Do bookkeepers reconcile bank accounts? Learn how monthly bank and credit-card reconciliations prevent errors, fraud, and cash surprises — GTB explains.
Do Bookkeepers Reconcile Bank Accounts? — How & Why GTB Does It Right
A GTB long‑form guide for owners and operators
🎧 On the go? Listen on The Deep Dive — where we dig deeper into this topic, “Stop
Leaving Cash on the Table: The Strategic Deep Dive into Bank and Credit Card
Reconciliations”.👉Listen or download
Yes — do bookkeepers reconcile bank accounts? Absolutely. Bank and credit-card reconciliation is one of the most important bookkeeping tasks. It compares your internal records to bank and payment processor statements to verify every transaction is captured once — and only once — giving you a real cash balance you can trust.
Reconciliation is not just an accounting chore. It is a control and detection process that protects your business by catching missing transactions, duplicates, bank errors, and fraud — and by confirming that the cash you see is cash you can use.
Why Reconciliation Matters
Reconciled books = audit-ready records, smarter decisions, fewer surprises during tax season, and less risk when applying for loans or investor due diligence.
- Catching missing deposits or fees you haven’t recorded.
- Revealing duplicate entries and categorization errors.
- Exposing bank errors or fraudulent charges quickly.
- Verifying merchant processor and POS deposits actually reached your account.
How Often Should Reconciliation Be Done?
Minimum: Monthly (standard for most small businesses). Recommended: Weekly for businesses with high transaction volume (retail, e-commerce, restaurants, contractors). Daily (or near real-time): For businesses with high POS activity, multiple merchant accounts, or rapid cash flow needs.
At GTB, reconciliation is built into our month-end close. For high-volume clients we set weekly or rolling reconciliations to avoid backlog and catch issues quickly.
The GTB Reconciliation Workflow — Step-by-Step
- Import and match bank & credit card feeds into your accounting software.
- Identify unmatched items and investigate timing differences (deposits in transit, outstanding checks).
- Validate merchant processor batches against deposits, fees, and chargebacks.
- Post correcting adjustments with clear documentation attached.
- Attach receipts, invoices, and bank excerpts to every adjustment.
- Sign off and lock the period to preserve the audit trail.
- Save the reconciliation report in the month-end packet.
Common Reconciliation Issues — Fast Fixes
- “Cash says X, books say Y” → Run a bank feed vs ledger mismatch report; look for uncleared deposits or duplicated entries.
- Duplicate transactions → Check bank feed rules and merge or remove true duplicates.
- Merchant deposits short of gross sales → Reconcile processor fees and chargebacks; compare batch summaries to bank deposits.
- Old uncategorized transactions → Create a cleanup ticket: categorize by month and confirm with invoices.
- Missing W‑9s for vendors → Pause vendor payments until W‑9 is collected; attach to vendor profile.
Tools & Automations That Speed Reconciliation
- QuickBooks Online / Xero — automated bank feeds, rules, and reconciliation tools.
- Receipt capture apps (Hubdoc, Expensify) — attach receipts to transactions automatically.
- Payment processor reconciliation plugins — match batch deposits to sales.
- Bank rules and automation reduce manual work and errors.
Reconciliation Checklist — What You Should See in a Healthy Monthly Close
- All bank, credit card, loan, and merchant accounts reconciled and signed off.
- No uncategorized transactions older than 30 days.
- Supporting documents attached to every adjustment.
- Reconciliation reports saved in the month-end packet.
- Period lock in place after close to preserve integrity.
- 1-page summary highlighting material reconciling items and recommended actions.
How Reconciliation Saves You Money — The ROI Case
Clean reconciliations reduce CPA cleanup time, uncover lost revenue (unbilled or misposted payments), and prevent fraud. GTB’s clients typically see operational improvements and tax savings that far exceed the cost of professional bookkeeping — most clients realize 4–5× the value of our fees (results vary).
Security & Controls — Reconciliation as a Risk Mitigation Tool
- Use least-privilege bank access (read-only feeds for bookkeepers).
- Enforce segregation of duties: different people request payments vs recording them.
- Maintain approval workflows and documentation for journal entries.
- Store backups and signed reconciliation reports in the client portal.
When to Call GTB for Help
- You find more than a handful of uncategorized or unmatched items.
- Merchant deposits don’t match sales reports.
- You’re preparing to apply for a loan or sell your business.
- The current bookkeeper can’t explain reconciling variances.
- You need lender-ready statements quickly.
Key Takeaways (Actionable)
- Do bookkeepers reconcile bank accounts? Yes — monthly minimum; weekly if high-volume.
- Reconciliation is your first line of defense against fraud, errors, and surprises.
- Automate feeds and build rules — but always review exceptions manually.
- Keep supporting docs attached to every adjustment to save time during audits.
- Lock the period after close and retain signed reconciliation reports.
📅 Ready to get reconciliation right? Schedule a free consultation: Schedule Now
📞 Or call 971-200-5158 for immediate assistance.
Giesler-Tran Bookkeeping • gieslertranbookkeeping.com • 971-200-5158