Bank reconciliation

What is bank reconciliation?

Banks and credit card companies usually generate a monthly statement for each customer account. When you reconcile an account, you make sure that what you have in QuickBooks matches the monthly statement. One by one, you check the beginning balance and each transaction in the statement and compare them with your books. When you're finished, your books and bank agree with each other. Accountants call this reconciling or balancing your books.

Why reconcile?

When you reconcile your accounts monthly, your trustworthy books empower you because you:

• Know your books are correct
• Make tax time much easier for yourself
• Make sure you're getting paid and you're paying your bills on time to avoid late fees and unhappy vendors
• Quickly spot income fluctuations and respond wisely
• Can take quick, informed, and decisive action when you see financial opportunities or possible danger signs
• Catch bank errors that cost you money, like a wrong total for a deposit with multiple checks
• Get better advice from your accountant
• Help prevent possible fraud by employees, accounting professionals, or vendors

Learn how to reconcile

Would you like to learn how to reconcile with some expert tips? Let's get started!

Solve problems when reconciling

Sometimes reconciling can get tricky when amounts are missing or don't match. Don't worry though. We've got some good tools to help you reconcile with confidence.

If you already started reconciling and you're feeling stuck, these might help you get going again.

Reconcile a bank or credit card account

Why doesn't my QuickBooks beginning balance match my statement?

Fix an incorrect beginning balance before you reconcile

Why doesn't my QuickBooks account match my statement?