Reconcile an account to a bank statement

Reconciling means checking your books against the bank's statement, one item at a time. When the items you check take you from the last statement's balance to this statement's balance, the account is reconciled: nothing is missing and nothing is counted twice. Most organizations do it once a month, when the statement arrives.

Before you start

• Have the statement in front of you. You'll need its ending date and ending balance.
• Import the statement first so its transactions are in Balancivo.
• Loans and mortgages that have terms set up aren't reconciled here. Check them against the lender's statement on the Loans page instead (see Track a loan or mortgage).

Steps

1. Go to Reconcile. Each bank and card account shows when it was last reconciled, or "never reconciled."
2. Click Reconcile next to the account. If one is already underway, the button reads Resume: statement ending and the date; click it to pick up where you left off.
3. Fill in the statement. On Start a reconciliation, check the Account, then enter the Statement ending date and the Ending balance on the statement. For a credit card, the box is called Amount owed on the statement; type it as a positive number. If you imported the statement, click its Ending button under Imported statements to fill in the date and balance, then check them against the paper or PDF.
4. Check the beginning balance. It's the ending balance of the last statement you reconciled (or the opening balance from the Accounts page, the first time). It should match the beginning balance printed on this statement.
5. Click Start reconciling.
6. Check off each item that's on the statement. Use the lists Money in (deposits) and Money out (payments and checks) (for a card: Payments and credits and Charges). Leave anything that isn't on the statement unchecked. Use Find by description, amount, or date to find an item quickly, or Check all through the statement date to check a whole list at once.
7. Watch the Difference. As you check items, the Cleared balance moves toward the Statement balance. When the difference reaches zero, it shows Balanced.
8. Click Finish. Balancivo opens the reconciliation report for you to keep with the statement.

Good to know

• Checkmarks save as you go. Click Save for later to leave and come back; the account then shows Resume instead of Reconcile.
• Finish stays grayed out until the difference is exactly 0.00.
• Items dated after the statement ending date aren't listed; they belong to the next statement.
• Unchecked items are "outstanding": in your books but not at the bank yet, like a check that hasn't been cashed. They'll show up on next month's statement.
• If the difference won't go to zero, look for a transaction missing from Balancivo (import it), a wrong amount, something checked that isn't on the statement, or a wrong ending balance. Tip: if the difference is exactly one item's amount, look for that item first. If it's twice an amount, something may be entered as money in when it was money out.
• Typed the wrong ending date or balance? Click Change statement date or balance at the top, fix it, and click Save statement details. Moving the date earlier unchecks anything dated after it.
• To start over, click Cancel this reconciliation at the bottom. All of its checkmarks are removed; your transactions are not changed.
• An account can have only one reconciliation in progress at a time, and each statement date can be reconciled only once.
• After you finish, see View a reconciliation report or undo a reconciliation.