The day sheet is used to list or post each day's charges, payments, credits, and adjustments: the daily financial transactions. This is an important part of the overall bookkeeping process, so legibility and absolute accuracy are critical. At the close of each business day, the day sheet will be balanced to provide a complete picture of all patient financial activity for that day. Those balances carried over from day to day will provide the accumulated data needed for month-end closing.
The day sheet consists of five sections (Figure 17-2), the first three of which are used when posting transactions and the last two of which are for balancing, proof of posting, accounts receivable control, and accounts receivable proof.
· Section 1 is where individual transactions are posted, using the ledger card and charge slips, or receipt forms. The information here includes the date, patient name, description of transaction or service, charges, credits, and previous and current balances. This is the write-it-once portion of the day sheet.
· Section 2 is the deposit portion (some companies make this part detachable to be used as an actual deposit slip). If a transaction includes a payment, the payment amount will be listed under the appropriate right-hand column showing method of payment after the ledger portion is posted.
* Section 3 is for business analysis. These columns might be used for recording payments or charges to be credited to different physicians or they are often used as a breakdown for types of service (i.e., office examination, hospital visit, surgery, and so on). The use of this area will vary from practice to practice.
· Section 4 is where transactions are totaled and balanced at the end of the day.
· Section 5 is used to verify the daily balances and to balance and track cumulative accounts receivable figures. The total accounts receivable figure shows how much is owed to the practice by all patients to date, allowing the physician or administrator to see the total outstanding balance at a glance without having to add hundreds of individual balances.
The day sheet consists of five sections (Figure 17-2), the first three of which are used when posting transactions and the last two of which are for balancing, proof of posting, accounts receivable control, and accounts receivable proof.
· Section 1 is where individual transactions are posted, using the ledger card and charge slips, or receipt forms. The information here includes the date, patient name, description of transaction or service, charges, credits, and previous and current balances. This is the write-it-once portion of the day sheet.
· Section 2 is the deposit portion (some companies make this part detachable to be used as an actual deposit slip). If a transaction includes a payment, the payment amount will be listed under the appropriate right-hand column showing method of payment after the ledger portion is posted.
* Section 3 is for business analysis. These columns might be used for recording payments or charges to be credited to different physicians or they are often used as a breakdown for types of service (i.e., office examination, hospital visit, surgery, and so on). The use of this area will vary from practice to practice.
· Section 4 is where transactions are totaled and balanced at the end of the day.
· Section 5 is used to verify the daily balances and to balance and track cumulative accounts receivable figures. The total accounts receivable figure shows how much is owed to the practice by all patients to date, allowing the physician or administrator to see the total outstanding balance at a glance without having to add hundreds of individual balances.