Month-End Balancing Process

To assist with the sometimes confusing job of balancing at month-end, CGM has established the following guidelines. These steps are strictly provided as a guideline for the novice user and can be modified as needed for experienced users.

There are two separate balancing processes involved when you balance your reports at the end of the month.

Balance the Accounts Receivable (A/R)
Balance the Transactions

The first process, Balancing your Accounts Receivable, is a standard accounting process that follows the Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures (GAAP). The second process, balancing the transactions that have been entered into CGM webPRACTICE, ensures all the charges, payments, and adjustments are accounted for and in balance.

Balancing Steps
Troubleshooting
End of Month Balancing Sheet

Balancing Steps

Step 1 - Close the Billing Period (recommended method)
Step 2 - Reset the Statistical Files
Step 3 - Print Month-End Reports
Step 4 - Balance the Accounts Receivable
Step 5 - Balance the Transactions Entered in CGM webPRACTICE
Step 6 - Close the Billing Period (if not done previously)

Step 1 - Close the Billing Period (recommended method)
If you have a large quantity of personnel in your office that post transactions, CGM suggests you Close the Billing Period, under Billing to prevent the posting of any additional transactions for the month, after month-end. This does not prevent personnel from posting current transactions for Accounting Dates that fall after month-end; therefore the workflow does not have to come to a complete stand-still while you are completing the month-end balancing process.

Step 2 - Reset the Statistical Files
To ensure the accuracy of the reports and eliminate the possibility of wasting time during the balancing processes, the statistical files should be reset using the Reset Statistical Files under System, File Maintenance Menu. Resetting the statistical files is not mandatory, but is strongly recommended because, if the internal CGM webPRACTICE posting sequence was interrupted for any reason during the month, it could affect the balancing process.

An example would be if someone inadvertently killed a job that was in the process of posting a payment. During the posting process, the patient accounts are updated first, the audit trails second and the statistical files last. If a job was killed during posting, you may assume everything is all right because upon reviewing the patient account, everything seems to be in order, when in reality the statistical files were never updated. This problem would not be apparent until month-end, when the reports do not balance.

Step 3 - Print Month-End Reports
Print all the required reports as shown below. NOTE: If you elect NOT to close the billing period, print all the reports in one continuous cycle, back-to-back, to prevent any possible discrepancies that could be caused by a time delay.

Restrictions should not be placed on month-end reports. Example: if you are printing reports by Performing Doctor, leave the fields From Dr and Thru Dr blank.

There are multiple sorting options available for the reports. Regardless of the sorting option selected, the same figures will be provided. Please note that you must select ONE of the sorting options and use that same option when printing each report. Continue to use the same sorting option in the following months to ensure consistency in your balancing process. Note: The following report examples were all printed using the Performing Doctor sort.

Daily Register - Reports, Transaction Journals - Print in Date Order, do not print with Detail or by Date of Service, select Monthly Totals.

Payment Journal - Reports, Transaction Journals

Adjustment Journal - Reports, Transaction Journals

Payment Reconciliation - Reports, Statistical Reports

Summary Analysis by Performing Dr - Reports, Statistical Reports, Summary Analysis Reports

CPT Summary Analysis by Performing Dr - Reports, Statistical Reports, CPT Summary Analysis Reports - Select the Summary Only check box.

Payment Analysis by Performing Dr - Reports, Statistical Reports, Payment Analysis Reports - Print two reports, one by Payment Code and one by CPT.

Payment Analysis - Payment Code - Select the Summary only check box.

Payment Analysis - CPT Code - Select the Summary only check box.

Adjustment Reconciliation - Reports, Statistical Reports

Adjustment Analysis by Performing Dr Reports, Statistical Reports, Adjustment Analysis Reports - Print two reports, one by Adjustment Code and one by CPT.

Adjustment Analysis - Adjustment Code - Select the Summary only check box.

Adjustment Analysis - CPT Code - Select the Summary only check box.

Summary Aged A/R by Performing Dr - Reports, Aged Accounts Receivable Reports, Summary Aged A/R

Productivity Analysis by Performing Dr - Reports, Statistical Reports, Productivity Analysis Reports - Select the Summary only check box.

Step 4 - Balance the Accounts Receivable
The following equation is used to balance your Accounts Receivable:
Beginning A/R + Charges - Payments +/- Adjustments + Refunds = Current A/R

You will need the following reports to provide the figures required for this balancing process:

	Summary Aged A/R by Performing Dr - This report is also referred to as the Month End Summary Report
	Daily Register

Begin with last month's Summary Aged A/R (#10) report. Compare last month's Ending A/R total to this month's Beginning A/R total. They should match. If the figures don't match, refer to the Troubleshooting section below.

Compare the totals for the Charges and Payments on the Month-End Summary Report to the totals printed on the Daily Register (#1). They should match.

Take the Month-End Summary Report and add the totals for the Adjustments and the Refunds together. This sum should match the Adjustments total printed on the Daily Register.

If you have reached this point and all the figures have matched so far, then your Accounts Receivable is in balance.

Step 5 - Balance the Transactions Entered in CGM webPRACTICE
To balance the charges entered, you will need the following reports:

	Daily Register
	Summary Analysis by Performing Dr
	CPT Summary Analysis by Performing Dr
	Productivity Analysis by Performing Dr

Compare the total charges from the Daily Register, Summary Analysis Report (#5), the CPT Summary Analysis by Performing Dr (#6), and the Productivity Analysis Report (#11). They should match.

To balance the payments entered, you will need the following reports:

	Daily Register
	Posted Payment Journal
	Payment Reconciliation - Note: If the Unallocated Payment amount does not match the Unapplied Amount on the Posted Payment Journal, this could be because a payment that was originally left unallocated was voided. Voided 'unallocated' payments are ignored when calculating the Unallocated Payments figure. To balance the two figures, you can print the Voided Transactions Journal for the month and locate any voided unallocated payments and then subtract the total voided unallocated payments from the 'Unallocted Payments' on the Payment Reconciliation report.
	Summary Analysis by Performing Dr
	CPT Summary Analysis by Performing Dr
	Payment Analysis by Performing Dr (both pmt and cpt reports)

To balance the adjustments entered, you will need the following reports:

	Daily Register
	Adjustment Journal
	Summary Analysis by Performing Dr
	CPT Summary Analysis by Performing Dr
	Adjustment Reconciliation
	Adjustment Analysis by Performing Dr (both adj and cpt reports)

Step 6 - Close the Billing Period (if not done previously)
If you have not already Closed the Billing Period, you should do so now (Billing, Close Billing Period).

Troubleshooting

The following is based on the premise that the Billing Period is closed each month end.

Step A. If any time has elapsed since you first printed the reports, print them again to verify the totals have not changed - you can print them to your screen. Look for any discrepancies between the original printed total and the reprinted one.
Step B. If all the totals are the same and still do not balance, you should reprint the report for the prior month and verify it still balances and matches the one from your file. If it does still balance then jump to Step D, otherwise proceed to Step C.
Step C. If the totals for the prior month do not balance, keep going back one month at a time and re-balance until you have established what month the reports last balanced. After you have established the last month that balanced, and then proceed on.
Step D. If you have multiple doctors (dates, locations, or multiple of whichever sort option was selected when printing the reports) then return to Step 1 for Balancing the Accounts Receivable and look at the detailed amounts for each doctor and determine where the totals are different. If you are unable to identify any differences, please contact Customer Service. You will need to have your reports available and be prepared to fax them to CGM if requested.
Step E. If you have identified which doctor (date, location, etc.) where the totals are different, you need to determine the amount they differ by. Print a detailed Daily Register for that doctor (date, location, etc.) and review it very carefully for any transactions that match that amount. During this process you will usually find a transaction that was posted incorrectly, posted twice, posted to a future date, etc. and be able to resolve the problem, reprint your reports and then balance them. If you are still unable to resolve the problem at this point, please contact CGM webPRACTICE customer service. You will need to have your reports available and be prepared to fax them to CGM if requested.

Since there are numerous situations that can occur when tracking down the amount in question and correcting it, we recommend you keep a file with your individual notes for reference.

End of Month Balancing Sheet

PDF version of the End of Month Balancing Sheet