Reconciling transactions

Screen: Reconcile Transactions

There are several ways to use the reconcile transactions screen.

The default display has the bank transactions at the top and the account transactions, those transactions already entered into Bookkeeping, at the bottom. If you wish to switch this order so that the bank transactions are at the bottom then press the button at the top right of the screen that has two opposing vertical arrows displayed.

Bulk processing bank transactions

Each bank transaction has a box to the left. The box is used to select a group of transactions that can then be used to generate account transactions. Tap the box of each transaction that you want to process together (e.g. all payments to the same supplier).

An option button will appear at the top right of the screen once at least one bank transaction has been selected. The options available are:

When you select an option a screen will appear to allow you to provide the relevant information for the transactions.

Then press the "Bulk Reconcile Withdrawals" button to create the transactions. The transactions will be created and reconciled and you will be returned to the reconcile transactions screen.

Reconciling bank transactions against existing account transactions

Instead of selecting the bank transaction by tapping the box to the left of the transaction you can tap anywhere else on the line and the bank transaction line will be selected. Doing this will then filter the list of account transactions to show only those with the same amount. You can then tap on the line that is the matching account transaction and the selected bank transaction will be reconciled with it.

This only works if you have no bank transactions selected for bulk processing.

Tapping the bank transaction line a second time unselects it and all account transactions and bank transactions are then shown again.

Reconciling account transactions against existing bank transactions

Tap the switch sections button at the top right of the screen to show the account transactions at the top and the bank transactions at the bottom.

Then tap the relevant account transaction to filter the list of bank transactions to those with the same amount as the selected account transaction.

You can then tap on the line that is the matching bank transaction and the selected transactions will be reconciled.

Manually reconciling account transactions without associated bank transactions

You can do a paper reconciliation of a bank statement with the account transactions without importing the bank transactions to match against.

Simply tap the box to the right of the account transaction to manually mark it as reconciled.

Usually you would tick the paper reconciliation line that you reconciled so that you know which lines you have reconciled.

Un-reconciling a previously reconciled item

To undo a previously reconciled item simply tap the tick box that is to the right of the account transaction.

If the account transaction was reconciled with an imported bank transaction then that transaction will be unlinked and shown in the bank transactions section again.

Using the bank transaction details to create another transaction

If you select a bank transaction by tapping on the bank transaction line then the details can be used to enter an account transaction.

With a bank transaction selected use the toolbar buttons: "Quick Sale", "Quick Purchase", "Receipts", "Payments". Using these toolbar buttons with the bank transaction selected will copy the details from the bank transaction into the screen being processed.

Creating other account transactions to reconcile against

If there are other transactions that need to be created to reconcile against, and that cannot be created using the above methods, then the best method is to use the "Launchpad" from the reconcile transactions screen.

Press the "Launchpad" button on the toolbar, create the required transaction, and then press the "Return" button to return to the reconcile transactions screen.

Then reconcile the transaction that was created using the above methods.

Matching using Rules (Enhanced Bank Reconciliation Module)

The Rule Match facility allows you to set up matching rules that can be used to automatically match and create transactions based on the descriptions of bank transactions.

You can use a bank transaction as the basis for a new rule on the Rule Match screen by selecting the transaction and then pressing the "+" button at the top of the screen.

The "Match Bank Transaction Description", "Match Bank Transaction Identifier", and "Match Bank Transaction Reference" fields can contain an "" mark to indicate that the match should be performed on anything after that point. For example if you specify "Direct Credit" in the "Match Bank Transaction Description" field then any bank transaction with a description starting with "Direct Credit" will be matched.

The "Rule Action" can be "Create" to create new missing records, or "Match" to match existing records only.

The "Rule Type" can be "General Journal", "Purchase", or "Sale" to create the respective record if a match occurs.

The "Use Rule Description", "Use Bank Description", "Use Bank Identifier", and "Use Bank Reference" indicate which fields from the bank transaction to use when constructing the description on any created record, or when matching an existing record.

You can manage the rules from the "Match Rules" screen.

To apply the rules to the current list of bank transactions press the "Rule Match Transactions" button on the "Rule Match" screen.

Smart Match Facility (Enhanced Bank Reconciliation Module)

The smart match facility applies logic to automatically match transactions in certain circumstances. If there is a single occurrence of an amount in both the bank transactions list and the account transactions list, and these are unreconciled, then the smart match facility will automatically match them. If there is a sale with an amount that matches a bank transaction and the invoice number appears somewhere in the bank transaction description then the smart match facility will automatically match them, creating the necessary receipt record in the process. If there is a purchase with an amount that matches a bank transaction and the order number appears somewhere in the bank transaction description then the smart match facility will automatically match them, creating the necessary payment record in the process.

Reconciliation Processing Order

The following order is recommended when performing a bank reconciliation.

1. Execute the smart match facility
2. Execute the rule match facility
3. Bulk reconcile any remaining transactions
4. Use Launchpad and other facilities to create any remaining entries that are missing and then manually reconcile.