Account 513 records movements related to postal checks and, according to sector plans, to similar banking operations. Classified in class 5 of the General Accounting Plan, it participates in cash flow monitoring just like account 512, but with a distinct allocation by type of payment method. Its persistence in the PCG 2024, while checks are declining sharply in France, raises concrete questions of management and control.
Account 513 and audit control: a marginal item that has become sensitive
The volume of checks in circulation decreases every year. Instant transfers, SEPA direct debits, and card payments have absorbed most of the flows that once passed through account 513. This scarcity does not reduce accounting risk; it concentrates it.
Recommended read : Everything You Need to Know About 20m3 Trucks: Dimensions, Uses, and Practical Tips
Regional audit chambers regularly report anomalies in the matching of expenses and revenues at the end of the fiscal year detected through the analysis of account 513. Typical cases include: checks issued but not cashed by the beneficiary, checks received but not reconciled, unlettered movements that distort the closing balance. These discrepancies, once buried in a high volume of operations, now clearly emerge during audits because the number of lines is low, but the unit amounts can remain significant.
We observe that auditors specifically target this account because it is not very active. An unexplained residual balance on a low-activity account constitutes a more visible alert signal than an anomaly diluted in thousands of lines on account 512.
Recommended read : Everything You Need to Know About Professional Medical Equipment for Offices and Individuals
To delve deeper into the positioning of this item in the chart of accounts, account 513 in accounting on BusiBoost details the allocation mechanisms and common use cases.
Separation of accounts 512 and 513: non-compensation rule in PCG 2024
PCG 2024 has strengthened the requirement for separation of payment methods in inventory work. Account 512 (banks) and account 513 must never be subject to mutual compensation, even if the company uses the same financial institution for its current operations and postal checks.
This non-compensation rule has a direct impact on bank reconciliation. The letter matching of account 513 is done with statements specific to postal check operations or similar, not with the overall bank statement. Mixing the two distorts the reconciled balance and constitutes an irregularity during an audit.
- Account 512 records movements on traditional bank accounts (transfers, direct debits, card receipts).
- Account 513 is reserved for operations passing through postal checks or similar accounts according to the applicable sector plan.
- Compensation between these two accounts is prohibited, including when the net balance is identical to the bank’s consolidated statement.
- Inventory entries must separately justify the balance of each account at the closing date.
In practice, many SMEs that no longer issue checks maintain an account 513 with a frozen balance for several fiscal years. This dormant balance must be cleared or justified: an old unlettered balance on account 513 constitutes an inventory anomaly.
Lettering procedures and reconciliation of account 513 in the context of declining checks
When account 513 recorded dozens of movements per month, reconciliation followed the same rhythm as account 512: monthly, with systematic cross-checking. Today, the frequency of movements has dropped, but the control procedure should not disappear.
We recommend maintaining a minimum quarterly reconciliation on account 513, even in the absence of movement. The goal is not to point out operations that do not exist, but to formally confirm that the balance is justified and that no erroneous entry has been charged to this account by default.
The risk of erroneous allocation paradoxically increases with the decrease in account activity. Accounting software lists account 513 in entry lists, and an operator unfamiliar with the chart of accounts may assign a movement that belongs to account 512. Without regular control, the error persists from one fiscal year to the next.
Points of vigilance during the annual closing
At closing, three checks are required on account 513:
- Confirm that each line in debit or credit corresponds to a postal check actually issued or received, with supporting documentation.
- Identify checks issued but not cashed for more than twelve months, which must be subject to a regularization entry (the validity period of a check in France being limited).
- Check for the absence of movements that should have passed through account 512 or another sub-account in class 5.
These checks take little time on a low-activity account. Their absence, however, generates systematic observations in the event of an audit.
Should account 513 be closed when the company no longer uses postal checks?
There is a strong temptation to purely close account 513 when the company has ceased all operations by postal check. Technically, nothing in the PCG prohibits leaving a class 5 account without movement. Keeping it open with a zero balance poses no normative problem.
However, closing an account 513 that has a residual balance requires proper accounting treatment. If the balance comes from uncashed checks, these operations must first be regularized (cancellation, transfer to expenses or exceptional income as appropriate) before bringing the balance to zero.
Removing the account from the company’s internal chart of accounts is a management decision, not a regulatory obligation. We recommend keeping it in the chart, even inactive, to prevent a residual operation (such as a last check received from a client) from being incorrectly charged to an unsuitable account.
Account 513 illustrates a common situation in accounting: an item whose operational utility is diminishing but for which the rigor of treatment remains the same as that of an active account. As long as the PCG maintains it in its nomenclature, the obligations for justification, lettering, and reconciliation apply without relief.