Reconciling the Debit Account

Debit card guidelines: If your church chooses to use a debit card, it is strongly recommended that you set up a separate, dedicated bank account. The checking and debit accounts should not be linked, and money is only transferred from checking to debit manually, by the treasurer, when needed. This protects the money in your checking account in case of bank fraud. (See Credit or Debit Card? and Debit Account Setup)

Debit account in Jewel: The debit account is set up as a separate “Bank Account” in Jewel. The debit purchases are recorded individually as “Electronic Payments” checks in Jewel. The manual transfers from checking to debit at the bank are recorded in Jewel using Transfer Funds, and the debit account is reconciled monthly just before closing the month, so that any fraudulent charges are quickly discovered, reported and reversed. If reported after the grace period that your bank gives (which varies, but can be as little as 30 days), full recovery of the stolen funds may not be possible, which means your church forfeits that money.

NOTE: To save time and improve accuracy, wait until you are ready to reconcile, then enter all the debit purchases that are on the statement, all at once, as part of the reconcile process. When you use this method to enter all of your automatic and electronic payments into Jewel in the month that they were actually paid, using the date that is on the bank statement, you will eliminate duplicates, skipped entries, and incorrect amounts. Reconciling will be faster and more accurate.

EXCEPTION: If your practice is to reconcile after closing each month because you are waiting for the statement to arrive in the mail, you will need to enter the payments directly from the receipts that are turned in, since it is important that they be posted to the month of the purchase. (Reconciling after closing is not optimal. Consider reconciling before closing each month, even if you have to go to the bank and ask for a printed statement.)

To reconcile, you will need:

• The debit account bank statement for the month that you are closing.
• End of month “Debit Card Activity Reports” from all Debit card holders, including one from yourself, if you hold a card.

Enter all the debit purchases on the statement, one by one.

Transferring funds from Checking to the Debit Account When you have a separate bank account for a church debit card(s), it is really, really, (really!) important that you learn how to transfer funds into it and how to record that transfer correctly in Jewel. Recording it incorrectly can result in overdrawn accounts, wildly incorrect ending balances in both checking and debit accounts and errors in local fund balances, as well as delays while your support person fixes the problem. This required two-step process is not difficult, once you understand it and learn to use it consistently. STEP #1. Move money from the checking account to the debit account, using one of the following methods: 1. Online transfer (easiest) 2. Phone call to the bank 3. Visit the bank to request the transfer in person STEP #2: Using “Transfer Funds” found on Jewel home page, create a transfer in Jewel to reflect/copy what has already happened at the bank. Do not create a “General Journal Entry.” Always use “Transfer Funds” to record these transfers. (More info on “Transfer Funds” in Tutorial #7270, 8200) NOTE: Creating a transfer in Jewel does not automatically mean that money moves at the bank. You must move the actual funds between bank accounts, then create a transfer in Jewel to reflect what actually happened at the bank. Important tips: a) Keep track of the actual bank balance of the debit account so you can transfer money from checking before an overdraft occurs. The debit card holders should notify you if they are making an unusually large purchase, so you can ensure there are funds available to cover. b) Enter transfers into Jewel after you actually make the bank transfer. But then do it, before you forget. Don’t wait, then try to remember if you did it or not. c) Example of a transfer in Jewel: Go to Jewel home page and click on “Transfer Funds.” Use the actual date of the transfer and this exact memo. Simple but clear. d) Once you have correctly created this transfer, no other entries are needed. You can reconcile both checking and debit accounts from this one transfer, because both debit and checking accounts are listed and both will have entries that show up on their bank rec screens. NOTE: If, while reconciling, you believe you need to add another entry to complete the reconcile, stop and ask for assistance. If you have followed the instructions so far, you should never need an additional “General Journal Entry” or “Transfer” in order to complete the reconciliation in either checking or debit accounts. In fact, using a “General Journal Entry” to create a “Transfer” can cause a lot of chaos in your reports. (Tutorial #8200)3 Tips for finding the transfer during reconciliation When reconciling the checking account, look for a minus amount in the “Deposit and Interest Earned” section of the bank rec page that matches the transferred amount that is on the statement. If your memo is descriptive and consistent, it will help you to recognize it. The minus deposit will act as a withdrawal as you reconcile. If you don’t see it and you know you already created it in Jewel, do not create and check off a new transfer. Contact your support person so they can figure out what happened. When reconciling the debit account, look for the transfer in the “Deposits and Interest Earned” section of the bank rec page, matching the transferred amount that is on the statement. If your memo is descriptive and consistent it will help you to recognize it. If you don’t see it and you know you already created it in Jewel, do not create and check off a new transfer. Contact your support person for assistance so they can figure out what happened. Once all the payments have been entered, reconcile the account in the usual way. When the difference is zero, click “OK √” to finish, then click “Yes” to print the bank rec report. Attach this report and all “Debit Card Activity Reports” to the Debit statement and file in date order with the other Debit statements in your “Bank Statements” folder. NOTE: Once you have finished reconciling the debit account, any leftover Deposits/Transfers/Withdrawals on the debit bank rec page are probably duplicates or errors. Void or delete them each month as you go along and they won’t pile up and affect your financial summary balances. Electronic payments can be voided, then cleared next time you reconcile. (Tutorial #7290). Transfers (Tutorial #7270) or General Journal Entries (Tutorial #7120) can be Deleted. Ask your support person for assistance if needed. Corresponding videos: 6.1 – Why is Reconciling So Important? Find at https://www.gccsda.com/auditing/10963 6.3 – Tips to Success if Reconciling Seems Hard 6.12 – Voiding Checks Both Old and New For more tutorials on BANK RECONCILIATIONS, see section 3500 on the gccsda.org auditor webpage. This information has been brought to you by the Georgia-Cumberland Conference Audit Team Created by Linda McCabe. Edited 8/24/2025 4