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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 5,737
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 5,737 |
My bride, a retired banker, had some thing similar happen a couple of times in her career. Eventually higher ups said to just go with the customers numbers and drop it.
Jim
"Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 33,686
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 33,686 |
About two weeks ago I had two checks bounce. I went straight to the bank and asked what happened because my records seemed perfect. The "personal banker" guy sat down and went over it with me, and even refunded the overdraft charges without me even asking.
Then he and I sat and matched up every deposit and every debit going back to April last year, even though the checkbook had been balanced at least three times since then. The mistake is in the neighborhood of $300, and we can't find it.
He complimented me on the neatness of the check register, and I did all the math again and still can't find any errors. He made copies of the pages in my check register last week and did the same thing. Nothing is in the credit column that should be in the debit column, or vice versa. We're both at a loss to find any mistake.
Late today we passed it off to a female "personal banker" who will look at it again, just to get a set of fresh eyes on it. I'm not optimistic, but hey, who knows?
Here's question #1 -- Could the bank have made an error in math? Seems impossible because it's all done by computer, but right now I don't have any other explanation.
Here's question #2 -- If we can't find any error on the on my side and the bank can't explain why I was overdrawn, what happens? If the bank can't prove I've made an error, how can I get them to consider my checkbook to be correct and credit me approximately three Benjamins?
Here's question #3 -- Have you ever heard of such a thing? This has been unresolved for at least two weeks now.
Thanks.
Steve. Private Client Banker here... Question #1: The bank cannot make an error in math. Where the bank very well COULD have made an error, would have been on a deposit. I have seen multiple times where a deposit goes missing because a tellers scanner reads a deposit slip as another number. Question #2 and #3: If you guys continue to disagree typically it's too bad for the customer. For my customers, it depends on the relationship. I am not going to lose a large customer over something like a $300 dollar discrepancy, but we would have to profit enough off the customer (balances, loans, investments, etc) to be able to offset the written off loss. For the average customer I would only balance the checkbook if you balanced in the last 2 statement cycles, otherwise it gets force balanced to the bank balance. If you come in and talk hunting, fishing, and shooting, we would go all the way back to the point we both agreed and we would find the error. Any banker worth their salt should be able to find it IF they put in the time. Chase Private Client client here and all is more than good. Something seems more than odd with the OP's issue?
Conduct is the best proof of character.
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,095
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,095 |
If you would learn to do a proper two-part reconciliation you would not have to go back more then two or three months from where you think everything was copacetic to work forward and find the difference. You certainly do not have to go back to day one unless this difference has been lurking in your ledger since day one.
From your checkbook ledger:
Prior period reconciled balance. (This will be a leap of faith on the first prior month you start with.)
Plus deposits. (The total of a written list of deposits.)
Minus checks written. (The total of a list of checks written.)
Plus or minus each item on the bank statement that is not a deposit or a check. Check off each such adjustment item on the bank statement as you list them onto your reconciliation. (Fees, deposit differences, returned deposited items, checks clearing for a different amount than you listed, etc.)
Everything on the bank statement should be checked off by now, otherwise list it as a difference, plus or minus.
Equals a possibly correct balance.
Then:
Ending balance per bank statement.
Plus "deposits in transit" (Any deposit on your list of deposits that didn't make it onto the bank statement by the cutoff date. Take your list of deposits and check off each item on the list and on the bank statement.)
Minus "outstanding checks" (Any check on your list of checks written that didn't get cleared on the bank statement by the cutoff date. Take your list of checks written and check off each item on the list and on the bank statement.)
Equals the possibly correct balance from the first part.
If the two parts don't equal, you go back over it again and again to see what you're missing. (Use pencil when checking off items on the bank statement in case you have to erase everything and start over.)
Since you are just jumping in a month or two before you think you went out of balance, you may find a check clearing from months earlier that you had not listed as outstanding. Or you might find a bank charge or adjustment that you forgot to write into your ledger. Etc.
You don't have to go back to the day you opened your account. Starting a couple of months earlier than your problem should build a foundation that will isolate the difference when it occurs.
If you can't make the top and bottom parts of the reconciliation balance you have to go over it until you do. Or the imbalance is before the month you are reconciling and you have to go back further to find what you missed.
This is not rocket science but it has to be done diligently, in detail for it to work.
Having done thousands of bank reconciliations I would put the odds at about 100 to 1 that the error is something missing in your ledger, not a bank error. Bank errors are not impossible, but their math is usually perfect and it is just a matter of finding the differences in the items as they and you list them.
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