what is clearing account (2024)

Hi:

An account to which postings are recorded temporarily.

Clearing accounts are auxiliary accounts that exist for technical reasons and which are cleared repeatedly.

Postings may need to be made to a clearing account because of:

A time gap between accounting transactions (GR/IR clearing account)

Organizational task distribution (bank clearing account)

Accounting transactions requiring clarification

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Sridhar M

what is clearing account (2024)

FAQs

How does a clearing account work? ›

A clearing account is primarily used as a holding space for funds or transactions. The money or transactions sit in this account until they can be classified appropriately and moved to their respective permanent accounts.

What does it mean to clear your account? ›

This means that all of the data from this account is transferred to another place, and the balance becomes equal to zero. The account can get cleared: at the end of the fiscal year, monthly, or sometimes even daily.

What type of account is a clearing account in QuickBooks? ›

A Clearing Account is an account you use to move money from one account to another account when you cannot move the money directly. This account normally has a balance of $0.00 because you always take out the same amount that you put in. It may also be called a Barter or Wash Account.

Should clearing accounts be zero? ›

Clearing account: a temporary place (e.g., fund, department identification (DeptID), account code, project ID, etc.) to hold revenues or expenses until the appropriate place where the revenues or expenses should be distributed is determined, and the clearing account should be reconciled to zero at some point.

What is the purpose of clearing member account? ›

Clearing Member Account: Unveiling the Definition

Clearing members play a pivotal role in ensuring seamless trade settlements and maintaining market integrity. They act as intermediaries between traders and the exchange, guaranteeing that trades are executed smoothly.

What is the difference between a clearing account and a custody account? ›

The principal difference between the two sets of services is that custodians have custodial possession of the assets of their customers, while clearing services vouch for the ability of the parties involved to make good on their trading debts.

What does clearing mean in banking? ›

Clearing is the correct and timely transfer of funds to the seller and securities to the buyer. A specialized organization often acts as an intermediary known as a clearinghouse and assumes the role of tacit buyer and seller to reconcile orders between transacting parties.

Is a clearing account a temporary account? ›

What is a Clearing Account? A clearing account, also known as a wash account, is a temporary account in which the funds are kept to get smoothly transferred to the required account when the transfer cannot be done directly from one account to another.

What are the different types of clearing account? ›

Consider these three primary examples.
  • Liability Clearing Accounts. ...
  • Asset Clearing Accounts. ...
  • Payroll Clearing Accounts. ...
  • Improved Inventory Tracking. ...
  • Better Fraud Detection. ...
  • Easier Expense Calculations. ...
  • Improved Customer Support. ...
  • Balanced Books.

How to reconcile a clearing account? ›

The recommended approach for reconciling clearing accounts is to run automatic reconciliation to process the majority of the journal lines, based on your setup. Then use manual reconciliation to resolve the journal lines that weren't reconciled automatically. You can also reverse incorrect reconciliations.

What is the difference between clearing and reconciliation? ›

Cleared Funds: These are transactions that physically exist in your account. Reconciled Funds: These are transactions that physically exist in your account, which have also been checked against your statement.

What is the difference between clearing account and suspense account? ›

Traditionally, clearing accounts are used to hold transactions for later posting and to ensure information is recorded correctly and completely, while suspense accounts are typically used when there appears to be a problem with the transaction and further research is required.

What is the point of a clearing account? ›

A clearing account, also known as a clearing or wash account, is a temporary account used in accounting to aggregate and simplify transactions between two or more accounts. Clearing accounts are used to facilitate the reconciliation process, track specific transactions, or manage internal accounting processes.

Is a clearing account a liability account? ›

Clearing Accounts are a special type of Liability Account. The account is not meant to hold items for several months, items are constantly ``clearing'' out of the account.

Can a clearing account be negative? ›

The clearing account balance will be negative in the exact amount that was taken out of your bank account. Then you record the payment out of your bank account and book it to the clearing account to zero out.

How does clearing work payments? ›

In banking and finance, clearing denotes all activities from the time a commitment is made for a transaction until it is settled. This process turns the promise of payment (for example, in the form of a cheque or electronic payment request) into the actual movement of money from one account to another.

What is the purpose of a clearing bank? ›

Meaning of clearing bank in English

in the UK, one of the main banks, that can exchange cheques and other payments between customers of other banks: The four clearing banks in Scotland are Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank, Lloyds TSB and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

What is the process of clearing payments? ›

What is clearing? Clearing starts with financial institutions sending payment messages through the payment network; the payment network routes these messages and other related information for the participating financial institutions to correctly process payment instructions.

How does clearing make money? ›

To earn a clearing fee, a clearing house acts as a third-party to a trade. From the buyer, the clearing house receives cash, and from the seller, it receives securities or futures contracts. It then manages the exchange, thereby collecting a clearing fee for doing so.

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