How To: Reconcile the Aged Disbursements Report with the Balance Sheet

Introduction

Reconciling the Aged Disbursements Report with the Balance Sheet ensures your financial records are accurate and aligned.

This process identifies discrepancies between incurred and billed disbursements and helps maintain clean accounting. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Generate the Aged Disbursement Report:
   • Run the report for the desired date.
   • Note the total disbursement balance.

Ensure the date matches the financial period you’re reconciling.

2. Generate the Balance Sheet:
   • Generate the Balance Sheet for the same date.
   • Identify the following account balances:
     • Disbursement
     • Anticipated Disbursement
     • Disbursement Recovered
     • Anticipated Disbursement Recovered

3. Reconcile the Balances:
   • Use this formula to confirm totals match:
     (Disbursement + Anticipated Disbursement) + (Disbursement Recovered + Anticipated Disbursement Recovered)

Troubleshooting

Problem: The Aged Disbursement Report and Balance Sheet totals don’t match.

• Solution: Check for missing or incorrectly posted transactions in the relevant GL accounts. 

Further Information

The account given the role of "Disbursement" or "Anticipated Disbursement" is posted to whenever the following events occur:

• Disbursement is recorded by Office Payment
• Disbursement is recorded by Record Purchase
• Anticipated Disbursement paid by Office Payment or Record Purchase
• Direct Payment (client directly pays the supplier, or paid from trust)
• Modifying an anticipated disbursement that has been billed higher

The account given the role of "Disbursement Recovered" or "Anticipated Disbursement Recovered" is posted to whenever the following events occur:

• Invoice issued with disbursement billed
• Writing off a disbursement (before it's billed)
• Direct Receipt (client has directly paid the firm without being invoiced first)
• Direct Payment (client directly pays the supplier, or paid from trust)
• Matter credit applied to disbursement
• Modifying an anticipated disbursement that has been billed lower

The account roles can be viewed via the General Ledger > Office Journal > Account Roles screen