Keeping Records & Reports

Computers are very useful for generating information quickly and efficiently. Often, a report is run to get some information that is pertinent for that time only. Examples of this are proof listings. Once the listing is reviewed and the transactions are posted, the proof listing is of no value since a transaction listing is printed during posting. The proof listing may not represent the information that was actually posted and would be confusing to those trying to audit at a later date. For reasons such as this, we are providing a list of reports that must be kept for sound accounting practices and a list of optional reports.

Reports That Must Be Kept

The following list consists of the reports that must be kept to maintain the company’s audit trail:

GENERAL LEDGER TRANSACTION LISTING (All transactions)
 PAYROLL DETAIL LISTING & PAYROLL SUMMARIES (POSTING REPORTS)
 PAYROLL CHECK REGISTER
 PAYROLL END-OF-QUARTER REPORT
 ACCOUNTS PAYABLE POSTING REPORTS
 ACCOUNTS PAYABLE CHECK REGISTER
 ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE POSTING REPORTS
 ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE RECEIPTS POSTING

Reports That Are Optional

Some reports should be kept on hand as information for use with the daily operation of the system. This would include employee lists, vendor lists or customer lists. These reports should be printed when changes are made to the listing. There is not much purpose in having these lists on file on a monthly basis. If the file is completely erased and reentered at year end (some companies do this with the employee file), it would be wise to store the old file with the permanent reports using the old information. Some reports relate only to current information in the system and will have no value in the future. The following is a list of each report and how often the report should be filed or updated:

CHART OF ACCOUNTS LISTING • CURRENT COPY
GENERAL LEDGER DETAIL LISTING • FILE MONTHLY
 TRIAL BALANCE • FILE MONTHLY
 BALANCE SHEET & INCOME STATEMENT • FILE MONTHLY
 SHORT ALPHABETIC EMPLOYEE LISTING • CURRENT COPY
 EMPLOYEE RECORD LISTING • FILE MONTHLY
 SHORT ALPHABETIC VENDOR LISTING • CURRENT COPY
 A/P OPEN INVOICE LISTING • FILE MONTHLY
 DICTIONARY OF COST CODES • CURRENT COPY
 JOB COST ANALYSIS REPORTS • WEEK/MONTHLY
 BONDING REPORT • FILE MONTHLY
 JOB COST DETAIL LISTING • FILE MONTHLY