Filling out deposit slips can be a pain.  Most deposit slips do not give you enough room to write the details that really are necessary.  Either learn to write really small or write on the back of your copy of the slip the details that there might not be enough room for.

The details that should be available to your bookkeeper are who provided payment and for what.  I have seen GST refund cheques deposited in with a mass deposit and been challenged to figure out where the cheque came from because it didn’t match with any of the invoice paperwork.

Most cheques received by a company will be directly related to revenue, but you might also received cheques for items that you sold, purchase returns or refunds, rebates and GST refunds.

We also recommend that if your customers pay you cheques that do not come attached to a stub, it is in your best interest to take a photocopy of these documents before you go to the bank.  If there is any discrepancy over which invoice it belonged to or the amount is was written for, you have maintained the information if any questions come up after the deposit is made.

If you accept cash payment, you should have some documentation that supports how a random number like$2,387.65 that wasdeposited on November 6 was acquired.  It could belong to several customer payments, so please keep track of the amounts and the invoices they apply to.