Year-End Account Actions

At year-end, units must review all Cornell accounts and take the following actions:

• Review account activity 
• Delete accounts no longer needed 
• Bring all labor suspense accounts to zero 
• Reconcile petty cash accounts 
• Reconcile asset and liability accounts 

Action: Review your account activity  Access the Accounting Data Warehouse

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Delete Accounts: The only time an account may be deleted from the accounting files is at year-end.  An account can be deleted if, at the time of final closing, the balance is zero ($0.00) and there are no commitments. 

 Note: If an employee is currently being paid on an account slated for deletion, an ADAF should be processed prior to the first pay of the new fiscal year.  The ADAF should be effective-dated July 1 (effective 6/19/08 for employees paid biweekly and 7/1/08 for those paid semimonthly).  If an ADAF is not processed, charges will remain on the accounts and the delete codes will be removed.  Therefore, the accounts will remain open in the new fiscal year.

Action: Review the "Schedule of Departmental Balances," and close accounts that are no longer required by July 14, 2008 Manage My Accounts

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Bring Labor Suspense Accounts to Zero: All labor suspense accounts (subledger 3995) must be brought to zero at year-end.  

  If you have questions, please e-mail uco-unrfds-mailbox@cornell.edu .

Action: Review all labor suspense accounts and, if necessary, process ADAF's through Payroll to bring these accounts to zero.

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Reconcile Petty Cash Accounts:  All petty cash accounts must be reconciled as of June 30, 2008.

  If you have questions, please e-mail uco-unrfds-mailbox@cornell.edu  .

Action: Reconcile petty cash accounts as of June 30, 2008. Forward completed reconciliations via e-mail to your supervisor and to uco-unrfds-mailbox@cornell.edu   by July 31, 2008.  Get Petty Cash Reconciliation Form

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Reconcile Asset and Liability Accounts: Each unit is expected to maintain current reconciliations of its asset and liability accounts.  The objective of the reconciliation process is to be able to state that the ending balance of the account “makes sense.”

Examples:	A reconciled balance represents....
Inventory accounts	...the quantity and value of items on hand.
Accounts receivable	...amounts that are due and collectible on the report date.  Subsidiary records also reconcile to the G/L balance.
Deposits	...amounts the university refunds to people or organizations.

Each year, after final closing, the Division of Financial Affairs and its external auditing firm KPMG select accounts for review.  If your unit's accounts are selected, you will be asked to provide a copy of the reconciliation of the account balances. 

 Note: A reconciliation is a list of the elements making up the ending balance of an account.  A summary of the activity in the account throughout the year is not a complete reconciliation. 

 If you have questions, please e-mail uco-unrfds-mailbox@cornell.edu .

Action: Reconcile all asset and liability accounts as of June 30, 2008.  Keep reconciliations on file, and provide copies for audit purposes, if requested to do so.

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