MYOB File Health Checklist

Most MYOB files start out tidy and slowly drift. A missed bank feed here, a duplicated invoice there, and a few years later the reports no longer match reality — usually discovered at BAS time, or when your accountant asks why the balance sheet does not balance.

A regular file health check catches these problems while they are still small and cheap to fix. Here is the checklist we work through when a MYOB file lands on our desk.

Start with the bank reconciliation

Open the reconciliation screen for every bank and credit card account and check the date of the last completed reconciliation. Unreconciled periods — whole months where nobody matched the software to the bank statement — are the most common problem we see. Everything recorded after the last reconciled date is effectively unverified.

• Reconcile each account through to the most recent statement date.
• Confirm the out-of-balance amount on the reconciliation screen is zero, not just close to zero.
• Investigate stale uncleared transactions, such as payments that never actually left the bank.

Clear out old undeposited funds

MYOB parks customer payments in an undeposited funds account until they are grouped into a bank deposit. In a healthy file this account empties regularly. Old balances usually mean a payment was recorded twice — once through undeposited funds and again straight from the bank feed — or a deposit was never matched. Either way, income and debtors can be misstated until it is sorted.

Check the ledger actually balances

An out-of-balance ledger, where total debits do not equal total credits, can follow file corruption, a failed import or an interrupted upgrade. Run the Company Data Auditor, which scans for exactly this kind of fault, and compare the receivables and payables reconciliation reports against the control accounts on the balance sheet. Differences there mean the aged reports you rely on for chasing debtors are wrong.

Review GST and payroll clearing accounts

After each BAS is lodged, the GST collected and GST paid accounts should reconcile to the amounts actually reported. A balance left drifting suggests transactions have been added or edited in periods that were already lodged. Payroll clearing and superannuation payable accounts deserve the same treatment: they should return to zero, or to a known figure, after each pay and super run.

Lock the periods you have finished

Once a period is reconciled and the BAS lodged — and especially after year end on 30th June — set a lock date so nothing can be backdated into it. Most of the messes above start with a well-meaning edit to a closed month. A lock date costs nothing and protects everything you have just checked.

How often should I health-check a MYOB file?

A short check when you reconcile each month, plus a fuller check each quarter before the BAS is prepared, works well for most small businesses.

What does the Company Data Auditor do?

It is a built-in MYOB tool that scans the file for faults such as out-of-balance ledgers, future-dated entries and reconciliation discrepancies, then lists them for review.

Can I just delete old undeposited funds entries?

Not without investigating first — each entry represents a recorded customer payment, and deleting it can understate income or leave an invoice showing as unpaid.