What Is the Purpose of the Reserves Balance Report?

The purpose of the Reserves Balance Report is to provide an overview of the current financial status of the reserves within the council. This report presents the opening balances, total transfers in/out, total spend, total receipts against the reserve, and the resulting balance for each reserve. By offering a comprehensive view of the reserves' financial activities and balances, the report enables councils to monitor and manage their financial resources effectively. It can be run at the current date or at a specified date.

How to generate a Reserves Balance Report

To generate a Reserves Balance Report, log into Scribe Accounts and navigate to the menu Reserves → Reserves Balance. The report will automatically be created as at the current date. 

How to filter a Reserves Balance Report

Click Filter (top right hand corner) to select a specific date (please note that applying a date will update the current balances of the individual reserves only. The General Fund and Total Fund cannot be viewed retrospectively). Click View Report to update the information.  

How are the General Fund and Total Funds calculated?

The Total Funds figure at the bottom of the report is equal to Box 7 on the Annual Return as at the current date.  For users working in Receipts & Payments this means the Total Funds will also be equal to the bank reconciliation (as Boxes 7 and 8 are the same figure in this approach).  Users in Income & Expenditure should run Calculate before running the Reserves Balance report to get the current Total Funds position.  It is also important to remember that the Total Funds figure will be different to the bank reconciliation due to any adjustments entered (if midway through the year it is likely to just be the VAT figure that Scribe will automatically calculate).

The General Fund figure shown on the report is calculated as the remaining funds not allocated to a specific reserve.  E.g. 

Total Funds - Capital Reserves current balance - Earmarked Reserves current balance = General Fund.

How to Download or Share the Reserves Balance Report

The report can be downloaded by simply clicking 'Actions' in the top corner of the screen.  The following download options will be listed, PDF or Excel being the most commonly used. Click your chosen option and the report will be created.

Clicking Share will create a link that when clicked opens the report PDF in a separate webpage.

How to Print the Reserves Balance Report

Click the printer icon, found in the top right corner of the report page. Follow the prompts in the print dialogue box to adjust settings and print the report.