Budgeting Financial Planning What Is Reconciliation? By Shelley Elmblad Updated on March 16, 2022 Reviewed by Margaret James Reviewed by Margaret James Peggy James is an expert in accounting, corporate finance, and personal finance. She is a certified public accountant who owns her own accounting firm, where she serves small businesses, nonprofits, solopreneurs, freelancers, and individuals. learn about our financial review board In This Article View All In This Article Definition and Examples of a Reconciliation How Does Account Reconciliation Work? Benefits of Account Reconciliation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Photo: Drazen_ / Getty Images Definition A reconciliation is the process of comparing internal financial records against monthly statements from external sources—such as a bank, credit card company, or other financial institution—to make sure they match up. Key Takeaways A reconciliation is a crucial process for businesses of all sizes to maintain accurate financial records.Account reconciliation can help spot errors, fraud, theft, or other negative activity, which can save you money and keep you out of legal trouble in the long run.Reconciling accounts can seem complex, but software can help you get organized, and following a simple set of steps can make the process easier. Definition and Examples of a Reconciliation When you reconcile accounts, you compare two or more sources of a company's accounting to check for errors and bring them into agreement. For example, if you run a small retail store, you may keep a point-of-sale ledger, or similar software, that records daily transactions, inventory, and in-store balances. You'll also have an external bank account that tracks deposits, purchases, and long-term balances. When you compare the two, you can look for any discrepancies in cash flow for a certain time frame. Note Double-entry accounting is a common way to facilitate account reconciliation. This involves keeping two separate accounts: one for deposits, which tracks money coming in, and one for credits, which tracks money going out. Publicly held companies must keep their accounts consistently reconciled or risk being penalized by independent auditors. Many companies have systems for maintaining payment receipts, account statements, and other data necessary to document and support account reconciliations. How Does Account Reconciliation Work? When you use accounting software to reconcile accounts, the software does most of the work for you, saving you a good deal of time. However, the process still needs human involvement to capture certain transactions that may have never entered the accounting system, such as cash stolen from a petty cash box. These steps will help you make sure all of your money is accounted for. Compare Both Records Side-by-Side Your first step to prepare for a thorough account reconciliation is to compare your internal account register to your bank statement. Go through and check off each payment and deposit on your register that matches the statement. Make a note of all transactions on your bank statement for which you don't have any other evidence, such as a payment receipt or check stub. Check Outgoing Funds Check that all outgoing funds have been reflected in both your internal records and your bank account. Whether it's checks, ATM transactions, or other charges, subtract these items from the bank statement balance. Note charges on your bank statement that you haven't captured in your internal records. Charges to watch for include uncleared checks, internally recorded auto-payments that haven't cleared the bank account, check-printing fees, ATM service charges, and other bank charges such as insufficient funds (NSF), overdrafts, or over-limit fees. Check Incoming Funds Check that all incoming funds have been reflected in both your internal records and your bank account. Find any deposits and account credits that haven't yet been recorded by the bank and add these to the statement balance. If the bank shows money deposits not reflected in your internal books, make the entries. If you have an interest-bearing account and you are reconciling a few weeks after the statement date, you may need to add interest as well. Check for Bank Errors Bank errors don't occur very often, but if they do, the proper amount needs to be added or subtracted from your account balance, and you should contact the bank immediately to report the error. Make Sure the Balances Are Accurate Your bank statement balance should now equal the balance in your records. Depending on the number of discrepancies, you may need to create a supporting schedule that details the differences between your internal books and bank accounts. Note Many industries have adopted GAAP, which stands for "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles." It sets certain standards and practices in place, such as account reconciliation, that companies must follow to prove that their finances are sound. Benefits of Account Reconciliation Comparing transactions and balances is important because it helps to avoid overdrafts on cash accounts, catches fraudulent or overcharged credit card transactions, explains timing differences, and highlights other negative activity, such as theft or incorrectly recorded income and expense entries. This saves your company from paying overdraft fees, keeps transactions error-free, and helps catch improper spending and issues such as embezzlement before they get out of control. Reconciling accounts and comparing transactions also helps your accountant produce reliable, accurate, and high-quality financial statements. Because your company balance sheet reflects all money spent—whether cash, credit, or loans—and all assets purchased with those funds, the accuracy of the balance sheet strongly depends on the accurate reconciliation of your company's financial accounts. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Can I pay someone to reconcile my accounts for me? Sure, there are a number of professionals that can provide expertise in this task, the most obvious being an accountant. If you decide to hire someone to help, make sure they are following GAAP, or have credentials and experience that you trust. However, if you decide to tackle the task on your own you can save a lot of money. Also, if your business is small and you're just starting out, reconciling your own accounts can be a valuable learning experience. Can a reconciliation help with my taxes? Reconciling your accounts won't produce any refund money out of the blue, but going through the process of comparing your financial records can be a huge help in spotting business expenses that may be deductible on your tax return. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. "Dictionary of Banking Terms: Reconciliation." Investor.gov. "Public Companies." CFA Institute. "US GAAP: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles."