How to Check That Your Ledgers Balance with the Nominal Accounts

The Nominal Reconcile Report allows you to check that the balances recorded in your ledgers agree with their corresponding nominal control accounts.

This is an important accounting check that helps identify discrepancies before they affect your financial reporting.

How to Run the Nominal Reconcile Report

1. Navigate to Nominal Ledger > Reports.

2. Select Reconcile.

3. Click Report to generate the reconciliation.

Navigator will display the reconciliation results for the relevant ledgers and nominal accounts.

Understanding the Results

The report compares the balances held within the underlying ledgers against their corresponding nominal control accounts.

Pay particular attention to the Difference column.

Ideally, all differences should be £0.00.

Why Might a Difference Occur?

A discrepancy can occur when a transaction affects a nominal control account without correctly updating the corresponding ledger.

For example, imagine you raise a Sales Ledger invoice for £120.

Navigator records the amount against the customer's Sales Ledger account and the corresponding nominal control account.

If you then reverse the transaction directly through the Nominal Ledger, rather than issuing a Sales Ledger credit note, you may create a discrepancy.

This is because the nominal balance has been adjusted, but the customer's individual Sales Ledger balance has not.

Important: Sales Ledger and Purchase Ledger invoices should be corrected through their respective ledgers using the appropriate credit note process, rather than reversing only the nominal posting.

What Should I Do If a Difference Appears?

If the report identifies a discrepancy:

1. Review the Difference column to identify which ledger is affected.

2. Check whether any recent transactions have been incorrectly posted or reversed.

3. If you can identify the cause, follow the correct process within the relevant ledger to resolve it.

4. Run the Reconcile Report again to confirm the difference has cleared.

If you cannot identify the cause, contact the Navigator Helpdesk and provide a screenshot of the report showing the discrepancy.

Do not post a balancing journal simply to remove the difference without first identifying its cause. This could create further accounting discrepancies.

How Often Should I Check the Report?

We recommend checking the Nominal Reconcile Report regularly, ideally daily or weekly.

Regular checks allow you to identify differences early, making them easier to investigate and correct.

Leaving a discrepancy unresolved for several months can make it much harder to identify the original transaction responsible.

Is This the Same as Cashbook Reconciliation?

No. The Nominal Reconcile Report is different from Cashbook Reconciliation.

• Nominal Reconcile Report: Checks that ledger balances agree with their corresponding nominal control accounts.

• Cashbook Reconciliation: Allows you to match individual banking transactions against your bank statement.

The Nominal Reconcile Report is a checking tool. You do not need to manually reconcile individual transactions within this report.

Summary

To check that your ledgers agree with the nominal accounts, navigate to Nominal Ledger > Reports > Reconcile and click Report.

The Difference column should ideally show £0.00 for each reconciliation.

If a difference appears, investigate the underlying postings or contact the Navigator Helpdesk for assistance.

Checking this report regularly helps ensure your accounting records remain accurate and makes potential discrepancies easier to resolve.