Reconciliations

The debtors control account must equal the debtors list. A difference is a missing or misposted entry, not a new sale.

CAPS

Grade 12 · Accounting · Reconciliations

Accounting is a system: document, journal, ledger, then the statement.

The papers
Grade 12 Paper 1 is company financial statements, cash flow, and analysis with audit and ethics. Paper 2 is reconciliations, VAT, inventory and manufacturing or fixed assets as the paper sets them.
The logic
Assets equal owner’s equity plus liabilities. Every entry needs a source. VAT on sales is output VAT. VAT on qualifying purchases is input VAT. Profit is not the same as cash.
The relation
Debtors control = total of the debtors list. Any difference has to be found and corrected
How a marker reads it
Do not raise a new sale for the difference. The invoice already exists. It was left off the list.

Each paper is 150 marks. A foreign total that does not balance is wrong even if the individual entries look neat. Show the note or the calculation the face of the statement came from.

Worked example

The debtors control account is R14000. The debtors list adds to R13400. An invoice of R600 was left off the list. What is the corrected list total?

Before any working — hunt first

Given

Numbers and units already in the sentence: R14000 · R13400 · R600 was. Copy each one into a column. A name without a number is not given.

Missing

After you copy the given, the letter that still has no number is missing. The paper is pointing at: What is the corrected list total. Circle that word — that is the missing variable.

Find

We are required to find: What is the corrected list total. Write that as a symbol on the left, with a question mark, before you touch a formula.

Calculate

Write Debtors control = total of the debtors list with empty letters. Cross out every letter that already has a number. Calculate the letter that is still standing — that gives What is the corrected list total.

Simplified approach

The debtors control account must equal the debtors list. A difference is a missing or misposted entry, not a new sale.

Culture note

A wholesaler in Germiston, ticking the debtors list against the control account.

Formulas

Debtors control=total of the debtors list

Any difference has to be found and corrected

Step 1 / 6

The difference

Control R14000−list R13400=R600.

Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.

4. Step-by-step working

01
The difference
Control R14000−list R13400=R600.
02
Corrected list
R13400 + R600 = R14000. Control and list now agree.
03
Step F — Box the answer with its unit
The list is short by R600. After the omitted invoice is entered, the list is R13400 + R600 = R14000, which matches the control account.

More worked examples

Board walkthroughs on this topic. Open one, copy the working, then try the next.

Example 1 / 20

The Creditors control account shows R28 400. The Creditors list adds up to R27 150. Errors found: (a) an invoice of R1 500 from Supplier A was entered in the Creditors journal but not posted to Supplier A's account; (b) the Creditors journal total was undercast by R250. Calculate the correct totals.

4. Step-by-step working

01
Identify the given
(a) Not posted to the creditor's account → only the LIST is wrong. (b) A journal total is posted to the general ledger → only the CONTROL account is wrong.
(a) list, (b) control
02
Add
List: R27 150+R1 500=R28 650.
27 150+1 500=28 650
03
Add
Undercast purchases make the credit side too small. Control: R28 400 + R250 = R28 650.
28 400+250=28 650

How we got there

Read this like a teacher at the board. We go slowly, name every number, and say why we take each step.

Explain in another language · 11

1. What is the question asking?

Read the question twice. Circle the unknown. Underline every number and unit. The paper is asking: The Creditors control account shows R28 400. The Creditors list adds up to R27 150. Errors found: (a) an invoice of R1 500 from Supplier A was entered in the Creditors journal but not posted to Supplier A's account; (b) the Creditors journal total was undercast by R250. Calculate the correct totals.

Before any working — hunt first

Given

Numbers and units already in the sentence: R28 · 400 · R27 · 150 · R1 · 500 from · R250. Copy each one into a column. A name without a number is not given.

Missing

After you copy the given, the letter that still has no number is missing. The paper is pointing at: the correct totals. Circle that word — that is the missing variable.

Find

We are required to find: the correct totals. Write that as a symbol on the left, with a question mark, before you touch a formula.

Calculate

Write (a) list, (b) control with empty letters. Cross out every letter that already has a number. Calculate the letter that is still standing — that gives the correct totals.

In other words — as if you have never seen this before

If you have never seen this before: Decide for each error whether it affects the control account, the list, or both. A journal total is posted only to the control account; an individual posting affects only the list. We will name a method in words, write the formula with no numbers, then substitute one line at a time.

2. What do we already know?

Control R28 400. List R27 150. Two errors.

3. Which method — and why this one?

Decide for each error whether it affects the control account, the list, or both. A journal total is posted only to the control account; an individual posting affects only the list.

4. Step-by-step working

01 / 06
Identify the given
(a) Not posted to the creditor's account → only the LIST is wrong. (b) A journal total is posted to the general ledger → only the CONTROL account is wrong.
(a) list, (b) control
Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
02 / 06
Add
List: R27 150+R1 500=R28 650.
27 150+1 500=28 650
Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
03 / 06
Add
Undercast purchases make the credit side too small. Control: R28 400 + R250 = R28 650.
28 400+250=28 650
Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
04 / 06
Sense-check
Both now show R28 650, so the reconciliation balances.
28 650=28 650
Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
05 / 06
Step F — Box the answer with its unit
Correct control account and creditors list: R28 650 each.
Why this step: A number without a unit is half a mark on a Physics paper, and a marker can miss a Maths answer that is buried in working.
06 / 06
Step H — What the marker is looking for
On an NSC memo you usually earn: (1) a method mark for naming the right formula or idea in words, (2) an accuracy mark for substituting the given numbers with units, (3) an accuracy mark for the boxed answer with its unit. Write those three lines even if you are unsure of the arithmetic — blank pages score zero.
Why this step: First-timers chase the final number and leave the method blank. The memo still pays out for the idea and the substitution even when the last line is wrong.

5. The answer

Correct control account and creditors list: R28 650 each.

Copy onto your answer sheet — in this order

Formula: (a) list, (b) control

Answer: Correct control account and creditors list: R28 650 each.

6. Check it like a marker

If the corrected totals do not agree, there is still an error you have not found.

7. A trap first-timers fall into

First-timers often grab the first formula they remember, mix units (cm with m, minutes with seconds), or drop a minus sign. Write the formula in words first: “this equals that, because…”

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