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A handful of bank reconciliation items have stayed open for months and keep rolling forward from one reconciliation to the next.
Classify each aged item by type, assign the matching action and approver, and apply an ageing ladder of chase at 30 days, escalate at 60 and reverse or write back with approval at 90, parking true unknowns in suspense with an owner and date.
An aged open-items list with date, amount, type, owner and next action, plus the company's approval rules for reversals and write-backs.
Every aged item is cleared by reversal, recovery, entry or correction, or is held in suspense with a named owner and a deadline.
Items stay unreconciled for months when nobody owns them, or when someone outside the business has to act first. The fix is to sort them by type and give each type its own action: reverse a stale cheque, chase a deposit, book a missing entry, correct an error, or park a true unknown in suspense with an owner and a date.
What types of aged items are there, and how do you clear each?
| Aged item | Why it usually stays open | Action | Who approves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outstanding cheque, issued but never presented | The supplier lost it or was paid another way | After validity ends, reverse the payment and reissue if still owed | Accounts head |
| Deposit in transit that never arrived | The cheque bounced or was never actually deposited | Check with the bank; if returned, reverse the receipt and chase the customer | Accounts head |
| Unknown credit in the bank | No one knows who paid | Ask the bank for sender details, check open invoices | Accounts head |
| Unknown debit in the bank | Charges or mandates nobody recognised | Identify and book, or dispute with the bank | Accounts head |
| Book error | An entry with a wrong amount or wrong bank | Correct the entry | Preparer, reviewed |
| Duplicate entry | Entered twice | Reverse the duplicate | Preparer, reviewed |
A cheque is generally valid for three months from its date; after that the bank will not pay it. The stale cheque guide explains the treatment.
How old is too old?
A simple ageing ladder works for most small and mid-sized businesses:
- 30 days: chase. Contact the supplier, customer or bank.
- 60 days: escalate. Tell the finance head and agree a deadline.
- 90 days: decide. Reverse, write back or write off, with written approval.
This is a common practice, not a legal rule. If your company has its own policy, follow that.
Worked example
After four months, a reconciliation shows eleven open items totalling ₹2,64,800.
| Type | Items | Amount | Action taken |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stale cheques | 3 | ₹98,000 | Past validity; payments reversed, two reissued, one supplier confirmed paid another way |
| Deposits in transit | 4 | ₹1,05,000 | Bank confirmed two cheques bounced; receipts reversed and customers chased; two were credited under another account and moved |
| Unknown credits | 2 | ₹46,500 | Bank gave sender details; one matched to an open invoice, one parked in suspense with an owner |
| Book errors | 2 | ₹15,300 | Wrong amounts corrected |
| Total | 11 | ₹2,64,800 |
Check the total: ₹98,000 plus ₹1,05,000 is ₹2,03,000. Add ₹46,500 to get ₹2,49,500. Add ₹15,300 to get ₹2,64,800.
After this, only one item stays open, in suspense, with a named person and a date to report back.
What is the difference between suspense and a write-off?
Parking an item in suspense says “we do not know yet, and this person will find out by this date”. A write-off says “we have tried, here is what we tried, and this person approved closing it”.
Both are acceptable. What is not acceptable is an item with neither an owner nor an approval, rolling forward month after month.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Carrying items forward each month without a next action. An open-items list should say who does what by when.
- Reversing a stale cheque without telling the supplier. They may still be expecting the money.
- Writing off unknown credits as income too early. A customer may later ask for the money to be applied to an invoice.
How long is a cheque valid in India?
Under the RBI circular of 4 November 2011, cheques, drafts, pay orders and banker’s cheques are valid for three months from the date on the instrument, down from six months. The rule applies to instruments dated on or after 1 April 2012. A cheque dated 15 January can be presented until 15 April. After that the bank will not pay it, so an unpresented cheque past that date is stale and should be reversed in the books, not carried forward.
What to read next
Next, read the Days 1 to 5 runbook, which holds the full escalation ladder, then exception management in reconciliation for routing items at higher volume. For unknown credits, see credits you cannot match.
TransactIG matches bank statement lines to the books and keeps each unmatched item in an exception queue with its history and audit-ready exports; see bank reconciliation software for India.