Hey there, Office Admin. We see you. As November settles in and the year-end rush looms, the clinic is busier than ever. Between chasing down insurance companies, hunting down unapplied credits, and trying to keep the books straight, Accounts Receivable (A/R) can feel like an absolute nightmare.
But take a deep breath. Jane App has built-in reporting to help you turn that chaos into a clean, balanced spreadsheet. Here is your guide to efficiently reconciling your A/R, plus a few insider tricks to save your sanity.
The Golden Formula
To prove that your accounts balance between two periods (like October 31st to November 30th), Jane uses a specific mathematical formula:
Opening A/R + Sales - Transactions + Closing Credits - Opening Credits - Credit Memos + Tips = Closing A/R
If the left side of that equation matches your Closing A/R, your books are perfectly reconciled. Here is where to pull exactly what you need in Jane.
Your Step-by-Step Reconciliation Playbook
Find your Opening & Closing A/R: Head to your Accounts Receivable Report. For your Opening A/R, run the report for the last day of the previous period. For your Closing A/R, run it for the last day of the current period.
Calculate your Sales: Run the Sales Report for your entire current period. Make sure to filter by the Invoice Date, not the Purchase Date. This gives you the total value of new invoices generated.
Tally your Transactions:Run the Transaction Report for your period and look at the Total value. This is the actual money you collected across all payment methods to pay off balances.
Account for Credits and Memos:Run the Credit Report for the last date of the previous period (Opening Credits) and the current period (Closing Credits). Then, run the Credit Memo Report for the period to account for non-transactional credits, like service trades or promotional giveaways.
Factor in Tips:If your clinic accepts tips, run the Billing Summary Report and scroll down to the Tips section.
Plug those numbers into the formula, and you should have a perfect match!
🍂 3 Pro-Tips to reduce the chaos
Filter the Noise: Don't look at the A/R report as one massive, terrifying list. Use the filters at the top to sort by Account Type. Separate "Patient" owings from "Insurer" owings so you can tackle them with completely different workflows.
Beware the "Invoice Reversal": Ever wonder why a weird negative line item suddenly appears on your Sales Report? If an invoice is changed on a date other than the original invoice date (like adding a billing code or changing an insurer weeks later), Jane creates an "Invoice Reversal". This negates the original invoice and creates a new one to keep your historical A/R perfectly accurate. Don't delete it—it's supposed to be there!
Hunt Down "Unapplied" Payments: If a payment was disconnected from an invoice to make a correction, it sits on the patient's account as credit until you reapply it. Check the Cash Reconciliation Report under the Unapplied From column. Re-linking these rogue payments to their rightful invoices is one of the fastest ways to clean up a messy patient account before the holidays.
Reconciling A/R doesn't have to be a dreaded monthly chore. Grab a fresh cup of coffee, take a deep breath, and trust the process. You've completely got this! But if you’re still feeling overwhelmed by the numbers, or just want an expert eye to see if your clinic's backend is running as efficiently as possible, we’re always here to help.
Connect with us today, and let’s get your business running efficiently for the New Year!
