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This guide helps you reconcile your bank accounts in QuickBooks, ensuring your financial records match your bank statements. By identifying discrepancies, errors, or fraudulent activity, it enhances your financial accuracy and cash flow management. Whether using QuickBooks Online or Desktop, this process helps track expenses, detect fraud, and provide clarity on your business's financial health, enabling better decision-making.

Reconciliation is the process of verifying the accuracy of your financial records. This practice generally involves comparing two sets of records to ensure that the figures do match with each other, and QuickBooks training guides help users understand these accounting processes with step-by-step clarity. Bank Reconciliation means balancing your bank statements with your bookkeeping and making your account balances equal to one another. The aim of the bank reconciliation process is to find out if there are any differences between the two cash balances.
Reconciliation is all about matching transactions listed in your business accounting records to your corresponding bank statements. To successfully reconcile your transactions against your bank statement, the difference between the ending balance and the cleared balance should be zero. If the difference isn’t zero or if there are any discrepancies, you’ll have to recheck your accounting records. Bank reconciliations allow you to:
Reconciliation in QuickBooks should be done on a monthly basis—as soon as your bank statement becomes available—to ensure that your QuickBooks transaction record matches your bank statement information and that no transactions are missing. It’s much easier to follow up on a missing invoice or sales receipt, manage your cash flow better and understand the actual financial position of your company.
A monthly reconciliation helps you to spot and identify any unusual transactions that might be caused due to any fraudulent activity or accounting errors, especially if your business uses more than one bank account.
Bank reconciliation is the process that identifies the cause of the differences between the balance of the bank movements and the accounting records, where QuickBooks error codes and troubleshooting helps resolve discrepancies and reconciliation-related issues effectively. Reconciling your bank account in QuickBooks is important because it’s the only way to make sure you’ve accounted for everything you’ve spent and earned in the prior month and haven’t missed anything.
Regularly reconciling your books is a crucial practice for ecommerce sellers. It ensures the accuracy of your financial data, helping you avoid errors that can lead to misinformed business decisions. Regular reconciliation allows you to catch discrepancies early, preventing a small mistake from becoming a major issue.
It provides a clear picture of your financial health, giving you updated insights into your income, expenses, and overall business profitability. Monthly reconciliation prepares you for tax season, maintaining accurate and up-to-date records and reducing the risk of tax errors and potential penalties.
You’ll need a few items to perform bank reconciliation, including your bank statement, internal accounting records, and a record of any pending cash transactions (either inflows or outflows). This will make the reconciliation process much easier. When you reconcile your accounts, it helps you to ensure that the number and amount of your transactions are accurate. Plus, identify and address the discrepancies between your bank transactions and QuickBooks records. Below are the steps to perform a bank reconciliation in QuickBooks Online.
It is recommended to review the opening balance if you’re reconciling an account for the first time. It needs to match the balance of your real-life bank account for the day you decided to start tracking transactions in QuickBooks.
Your accounts in QuickBooks need to match the real-life bank and credit card accounts you’re tracking. When you create a new account in QuickBooks, you pick a day to start tracking transactions. Then, you enter the balance of your real-life bank account for whatever day you choose. This amount and start date set the account’s opening balance.
Pick an easy date to start your opening balance. If you just opened a new account at your bank, use the day you opened the account. If you’ve had the account for a while, start your opening balance on the same day as the beginning of your next bank statement. Whatever date you choose, use your bank statement to get the account’s balance for that day.
QuickBooks automatically downloads your historical transactions up to a certain date when you connect your bank and credit card accounts. It totals them up and enters the opening balance and date for you. If you don’t want to connect your account, you can manually enter the opening balance. Here’s how:
Note: Make sure you know the amount for your opening balance.
Note: You can put a description in the Description field to add information about this account.
You can now start tracking new transactions in QuickBooks that come after the opening balance date.
If you need to add transactions that are older than the opening balance, you need to edit the start date and balance. This sets a new starting point and prevents QuickBooks from counting transactions twice.
When you create a new account in QuickBooks Online, you select a day to start tracking transactions and enter the balance for your real-life account for that day. This starting point is the opening balance.
If you forgot to enter an opening balance when you created an account, it’s OK. You can go back later and create a journal entry to record it. Then, you can get back to business as usual.
Step 1: Make sure you don’t already have an opening balance
Before you go further, check your account register once and check twice that you don’t already have an opening balance:
If you notice an opening balance entry, don’t move further. Make a note of the date and amount, and use your bank statements to make sure the opening balance is correct. However, if you don’t see an opening balance, write down the date and amount of the oldest transaction in the account.
Step 2: Create a journal entry
If you are unable to see an opening balance entry, you don’t have one. You can now create a journal entry:
Step 3: Mark the Journal Entry as Reconciled
Even if you haven’t reconciled the account yet, you need to reconcile the journal entry. This prevents it from showing up on a future reconciliation:
Now, once you’ve created a journal entry, the opening balance is reconciled in your account, and QuickBooks won’t count it in future reconciliations.
You can start reconciling once you have your monthly bank or credit card statement. If you’re reconciling multiple months, start with your oldest statement and reconcile only one statement at a time.
Important: If you receive a message about a previous reconciliation, select We can help you fix it. You need to fix this before you begin.
Now, simply compare the list of transactions on your bank statement with what’s in QuickBooks to reconcile. You can go over them one-by-one. The most important thing is being sure that you have the right dates and transactions in QuickBooks so you know everything matches.
Note: Transactions that have come directly from your bank account will have a green box icon next to it. You will notice a green box with a plus sign for transactions that have been automatically added to QuickBooks from your bank feed.
Adhere to the section for the type of account you’re reconciling:
Reconciling should be a breeze since all of your transaction info comes directly from your bank. In some cases, your accounts are already balanced. You can see transactions that have come directly from your bank feed and transactions that you’ve manually added to QuickBooks.
Tip: If you’re completely sure you’ve found a match but something small isn’t quite right, like the payee, just relax. Choose the transaction in QuickBooks to expand the view. Then press Edit and make edits so the details match your statement.
Unable to connect to online banking? No problem. Here’s what to do:
Tip: If you’re absolutely sure you’ve found a match but something small isn’t quite right, like the payee, don’t worry. Select the transaction in QuickBooks to expand the view. Then click Edit and make edits so the details match your statement.
Once you’ve reviewed and matched all the transactions, QuickBooks will calculate the difference between your records and your bank or credit card statement. If the difference is zero, you’ve successfully reconciled your account. If the difference is not zero, you may need to review your transactions again to find any discrepancies.
When you reach the end of your transactions, the difference between your statement and QuickBooks should be CA $0.00. If it is, click on Finish now. However, if the difference isn’t CA $0.00, or you can’t find a transaction that should be in QuickBooks, don’t worry. Here are a few things you can do:
Once the difference is $0, you’ve completed the reconciliation process successfully. You can also save your progress and finish later if required.
If you want to review past reconciliations, you can run a reconciliation report to review your work:
You can make changes to past reconciliations, but you need to be very careful. These changes can unbalance your accounts and other reconciliations. It also affects the beginning balance of your next reconciliation. To do this, you can start by reviewing a previous reconciliation report. If you reconciled a transaction by mistake, you have the option to unreconciled it. However, if you adjusted a reconciliation by mistake or need to start over, reach out to your accountant. These kinds of changes may get so complicated.
Just like balancing your checkbook, you are required to review your accounts in QuickBooks to make sure they match your real-life bank and credit card statements. This process is called reconciling.
It’s recommended to reconcile your checking, savings, and credit card accounts every month. Plus, compare the list of transactions with what you entered into QuickBooks as soon as you get your bank statements. If everything matches, you know your accounts are balanced and accurate. Here’s how to reconcile your accounts so they match your bank and credit card statements.
Before you start with reconciliation, make sure to back up your company file.
If you’re reconciling an account for the first time, you are recommended to review the opening balance.
As soon as you create a new account in QuickBooks Desktop, choose a date to start tracking all of your transactions. You have to enter the balance of your real-life bank account for the day you pick. This way, QuickBooks matches your bank records from the start.
This starting point is known as the account opening balance. It summarizes all the past transactions that came before it. Below we’ve discussed how to enter an opening balance for accounts you create in QuickBooks.Follow the steps for the type of account the opening balance is for:
Before you create a new account on your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts, ensure you know what to enter for your opening balance. You can enter an opening balance for a real-life bank account you just created, or one you’ve had for a while. Here’s how:
You can simply enter an opening balance for a real-life bank account you just created or one you’ve had for a while. Be careful when entering the opening balances for accounts on your Balance Sheet. This may include Fixed Asset, Equity, Long-term Liability, Other Assets, Other Current Asset, and Other Current Liability accounts. Here are the steps to be followed:
Once done with entering the opening balance, navigate to your account register and make sure it’s accurate. The Opening Balance Equity account shouldn’t have a remaining balance.
If the balance isn’t 0.00, don’t be anxious. Write down the remaining balance and then run a Balance Sheet Report for last year.
Be sure you enter all transactions for the bank statement period you plan to reconcile. If there are transactions that haven’t cleared your bank yet and aren’t on your statement, just wait to enter them.
When you get your bank statement, you can simply start reconciling. If you’re reconciling multiple months, start with your oldest bank statement. Reconcile each month separately, only one statement at a time.
Important: If you’re reconciling a Merchant or Payments account and QuickBooks Desktop notices that you aren’t signed in, you’ll see a sign-in window. This ensures your account is successfully linked to a valid company ID.
If your beginning balance doesn’t match your statement, don’t worry. There are a few tools that can help you.
Note: As soon as you undo a previous reconciliation, your beginning balance reverts to the beginning balance of your past reconciliation. All cleared transactions on the reconciliation become uncleared.
You are recommended to compare the list of your transactions on your bank statement with what’s in QuickBooks for a better reconciliation. Make sure you have the right dates and transactions. When you’re done reviewing your statement, you’ll know everything made it into QuickBooks.
Before starting the Reconciliation
Here are a few things you can do to make your reconciliation easier or smoother.
Note: A matched transaction in the register has a lightning bolt besides it. A checkmark replaces the lightning bolt once you reconcile it.
Note: If a transaction doesn’t appear on your statement, don’t mark it as reconciled. Below are some quick ways to verify if things are matching:
If the difference between your bank statements and QuickBooks isn’t $0.00 then don’t worry. QuickBooks gives you several ways to fix it.
For bank accounts, QuickBooks opens the Reconcile Adjustment window. You have a few options:
The journal entry goes into a special expense account called Reconciliation Discrepancies.
To see all of your adjustments on the list, you can review a Previous Reconciliation report for the reconciliation you adjusted. This will show you cleared transactions and any changes made after the transaction that may not show in your discrepancies.
Here’s how you can review all of your cleared transactions.
For other types of accounts, QuickBooks opens the Make Payment window. This allows you to write a check or enter a bill to pay to cover the outstanding balance. If you don’t want to record a payment, press Cancel.
Once you reconcile, you can select Display to view the Reconciliation report or Print to print it. Now, you’re ready to go.
If you need to review a reconciliation report later on, do the following:
Related QuickBooks Errors
If you are experiencing similar issues while working on bank reconciliation in QuickBooks, these related errors may also affect your process:
| Error | Description |
|---|---|
| QuickBooks bank feed errors | Issues that interrupt automatic bank transactions import, leading to mismatched or missing entries during reconciliation |
Reconciling your accounts or bank statements simply means comparing your internal financial records against the records provided to you by your bank, and QuickBooks professional support ensures accurate handling of reconciliation discrepancies when needed. For small businesses, the main purpose of reconciling your bank account is to ensure that the actual money spent or earned matches the money leaving or entering an account at the end of a fiscal period. It also helps you to manage your cash flow and identify any duplicate or missing transactions caused by fraud or accounting errors.
Undoing a reconciliation is only possible in QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA). Since you’re using QuickBooks Online (QBO), you’ll need to invite your accountant to handle this for you. Here’s how to do it:
Once your accountant accepts the invitation, they can undo the reconciliation for you. They will:
After the reconciliation is undone, you or your accountant can restart the reconciliation process by clicking Resume reconciling. This allows you to make updates or corrections. This method ensures you get accurate, up-to-date financial records.