pertains to purchases and disbursements made by your company and the money your company owes.
Payroll
Payroll defines the wages you pay as an employer to your employees.
Most of the information you enter into your computer is stored on your disk. In order for computer programs to be able to locate specific pieces of information (within large masses of information), and to be able to process it logically, information must be organized in some predictable way. The Passport Business Solutions accounting software organizes your information for you automatically as it stores it on your disk.
There are five terms you should understand about the way the information is organized:
Character
A character is any letter, number, or other symbol you can type on your computer keyboard.
Field/Column
A field is one or more characters representing a single piece of information. For example, a name, a date, and a dollar amount are all fields. In SQL a field is often referred to as a column.
Record/Row
A record is a group of one or more related fields. For example, the fields representing a customer’s name, address, and account balance might be grouped together into a record called the customer record. In SQL and record is referred to as a row.
Entry
A record in a data file is often referred to as an entry.
Data File/Table
A data file is a group of one or more related records. A data file is often referred to simply as a file (without the word data). In SQL a file is referred to as a table.
The Customer File in Accounts Receivable is an example of a data file. Such a file is made up of several records, each of which contains the name, address, etc. for one customer.
Each file is kept separately from other files on the disk.
(There are other types of files in addition to data files. For example, programs are stored on the disk as program files. However, references to file in this User documentation refer to data file unless specifically stated otherwise.)
When you purge data, you permanently remove information from that file. Once the information is purged, it cannot be recovered.
Balance forward means the balance in an account as of a certain date. A balance forward amount is a lump-sum dollar amount, obtained by adding together several individual dollar amounts. All these specific amounts were placed in the account on or before a specified date called the balance forward date.
Compress means to make smaller. The compress selection reduces the number of records by adding the dollar amounts of several cleared entries together and creating a single balance forward entry with the same total amount.
Help
Help refers to descriptions of functions which appear on the screen. The help text gives you a quick reference to the highlights of functions while you are running the application.
Select <Ctrl>+<F1> to access help on the graphical mode screens. Select the <F8> key in character mode.
(pronounced as separate letters) ODBC is short for Open DataBase Connectivity. ODBC is a “pipe” that connects data from Passport Business Solutions data files to popular ODBC compliant spreadsheet and reporting applications like MS Excel, Access and Crystal reports. ODBC requires a separate purchase. XDBC™ is the product name that allows PBS to interface with your data via ODBC.
There are two kinds of lookups: Data Lookup and Date Lookups.
Look-ups refer to a list of available entries for a particular field. Many fields allow you to press a designated key <F8> to show all available data on file. For instance, when entering an invoice you may press this key at the Account number field to bring up a list of all G/L accounts on file. Selecting an entry from this list is often easier and faster than remembering the account number or stepping through all possible entries until the right one is reached.
The date lookup provides a point and click window for finding and entering date fields.
In Graphical mode the date lookup is available via the <F4> key. In Character mode (Windows only) you may access the date lookup via the <F7> key.
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Note |
In character mode, depending on where you press <F8>, this function will return a Look-up window or context sensitive Help. If a Look-up window is returned, pressing <F8> a second time will display Help for the field if available. |
Spool
SPOOL is a computer term meaning to Save Printer Output Off-Line. Spooling is a technique that allows a report to be printed at a later time. Instead of reports going directly to a printer, they are saved as a disk file, which is usually a lot faster.
When a printer is available, all or some saved reports can be printed in one long run (for example, overnight).