QUESTION 3 (EXERCISE) The bank account of Firblad Limited for the month of December 2017 was as follows: Dr. Bank Account of Firblad Limited Cr. Date Receipts E Date Payments Cheque No. E 01/12/17 Balance b/d 10,263 01/12/17 Bank Charges D.D. 42 05/12/17 J. O'Mahony 2,211 03/12/17 T. Roche 4312 2,213 10/12/17 T. Foley 5,373 05/12/17 J. Ryan 4313 368 14/12/17 Cash Lodgement 534 09/12/17 Energia D.D. 1,028 22/12/17 R. Kissane 6,188 13/12/17 T. Moran 4314 618 29/12/17 Lodgement 4,868 16/12/17 B. Nolan 4315 186 19/12/17 T. McSherry S.O. 102 22/12/17 J. Leydon 4316 678 26/12/17 F. Devon 4317 488 29/12/17 J. Richmond 4318 6,884 31/12/17 Balance c/d 16,830 29,437 29,437 01/01/18 Balance b/d 16,830 The following is the bank statement for Firblad Limited for the month of December 2017. Bank Statement for Firbald Limited for December 2017 Date Description Payments Lodgment Balance E E E 01/12/17 Balance 11,001 02/12/17 Bank Charges 42 10,959 03/12/17 Cheque 4310 324 10,635 04/12/17 Cheque 4312 2,123 8,512 05/12/17 Lodgement 2,211 10,723 07/12/17 Cheque 4311 414 10,309 09/12/17 Cheque 4313 368 9,941 10/12/17 Energia D.D. 1,028 8,913 11/12/17 Credit Transfer 5,373 14,286 15/12/17 Bank Charges 160 14,126 16/12/17 Lodgement 543 14,669 18/12/17 Cheque 4315 186 14,483 20/12/17 T. McSherry S.O. 102 14,381 21/12/17 124578 632 15,013 23/12/17 Lodgement 6,188 21,201 25/12/17 Cheque 4316 678 20,523 26/12/17 Meteor D.D. 425 20,098 28/12/17 Insurance S.O. 652 19,446 29/12/17 Credit Transfer 3,457 22,903 The bank has confirmed to Firblad Limited that it made an error in Firblads bank account on the 21 December 2017 amounting to E 632 by lodging this amount to Firblads bank account even though the lodgement related to a different customer of the banks. Requirement: (a) Prepare a bank reconciliation statement for Firblad Limited as at 31 December 2017 (b) Discuss three benefits of preparing bank reconciliation statements.