Summary

The BT Reconciliation process is used by organizations to verify that the business taxes collected throughout the year are equal to the business taxes that were actually owed at the end of the year, and then to reconcile any differences. This process calculates any discrepancies and generates credits on outstanding balances for taxpayer accounts. The Reconciliation process is often required for payroll taxes. Payroll taxes are typically due on a quarterly basis, with a reconciliation form due at the end of the year.

Using this process will require that a reconciliation tax type be set up to include a reconciliation period. For example, if the tax type is set up as quarterly, period 5 should be added to the existing 4 periods. Please see the Tax Type Maintenance topic for more information.

Using this process will result in a transaction posting to the selected account history, within the established reconciliation tax type.

Step by Step

1     Create a Reconciliation batch.

• Select the Reconciliation palette in BT> Reconciliation. This will expand the Reconciliation palette and display the steps in the batch process.
• Select New from the Reconciliation batch number drop-down menu to create a new batch. This will open the New Batch window.
  • If there are open batches in the Reconciliation process, you can create a new batch without affecting the open batches.
• Enter a Batch Month and Batch Year. These fields default to the current calendar period and are used for reference only. The transaction date of the billing is set up in the Generate step and the fiscal period the transactions are posted to is determined by the Journal Entry Date entered when creating the GL Distribution Report (BT> Reconciliation> GL Distribution).
• Click the Generate icon   to populate the Batch Number field with the next available batch number. Batch numbers are limited to five digits and must be unique within the batch month of the batch year.
  • You can also manually create a new batch by entering a Batch Number and clicking the Save icon  .
• You can delete batches by selecting a batch and pressing DELETE.

2     Generate the reconciliations.

• Open the Generate window (BT> Reconciliation> Generate). This window is used to filter the transactions or businesses that will be included in the Reconciliation batch.
  • Organizations that process reconciliations on a business-by-business basis as the reconciliation forms are received can skip the Generate step and proceed directly to the Edit step.
• Check the toggle next to each Tax Type you would like to include in the batch.
  • Use the Select All and Select None icon drop-down menus to quickly specify the tax types you would like to include. These icons can be used to select the remaining filter criteria as well.
  • Tax types are created and maintained on the Tax Type Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Tax Type).
• The Status field is used to select which statuses are included in the batch. By default all of the toggles are selected.
  • Statuses are created and maintained in the Status Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Status).
• The Tax Year field is used to specify the tax year for the Reconciliation batch.
• Click the Create icon to add specific businesses to the batch.
  • This will open the Business Selection window. Use the Search Criteria section to filter the displayed business. Select a business and click the Confirm icon   to add that business to the Reconciliation batch.
  • This will limit the businesses that the filter section pulls into the batch. The filter criteria will still be used, but only the selected businesses will be included.
  • While this process can be used to reconcile a large number of accounts in a single batch, processing one business at a time is a common use case. A business owner will submit the required reconciliation forms and that business will be processed.
• Click the Confirm icon when complete.

3     Edit the reconciliations.

• Open the Select Reconciliation window (BT> Reconciliation> Edit).
• The Select window will display all of the accounts that were included in the batch during the Generate step.
  • All businesses that are associated with the tax types selected in the Generate step, even those with no reconciliation data for the selected tax year, will be included in the batch.
• Highlight a line item and click the Modify icon to edit an included transaction.
• Click the Create icon to add an additional record to the batch. This will open the Edit window where the variance amount will be calculated.
  • Enter the Business that you would like to add to the batch.
  • Enter the Tax Type that needs to be reconciled.
  • Enter the Year for the reconciliation.
    • When modifying the reconciliation details for a business added through the Generate step, the Business, Tax Type and Year fields will be populated and disabled.
  • Click the Generate icon to generate to generate reconciliation details based on the activity associated with the selected tax type.
    • The data grid will populate with the non-reconciliation periods associated with the selected tax type.
    • The System Units column displays all entered units for previously entered returns.
    • The System Fee Amount column displays all calculated amounts for the previously entered returns.
    • The Reported Units column is used to enter the reconciliation units.
      • Once the Reported Units are entered, the Calculated Amount column will display the fee amount based on the newly entered units. If the Calculated Amount and the System Calculated Amount are different, then the Variance field will display that difference. This process can either generate an invoice or generate a credit.
      • Reconciliation detail lines with zero activity for the period will be displayed in the data grid, but will not generate any transactions when the batch is committed.
    • Click the Save icon after making any changes. This will close the Edit window and return you to the Select window.
    • NOTE: If you need to add reconciliation details for second tax type, you MUST click the Save icon   after adding reconciliation details for the first tax type.
      • After saving, you can then select the same business from the Select window to open the Edit window again. The Edit window will now display the period details for the first tax type. At this point, you can click the Generate icon   again to select a second tax type to include in the batch.
      • If you click the Generate icon twice without saving after generating details for the first tax type, you will generate duplicate detail records for that first tax type. You will then need to manually delete those duplicate records in order to avoid generating duplicate reconciliation transactions.
• Click the Exit icon to close the Select window and proceed to the next step.

4     Print the Proof List.

• Open the Reconciliation Proof List window (BT> Reconciliation> Proof List).
• The report will display the Business Number, DBA Name, Tax Type, System Units, System Fee Amount, Reported Units, Calculated Amount and Variance for each business included in the report. A report total will also be provided.
• Click the Print icon to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

5     Print the GL Distribution.

• Open the GL Distribution Report window (BT> Reconciliation> GL Distribution).
• Enter the transaction date you want to appear in the General Ledger for this batch in the Journal Entry date field. This date will determine the fiscal period in which the invoices are recorded.
  • The Fiscal Period and Fiscal Year fields will populate based on the Journal Entry date selected.
• Select a Report Type from the drop-down menu.
  • The Summary report will display the Fund, Account, Description, Debit Amount and Credit Amount. The report will also provide a Fund Total and a Report Total.
  • The Detail report will display everything included in the Summary report as well as the Business Number, Transaction Type, Fee Code and Description.
• Click the Print icon to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

6     Commit the Reconciliation batch.

• Open the Commit window (BT> Reconciliation> Commit).
• Confirm the batch settings and click the Confirm icon to commit the batch.
• If an invoice is being generated, this process will debit the Accounts Receivable account associated with the fee code, and credit the Revenue account.
• If a credit is being generated, the system will take a return with a payment on the account during the calendar year, and the transaction would reduce the payment and reduce the invoice.