Recalculate your bank fees

20 July 2010

We have updated our summary of bank fees and charges by the main Irish banks. Click on the file below for more information.

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Note: For a full schedule of fees and charges per the latest publications by the main Irish banks, please see the links in the article below.

Do you regularly review their bank fees & charges for accuracy, e.g. lodgement fee charge consists of number of lodgements multiplied by the unit fee?

If you do review these to your actual lodgements and the agreed unit rate, do you find many errors and are these material?

From an accounts/audit perspective, variances year on year in the bank charges line are difficult to tie down, unless the movement is extreme or a quick review of the ledger reveals a couple of large entries which can be confirmed in detail. There is not necessarily any relationship between the balance sheet and the bank charges line. Your balance sheet may show cash in the bank, however there may have been a dip in cash resources during the year or your healthy cash balance relies on continuous outstanding lodgements which do not help you avoid overdraft fees. Therefore, you cannot draw any conclusions on the accuracy of bank charges by looking at your balance sheet.

Recalculation of bank charges is a time consuming process and therefore not one which would be viable for your accountant to carry out. The best place to start is to select a small number of entries and recalculate these, if you find errors then you’ll want to expand your testing. You need to make sure your have either your loan agreement or the current fees & charges guide for the relevant account. Note that many banks record on your bank statements on the date an interest rate changes.
If the bank has overcharged your account, then they will be liable to give you a refund of the amount of the overcharge.

If you need any assistance in recalculating your bank charges please do not hesitate to contact us. We would also be interested in hearing what you find out, you never know…