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