1) Calculate the cash balance per books at March 31, prior to reconciliation. 2) Prepare the bank reconciliation at March 31. If required, prepare journal entries from the reconciliation. 3) What purpose does a bank reconciliation serve?

The bank portion of last month's bank reconciliation for Walsh Inc. at February 28 as follows: WALSH INC. Bank Reconciliation February 28 Cash balance per bank Add: Deposits in transit $18,022 3,126 21,148 Less: Outstanding cheques #3451 #3470 Reconciled cash balance $1,948 2,151 $17,049 The reconciled cash balance per bank agreed with the reconciled cash balance per books after the bank reconciliation at February 28. The March bank statement showed the following: WALSH INC. Bank Statement March 31 Amounts Deducted from Account Date Description (Debits) Feb. 28 Opening balance Mar. 1 Cheque, No. 3451 1,948 1 Deposit 2 Cheque, No. 3470 2,151 4 Deposit 9 Cheque, No. 3471 1,667 10 Returned cheque-NSF, J. 869 Mustafa 10 NSF fee 35 15 EFT, loan payment 1,223 19 Cheque, No. 3472 1,823 26 Deposit 31 EFT, collection on account from M. Boudreault 31 Bank service charges and credit 89 card fees Amounts Added to Account (Credits) Balance 18,022 16,074 3,126 19,200 17,049 1,965 19,014 17,347 16,478 16,443 15,220 13,397 16,637 3,240 608 17,245 17,156 Walsh's cash receipts and payments for the month of March showed the following: Cash Receipts Cash Payments Date Amount Date Number Amount Mar. 4 $1,965 Mar. 7 3471 $1,667 26 3,240 15 3472 1,283 31 4,028 29 3473 4,971 $9,233 $7,921 Additional information: 1. The EFT loan payment should have been recorded by the company on March 15, but this entry was missed. The payment included $83 of interest and a $1,140 payment on the loan principal. 2. The bank made an error processing cheque #3472. 3. The EFT collection from M. Boudreault was not previously recorded. 4. Bank service charges and debit and credit card processing fees totalling $89 were not previously recorded