Introduction

Reconciling the Aged Disbursements Report with the Balance Sheet ensures your financial records are accurate and aligned. This process identifies discrepancies between incurred and billed disbursements and helps maintain clean accounting.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Generate the Aged Disbursement Report

Run the Aged Disbursement Report for the desired date and note the total disbursement balance.

Ensure the date matches the financial period you’re reconciling.

Step 2: Generate the Balance Sheet

Generate the Balance Sheet for the same date and identify the following account balances:

  • Disbursement
  • Anticipated Disbursement
  • Disbursement Recovered
  • Anticipated Disbursement Recovered

Step 3: Reconcile the Balances

Use the following formula to confirm that the totals match:

(Disbursement + Anticipated Disbursement) + (Disbursement Recovered + Anticipated Disbursement Recovered)

Troubleshooting

Problem: The Aged Disbursement Report and Balance Sheet totals don’t match.

  • Solution: Check for missing or incorrectly posted transactions in the relevant GL accounts.

Further Information

The account given the role of Disbursement or Anticipated Disbursement is posted to whenever the following events occur:

  • Disbursement is recorded by Office Payment
  • Disbursement is recorded by Record Purchase
  • Anticipated Disbursement paid by Office Payment or Record Purchase
  • Direct Payment (client directly pays the supplier, or paid from trust)
  • Modifying an anticipated disbursement that has been billed higher


The account given the role of Disbursement Recovered or Anticipated Disbursement Recovered is posted to whenever the following events occur:

  • Invoice issued with disbursement billed
  • Writing off a disbursement (before it’s billed)
  • Direct Receipt (client has directly paid the firm without being invoiced first)
  • Direct Payment (client directly pays the supplier, or paid from trust)
  • Matter credit applied to disbursement
  • Modifying an anticipated disbursement that has been billed lower
The account roles can be viewed via the General Ledger > Office Journal > Account Roles screen.