Film Accounting Glossary
Reconciliation
What is a reconciliation?
Also called rec, or reconciling.
A reconciliation is the exercise of proving one record against another and explaining every difference: the bank statement against the ledger, the payroll company's report against the cost report, a petty cash float against its receipts, or a vendor statement against accounts payable.
Reconciliations are what convert bookkeeping into evidence. Any figure a production reports upward should be one it has reconciled to an independent source.
Example
Four reconciliations run in parallel every week: bank statement to ledger, payroll company report to cost report, each petty cash float to its receipts, and vendor statements to accounts payable. Anything reported upward should have been reconciled to an independent source first.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Weekly and monthly across every account. What turns bookkeeping into evidence a guarantor will accept.
Common mistake
Reporting a figure that has not been reconciled to an independent source. That is the number that turns out to be wrong in front of the financier.
Related questions
- What does a production reconcile each week?
- The bank statement to the ledger, the payroll company's report to the cost report, petty cash floats to their receipts, and vendor statements to accounts payable.
- Why is reconciliation important on a film?
- It converts bookkeeping into evidence. A reconciled figure can be defended to a guarantor or auditor; an unreconciled one is an assertion.