A friend once mentioned in a presentation that the favorite day of the month for the accountant was the day that the bank statement came in.  The accountant would have the joy of reconciling the numbers to the bank and the satisfaction of knowing that the records are in good order.

 

I answered back, with online bank data updated daily, every day is now a great day for the accountant!

 

I am not saying that you need to reconcile your bank accounts every day.  However, waiting for the month end is now a thing of the past.  At a minimum, I would suggest doing a weekly reconciliation.

 

One benefit is to have a jump on the month end.  Instead of doing the whole month bank reconciliation after month end, you could have it completed prior to month end and leave only the last day or two to be completed at month end.  It could now be a quick process that could be done on the first day of the next month.  That's one less thing to have to take care of with the month end package.  It also can be easier to do the reconciling in more bite sized chunks.

 

A second benefit is that mistakes can get made in company records.  Usually it is not the standard transactions, like checks going through accounts payable that are linked in with the cash account.  It can be the non-standard transactions that might get missed.  Things like wire transfers, manual checks, special loan payments, etc. that may not have been posted.  You might be going through the whole month thinking you have more in your cash account than you really do.  Better to catch it early and avoid overdrawing the account or promising a payment that you now can't make.  Probably nothing is more embarrassing to an accountant than being way off on the cash balance.

 

A third benefit is to know early on what bank charges you might be getting.  These tend to be minor, but it is good to know about them.  Sometimes they are negotiable.

 

Finally, a fourth benefit is that sometimes banks make mistakes.  It is easier to resolve when you catch it early rather than later.

 

Every bank should allow you online access as part of their cash management services.  It should be free or low fee.  If not, that may be one sign it is time to find a new bank.

 

See if your accounting staff reconciles early and often-it can pay off in many ways!