Bank Reconciliation Statement Format — BRS Template
Bank Reconciliation Statement
Entity: {{entity_name}} | Financial Year: {{fy}} | Bank: {{bank_name}} | Account no.: {{account_no}} | For the month of: {{brs_month}}
1. Reconciliation — Balance per Books to Balance per Bank
| Particulars | Amount (₹) | Amount (₹) |
|---|
| Balance as per books (bank ledger / bank book) | | |
| Add: Cheques issued but not yet presented for payment (per Section 2) | | |
| Less: Cheques / cash deposited but not yet credited by the bank (deposits in transit) | | |
| Less: Bank charges / interest debited by the bank, not yet recorded in books | | |
| Add: Interest credited by the bank, not yet recorded in books | | |
| Add: Direct credits by customers (NEFT / RTGS / UPI) not yet recorded in books | | |
| Less: Direct debits (ECS / standing instructions / dishonoured cheques) not yet recorded in books | | |
| Add / Less: Errors in books or by the bank (describe in Section 3) | | |
| Balance as per bank statement | | |
Working note: items that are genuine timing differences (cheques not presented, deposits in transit) reconcile without an entry; everything the bank has done that the books have not recorded (charges, interest, direct credits and debits) needs a journal entry in the books this month — the BRS is not a substitute for passing those entries.
2. Cheques Issued but Not Presented — with Stale-Cheque Ageing
| Cheque no. | Cheque date | Payee | Amount (₹) | Age | Stale (older than 3 months)? | Action |
|---|
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| Total | | | | | | |
- A cheque is valid for presentation for 3 months from its date (RBI reduced the validity period from 6 months to 3 months with effect from 1 April 2012; the same applies to demand drafts, pay orders and banker's cheques). A cheque older than 3 months is stale and the bank will not honour it.
- Action column: for stale cheques, reverse the entry — write the amount back from the bank ledger to the payee's liability account (the debt is not extinguished merely because the cheque lapsed), then reissue or settle. Do not leave stale cheques riding the BRS month after month.
3. Unmatched / Unexplained Entries — Ageing
| Entry description | Date | Amount (₹) | Less than 1 month | 1–3 months | More than 3 months | Remarks / person following up |
|---|
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
Every reconciling item other than a current-month timing difference belongs in this ageing. An entry that stays unmatched beyond 3 months is no longer a reconciling item — it is an unexplained difference, and a classic red flag for unrecorded liabilities, teeming and lading, or plain posting errors. Investigate to source documents and clear it, in books or with the bank, before the next month-end.
4. Multi-Account Summary
| Bank & branch | Account no. | Account type | Balance per books (₹) | Balance per bank (₹) | Reconciling items (₹) | Reconciled (Y/N) |
|---|
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| Total | | | | | | |
One row per bank account — current, cash credit / overdraft, EEFC and fixed-deposit accounts included. The totals should tie to the bank balances grouping in the trial balance. Dormant accounts still need a monthly row: an unreconciled dormant account is where surprises live.
5. Note — What the Statutory Auditor Will Expect
- Direct confirmations: under SA 505 (External Confirmations), the auditor obtains balance confirmations directly from the bank — covering balances, borrowings, fixed deposits, guarantees and charges — independent of the client. The year-end BRS should reconcile the books to the confirmed balance, not merely to the statement the client provides.
- Cut-off: year-end deposits in transit and cheques not presented are tested against the first bank statement of the new year — deposits should clear within days, and a cheque 'issued' on 31 March that is presented months later invites the inference that it was not really issued by year-end.
- Completeness: the auditor will ask for the BRS of every account for the last month of the year (and often for interim months), the stale-cheque write-back entries, and evidence that long-outstanding items were investigated — keep Sections 2 and 3 current so the answers already exist.
| Name | Signature | Date |
|---|
| Prepared by | {{prepared_by}} | | 31 July 2026 |
| Reviewed by | {{reviewed_by}} | | |
