Q: What formula should I use to balance AP to GL?
A: Use the following as an example of how to balance. In this example, you are closing your accounting period for April and you have just posted your final invoice and payment batches to your general ledger system.
To reconcile your accounts payable activity for April, make the following calculation:“Accounts Payable Trial Balance” as of March 31+ “Posted Invoice Register” for the period between April 1 and April 30– “Posted Payment Register” for the period between April 1 and April 30
= “Accounts Payable Trial Balance” as of April 30
Reconciling AP to GL is accomplished with the use of the following reports.
“Posted Invoice Register”
“Posted Payment Register”
“Accounts Payable Trial Balance” (current and last period)
These reports ensure that your Trial Balance accurately reflects your accounts payable liability by matching the Posted invoices and payments with the AP liability account. You can also compare your AP liability accounts to GL by doing a query of the accounts in GL to identify the account or accounts out of balance. The trial balance total should be the same as your GL liability account.
If not:
Run the GL “Account Analysis” report for the liability account and for the date range in question. Look for transactions with a source other than Payables. This can quickly pinpoint any transactions incorrectly charged to the account. Make sure that you have not made manual journal entries to your liability account in General Ledger.When you identify the accounts you go back to AP and do a query on the account to find the invoices out of balance.
The last step is to create a journal entry in GL to balance the account or accounts that is out of balance.
Q: How is the as-of-date used in the “Accounts Payable Trial Balance” report?
A: The as-of-date is used to determine which invoices and payments should be included on the report. Any invoices or payments with an accounting date AFTER the entered as-of-date will not be displayed on this report.
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