The Accounts Payable to General Ledger reconciliation procedures are broken down into four sections as follows:

• Overall Reconciliation Procedures - To identify overall whether there is a discrepancy.
• Month by Month Reconciliation Procedures To identify in which period a discrepancy occurred.
• Batch by Batch Reconciliation Procedures To identify in which batch a discrepancy occurred.
• Entry by Entry Reconciliation Procedures To identify in which entry a discrepancy occurred.

Before you begin reconciling Accounts Payable to General Ledger, post all entries in both Accounts Payable and General Ledger (Tasks > Post Entries). Verify that both General Ledger and Accounts Payable are in balance on their own.

Overall Reconciliation Procedures

Follow the procedures below to determine if Accounts Payable and General Ledger are in balance overall.

1. Print the Accounts Payable Period End Report for AP Accts report as follows:
   1. From the Accounts Payable Reports menu, select GL Reconciliation > Period End Report for AP Accts.
   2. In the Period end cut-off date box, enter a future period end date such as 12/31/3999.
   3. Click [Start] to print the report to a file or printer.
   4. Make a note of the total in the Current Accts Payable Balance column for each payable account.
   5. Repeat the previous steps for each payable account.

2. If you use retainage, print the Accounts Payable Period End Report for RP Accts report as follows:
   1. From the Accounts Payable Reports menu, select GL Reconciliation > Period End Report for RP Accts.
   2. In the Period end cut-off date box, enter a future period end date such as 12/31/3999.
   3. Click [Start] to print the report to a file or printer.
   4. Make a note of the total in the Current Ret Payable Balance column for each payable account.
   5. Repeat the previous steps for each payable account.

3. In General Ledger, make a note of the future balance for your payable accounts as follows:
   1. From the Setup menu, select Accounts.
   2. Enter one of your payable accounts, or click [List] to select one from the list.
   3. Select the Balances (Accrual) tab, and make a note of the Future Balance total.
      Note: In General Ledger, a credit balance appears with a minus sign.
   4. Repeat the previous steps for each payable account.

4. Compare the General Ledger balance from step 3c to the accounts payable total from step 1d, or the retainage payable total from step 2d, for each account. If the two reports had the same account, compare the sum of the accounts payable and retainage payable totals to the General Ledger balance from step 3c.

If the Accounts Payable totals do not match the General Ledger balances, proceed with the Month by Month reconciliation procedures to find the period in which the discrepancy occurs. Multiple months with differences could make up the total discrepancy between Accounts Payable and General Ledger.

Month by Month Reconciliation Procedures

Follow the procedures below to determine whether Accounts Payable and General Ledger are in balance to one another for a specific period. If they are not in balance, continue with the Batch by Batch and Entry by Entry reconciliation procedures to determine the cause of the out of balance situation.

1. Print the Period End Report for AP Accts report as follows:
   1. From the Accounts Payable Reports menu, select GL Reconciliation > Period End Report for AP Accts.
   2. In the Period end cut-off date box, enter the period end date for the period that you want to reconcile.
   3. Click [Ranges], make a note of all the account numbers, and then click [Cancel].
   4. Click [Start] to print the report to a file or printer.
   5. Make a note of the total in the Accts Payable Balance As Of [Period End Date] column for each accounts payable account.

2. If you use retainage, print the Period End Report for RP Accts report as follows:
   1. From the Accounts Payable Reports menu, select GL Reconciliation > Period End Report for RP Accts.
   2. In the Period end cut-off date box, enter the period end date for the period you want to reconcile.
   3. Click [Start] to print the report to a file or printer.
   4. Make a note of the total in the Ret Payable Balance As Of [Period End Date] column for each retainage payable account.

3. Print your Year-to-date Ledger as follows:
   1. From the General Ledger Reports menu, select Year-to-date Ledger.
   2. Select the Modify date range check box.
   3. Enter the beginning and ending date of your period in the Start date and End date boxes, respectively.
   4. Click [Ranges], select the accounts that you noted in steps 1c and 2c above, and then click [OK].
   5. Click [Start] to print the report to a file or printer.
   6. Make a note of the ending balances for each account.

4. Compare the payable account totals from steps 1e and 2d to the ending balances for each payable account from step 3f. Make a note of any accounts where the total in Accounts Payable does not match the balance in General Ledger. If there are no differences, then this month is in balance. You do not need to proceed further for this month. If there are differences, proceed to the next step to identify the out of balance batch.

Batch by Batch Reconciliation Procedures:

For each month where you found a discrepancy, compare the Accounts Payable Entries by Batch for AP Accts report to the General Ledger Totals by Batch report as follows.

1. In General Ledger, print the Totals by Batch report as follows:
   1. From the Reports menu, select Entries , Totals by Batch.
   2. Select GL Transaction (current) and GL Transaction (history) (if a history file is available), and then click [OK].
   3. Click [Conditions].
   4. Under Field, select Accounting date.
   5. Under Operator, select Greater or equal to.
   6. Under Value, enter the first day of the month you are reconciling (for example: 08/01/10).
   7. Click [OK], and then click [Add].
   8. Under Field, select Accounting date.
   9. Under Operator, select Less or equal to.
   10. Under Value, enter the last day of the month you are reconciling (for example: 08/31/10).
   11. Click [OK], and then click [Add].
   12. Under Field, select Account.
   13. Under Operator, select Equal to.
   14. Under Value, enter one of the payable accounts that you want to investigate further.
   15. Click [OK] twice.
   16. Click [Start] to print the report to a printer.

2. In Accounts Payable, print the Entries by Batch for AP Accts report and the Entries by Batch for RP Accts report. Print both reports for each payable account as follows:
   1. From the Reports menu, select GL Reconciliation , Entries by Batch for AP Accts (or Entries by Batch for RP Accts).
   2. Select AP Transaction (current) and AP Transaction (history) (if the history file is available), and then click [OK].
   3. In the Accounts payable account (or Retainage payable account) box, enter the same account used in the condition on the General Ledger Totals by Batch report (above).
      Click [Conditions], and then click [Add].
   4. Under Field, select Accounting date.
   5. Under Operator, select Greater or equal to.
   6. Under Value, enter the first day of the month you are reconciling (for example: 08/01/10).
   7. Click [OK], and then click [Add].
   8. Under Field, select Accounting date.
   9. Under Operator, select Less or equal to.
   10. Under Value, enter the last day of the month you are reconciling (for example: 08/31/10).
   11. Click [OK] twice.
   12. Click [Start] to print the report.

   Note: To reconcile multiple accounts payable accounts or retainage payable accounts, condition and print the General Ledger Totals by Batch report for each account number separately. Do not add any other conditions or ranges and ignore any amounts in the Batch Proof column.

3. Compare the General Ledger Totals by Batch report and the Accounts Payable Entries by Batch reports for each account. Compare each batch until you find a batch with a discrepancy. If you find a batch where the debits and/or credits do not match, make a note of the batch and the difference and continue with the Entry by Entry reconciliation procedures below to find out which entry caused the discrepancy. If you do not find a batch with a discrepancy, then the discrepancy has carried forward from a previous month. Repeat the Month by Month and Batch by Batch reconciliation procedures to identify the month and batch where the discrepancy originates.
   Tip: The Record Manual Checks task creates batches in Accounts Payable, but does not send a batch to the accounts payable account (or retainage account) in General Ledger if the invoice and manual check have the same accounting date.

Entry by Entry Reconciliation Procedures:

When you identify the batch with the discrepancy, compare the Accounts Payable Entries in Detail reports to the General Ledger Entries by Account report to find the discrepant entries. If the discrepant batch appears on both the Entries by Batch for AP Accts report and the Entries by Batch for RP Accts report, then print both the Entries in Detail for AP Accts and the Entries in Detail for RP Accts reports as follows.

1. In Accounts Payable, print the Entries in Detail reports as follows:
   1. From the Reports menu, select GL Reconciliation , Entries in Detail for AP Accts (or Entries in Detail for RP Accts).
   2. Select AP Transaction (current) and AP Transaction (history) (if a history file is available), and then click [OK].
   3. In the Accounts payable account or Retainage payable account box, enter the appropriate payable account.
   4. Click [Conditions], and then click [Add].
   5. Under Field, select Accounting date.
   6. Under Operator, select Greater or equal to.
   7. Under Value, enter the first day of the month you are reconciling (for example: 08/01/10).
   8. Click [OK], and then click [Add].
   9. Under Field, select Accounting date.
   10. Under Operator, select Less or equal to.
   11. Under Value, enter the last day of the month you are reconciling (for example: 08/31/10).
   12. Click [OK], and then click [Add].
   13. Under Field, select Batch.
   14. Under Operator, select Equal to.
   15. Under Value, enter the batch number with the discrepancy you found in the Batch by Batch procedures above.
   16. Click [OK] twice.
   17. Click [Start] to print the report to a file or printer.

2. In General Ledger, print the Entries by Account report as follows:
   1. From the Reports menu, select Entries , Entries by Account.
   2. Select GL Transaction (current) and GL Transaction (history) (if a history file is available), and then click [OK].
   3. In the Accounting Date From box, enter the date of the first day of the month you are reconciling (for example: 08/01/10).
   4. In the Accounting Date To box, enter the date of the last day of the month you are reconciling (for example: 08/31/10).
   5. Click [Conditions], and then click [Add].
   6. Under Field, select Account.
   7. Under Operator, select Equal to.
   8. Under Value, enter the appropriate payables account.
   9. Click [OK], and then click [Add].
   10. Under Field, select Batch.
   11. Under Operator, select Equal to.
   12. Under Value, enter the batch number with the discrepancy you found in the Batch by Batch procedures above.
   13. Click [OK] twice.
   14. Click [Start] to print the report to a file or printer.

3. Compare the Accounts Payable Entries in Detail reports and the General Ledger Entries by Account report for each entry until you find a discrepancy. Determine the correction that you need and use Record Entries in General Ledger to make the appropriate correcting entries. Contact your Sage Timberline Office business partner if you require assistance.