Paste the cash book and the bank statement for the same period, with receipts as positive amounts and payments as negative. Lines with the same amount and dates within your window are paired. What is left on each side is what you need to explain.
Dates can be dd/mm/yyyy, dd-mm-yyyy or yyyy-mm-dd. Use the same sign convention on both sides. Choose the window from how long cheques take to clear for your client. Each bank line is used once; if amounts repeat, check the pairing by reference.
| Side | Date | Reference | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book only | 2020-04-07 | Receipt Meera LLP | 36,000.00 |
| Book only | 2020-04-09 | CHQ 1003 Utilities | -7,200.00 |
| Bank only | 2020-04-08 | Bank charges | -590.00 |
| Bank only | 2020-04-10 | Interest credit | 1,240.00 |
Most lines pair off without thought. The value of the exercise sits in the leftovers: cheques issued and not yet presented, receipts in transit, bank charges the books have not caught, and items that never clear. Look at the age of each leftover, and at how many days pass between the book entry and the bank date.
Each cash book line is compared with bank lines that have the same amount, to the paisa. Among those, the one whose date is closest to the book date, and no further than your window, is paired with it.
A bank line can be paired only once. Whatever is not paired is listed as book only or bank only, with the net amount of each group.
Dates and amounts are read as pasted. Lines whose date or amount cannot be read are counted and left out of the matching.
A cheque of 18,500 is issued on 5 April and clears on 12 April. The window is 7 days.
