The reason for the error in balance between the cash book and pass book can be stated as follows:
Timing difference on recording of the transactions
While comparing the balances of both the accounts, transactions found usually appear only in the cash book or only in the pass book. Such differences are caused by the time gap in recording the transactions in the books relating to either receipts or payments.
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Transactions which appear in the cash book but not in the pass book:
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Cheques issued but not presented for payment at the bank
The firm/customer issues cheques to its suppliers and creditors, but not all these cheques are presented to the bank. The entry in the cash book is made immediately on issue of the cheque but the bank will not pass an entry until the cheque is presented for payment. -
Cheques paid or deposited but not collected and credited by the bank
Entry is passed by the firm in the cash book when it receives cheques from its debtors which increase the balance as per the cash book. But the bank credits the firm’s account only when they receive the payment from the customer’s bank or in other words, once the cheque is collected by the bank. -
Transactions which appear in the pass book but not in the cash book:
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Direct bank charges, commission and interest debited by the bank
Bank provides us various services for which it levies some charges which is directly debited from the firm’s account. The firm will know of these charges only after she/he verifies the entries with the bank statement.
Example: Interest on overdraft, unpaid cheques and cheque collection charges -
Expenses directly paid by the bank on behalf of the customers
Depending upon the standing instruction of the customer, the bank makes regular payment on behalf of the customer. The bank debits the customer’s account when the payment is made but the firm will pass the entry in his book only after he receives the bank statement. Thus, the balance as per the pass book will be less than the balance in the cash book.
Example: Insurance premium, telephone bills and rent -
Amounts directly deposited in the customer’s account
There are times when the firm’s debtors deposit money or make payments directly into the firm’s bank account. This results in an increase in the balance of the bank account. As no intimation is received by the firm, there will be no record of the same in the cash book. -
Incomes directly collected by the bank on behalf of customer but not recorded in cash book
As per the agreement between the customer and the bank, the bank directly accepts payments such as dividends and rents and credits the same into the customer’s account. This increases the balance as per the pass book and causes a decrease in the balance in the pass book. -
Cheques deposited dishonoured or bills discounted dishonoured
The bank sometimes allows the facility of discounting the bills of the customers. If such a bill is dishonoured on its date of maturity, the same is debited to customers account. As this information is not available to the firm, there will be no entry in the cash book. Similarly, when a cheque deposited by the firm in the bank is dishonoured, the same is debited to the customer’s account. As a result, there is a difference between the balances of the cash book and the pass book.
Errors in recording transactions by the firm or by the bank
Errors such as wrong recordings relating to cheques deposited/issued, wrong totaling or omission can be committed by the bank or the firm which can cause a difference between the cash book and the pass book balance.
Example: Wrong recording can be passed by the bank because of the similarity in names of its customers or some error caused by the clerk of the bank.
Cheques received by the firm are sent to the bank without passing an entry in the cash book or cheques received from the customers are omitted to be sent to the bank but an entry has been passed in the cash book.