School Cashbook, Vouchers and Bank Reconciliation Guide

A school's accounts are in good shape when four things always agree: the cashbook, the bank book, the vouchers and the bank statement. This guide sets out a monthly routine for a community school accountant to keep them in step. It works with registers or with software, and the committee can follow it.

Step 1: Record every receipt and payment daily

The cashbook records money in and out, in date order, with a running balance. Enter each item the day it happens, with the BS date, a short description, the head it belongs to and the voucher number. Do not wait for the month end. Entries written from memory a few weeks later are where mistakes and doubts begin.

Step 2: Use numbered vouchers

Every payment needs a voucher. A good voucher shows:

• Voucher number in sequence and date in BS and AD.
• Payee name and what the payment is for.
• Amount in figures and words.
• Head or fund charged.
• Reference to the committee decision where one is required.
• Signatures of the person preparing, the person approving and the person receiving.
• Attached bill, quotation or receipt.

Receipts for money coming in follow the same idea: numbered, signed and linked to a head. Never reuse a number. Cancel wrongly written vouchers and keep them.

Step 3: Keep heads and grants separate

Every entry belongs to a head. If a grant was given for a specific purpose, spend it from that head only, and keep any conditions with the file. When a head runs short, do not borrow from another without a recorded committee decision and a plan to restore it. Show the balance of each head in your monthly report.

Step 4: Reconcile the bank each month

Bank reconciliation compares the bank book with the bank statement. Follow these steps:

1. Tick every item in the bank book that appears on the statement.
2. List items in the book but not on the statement, such as cheques issued but not yet presented.
3. List items on the statement but not in the book, such as bank charges or interest.
4. Enter the missing items in the book.
5. Check that the adjusted book balance equals the adjusted statement balance, and sign the reconciliation.

If it does not agree, check for a transposed number, a missing entry or a cheque entered twice before suspecting anything more serious.

Step 5: Count the cash

At least monthly, and in front of a second person, count the cash in hand and compare it with the cashbook. Both sign the count sheet. Keep school cash low by banking regularly. Cash that sits in a drawer for weeks invites losses and questions.

Check	Frequency	Who
Cash count against cashbook	Monthly or more often	Accountant and second person
Bank reconciliation	Monthly	Accountant, reviewed by treasurer
Voucher file check	Monthly	Head teacher
Fund balances against bank	Monthly	Treasurer
Full report to committee	Each meeting	Accountant and head teacher

Step 6: Report to the committee

Prepare a one-page summary for each meeting: opening balance, income by head, expense by head, closing balance, and bank reconciliation status. Add a list of large payments and the decisions that approved them. A short report read at each meeting is better than a thick file shown once a year.

Step 7: Prepare for the audit

Before the auditor arrives, arrange vouchers in number order with bills attached, cashbook and bank book printed, reconciliations signed, salary sheets, asset register and minutes of relevant meetings. Prepare a list of grants with conditions and how each was used. Ask your local level or auditor beforehand what format they want.

Common problems and how to settle them

Some issues return every month. A cheque is issued but the payee does not bank it for weeks: list it on the reconciliation and follow up, and after a long delay ask the committee whether to cancel and reissue. A bill arrives after the voucher is already paid: attach it with a dated note rather than rewriting the voucher. A supplier gives only a handwritten slip: ask the committee how such cases are treated and, where possible, ask for a proper bill or a PAN invoice, because the rules on documents come from your local level and auditor. A grant is received late in the year and cannot be fully spent: record the balance honestly and ask the funder how it may be carried forward.

When the bank charges fees or pays interest, enter them as soon as the statement arrives so the books stay close to the bank. Small items left unrecorded all year make the final reconciliation painful.

Keeping the files in order

Paper still matters. Keep vouchers in number order in a labelled file for each month and store the files in a locked cupboard. Where you have a scanner or a phone, scan bills and attach them to the system record so a missing paper does not mean a missing proof. Keep a copy of the data on a second device outside the school, such as one held by the treasurer, so a theft, fire or computer fault does not erase the year.

How software helps

The WebsNP school accounts software is set up around this routine: cashbook and bank book with running balances, numbered vouchers, head-wise reports, a reconciliation screen and a committee summary. You still verify the cash and sign the vouchers, but the arithmetic and the report preparation are no longer a monthly chore. Teachers paid from school funds are covered by payroll software if you want a fuller salary process.

Your next step

Next month, follow the seven steps once, even on paper, and note where you got stuck. Then message us on WhatsApp and we will show the same routine in a demo with your heads and bank accounts.

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