In PracticePanther's standard reconciliation workflow of banks and credit card activity, users manually mark individual payments as reconciled. While this allows you to keep track of cleared payments, it lacks a structured, auditable process that verifies transactions against your actual bank records.
PantherAccounting Plus provides a more robust, end-to-end reconciliation process. It involves matching or clearing payments in your PracticePanther account by comparing them directly to transactions listed on your bank statement. This creates a complete and independent record of all activity that flows in and out of your bank accounts.
PantherAccounting Plus includes a separate, comprehensive interface which guides you through your monthly reconciliations - capturing bank statement dates and balances, records cleared transactions, tracks reconciliation summaries by month, automatically generates reconciliation reports, and stores historical reconciliations for audit review.
Monthly reconciliations should be performed for all of your accounts - trust, operating, and credit card accounts.
Trust Account Reconciliation
This is one of the most critical compliance processes in law firm accounting. The Three-Way Trust Reconciliation, available with PantherAccounting Plus, compares:
Your internal trust ledger balance
The trust bank account statement balance
Your client trust account balances
Completing this each month confirms the accuracy of your trust records and helps identify and resolve any discrepancies, ensuring you remain compliant with state bar regulations.
Operating Account Reconciliation
Reconciling your operating account helps ensure that all income and expenses are properly recorded and that your PracticePanther records match your bank statement. This not only improves financial accuracy but also helps monitor the firm's overall financial health. Regular monthly reconciliations can help identify any mistakes or unexpected charges.
Credit Card Reconciliation
Monthly credit card reconciliations verify that transactions in PracticePanther align with your credit card statements. This ensures:
Accurate recording of expenses
Timely detection of unauthorized or incorrect charges
Better control over firm spending
Regular reconciliations are essential for maintaining accurate financial records and for promptly identifying any unauthorized or erroneous charges.