Month-end bank reconciliation, matched line by line
A month of bank lines matched to invoices and bills, each leftover line given a reason for your bookkeeper. For small offices and trades in Northeast Arkansas.
Demonstration using synthetic data
Every record, name, address, and log entry on this page is invented for the demonstration. No client, client system, or production record is involved, and no business result is claimed.
- Author
- Tanner Rusher
- Published
- Written for
- Small offices
Who this is for
Bookkeepers, office managers and accounting firms in Jonesboro and Northeast Arkansas who close the month for a business with hundreds of bank lines: a heating and air company, a contractor, a medical or dental practice. If month-end means days of ticking bank lines against invoices and bills, this is that job.
The problem, in your words
The bank statement and the books never line up on their own. A check clears weeks after it was written. A customer pays half now and half later. A card deposit lands with the processing fee already taken out, so the amount matches nothing. One deposit covers three invoices. You find most of it by hand, and the last few lines eat the most time.
What happens, step by step
- The month’s bank statement and the open invoices and bills are pulled together.
- Each bank line is matched to what it pays or collects, handling check numbers, partial payments, bills posted a few days late, card deposits net of fees, and one deposit covering several invoices.
- Every line left over gets a written reason, so the bookkeeper starts with an explanation instead of a blank.
- Open invoices and checks that have not cleared are listed.
- Lines that could be read more than one way go to a person instead of being matched by a guess.
What you approve
The matches are a worksheet for your bookkeeper or accountant. Nothing is posted to your books on its own, and the doubtful lines, such as a possible duplicate charge, are decided by a person.
What the example run showed
The video is a real run on fictional data: a made-up September for a made-up 30-person heating and air company, with 587 bank lines against 631 invoices and bills. 570 lines were matched, with no wrong matches against an answer key. The 17 left over each carried a reason, and the run listed 27 open invoices and 12 checks that had not cleared. 14 lines went to a person. Those numbers come from one invented month.
Setting it up in your office
This is office automation that works from the bank exports and accounting software you already use. It starts with a 20-minute call about how you close the month today. If it fits, a Workflow Review maps the job, and an Automation Pilot builds it around your accounts. I’m in Jonesboro and can meet in person.