Reconciling a bank account

Bank reconciliation in xMatix is the Bank Reconciliation workspace in the Banking app, where you match each line of an imported bank statement to the posted journal line in your books that records the same money movement. It comes after you have recorded the bank statement and posted the period's payments, transfers and journals, and before you close the period.

Overview

The workspace works account by account. For the bank account you choose, it shows:

• A summary strip — the account name and number, Bank balance, Book balance, the number of Unmatched lines, Reconciled up to and Last statement.
• Bank transactions — the statement lines of that account's statements, filtered by reconciliation status, date range and statement.
• Statements — the account's imported statements, with an Import statement button.
• Matching rules — the rules that decide which ledger lines are suggested for a statement line and whether a match is confirmed automatically (see Bank reconciliation matching rules).

Selecting a statement line opens the Reconcile panel on the right. There you tick the ledger entries that match it, or create the payment or journal the books are missing.

Every statement line carries a Reconciliation Status: Unmatched, Matched or Ignored. Reconciling a line records a reconciliation match between the statement line and one or more journal lines, and sets the line to Matched.

The workspace is separate from the reconciliation worksheet, a hand-kept Bank Reconciliation record on which you list outstanding items. Matching in the workspace never creates, reads or updates a worksheet.

When to use it

• Each time you import a statement, to pair its lines with the receipts, payments and transfers already in your books.
• When the bank shows charges, interest or direct debits that the books do not yet contain, so you can post them from the line.
• Before closing a period, to confirm that every statement line is matched and that the bank and book balances agree.

How xMatix handles it

• Which bank accounts appear. Active bank accounts whose linked GL account has the account type Bank, for the chosen Partner Account and Branch. When you open the workspace these default to your own default company and branch, taken from your resource record.
• Book balance adds up the debits less credits of every Posted and Reversed journal line on the bank's GL account, for all dates. Reversed journals are included because a reversal posts a second journal with the sides swapped, so the pair nets to zero.
• Bank balance adds up the Closing Balance of every statement recorded for the account, not just the latest one. With more than one statement on an account, this figure is higher than the bank's actual balance. Use the latest statement's closing balance as the bank figure.
• Reconciled up to shows the latest statement date among statements whose Status is Reconciled. Nothing in xMatix sets a statement to Reconciled (imported statements stay Imported), so this reads Not yet unless someone edits a statement's Status.
• Candidates for a statement line. Suggestions are drawn from the Posted and Reversed journal lines on the bank's GL account that are not already matched for that bank account. A reversed entry and its reversal cancel out and are not offered, as long as neither has been matched. Candidates are not limited to the statement's period; only the date test in the matching rules limits them.
• Rules decide what is suggested. The account's active matching rules run in sequence, and each later rule narrows the entries that passed the earlier ones. With no applicable rule, a built-in policy applies: the signed amount must be within 100.00, the date within five days, the statement reference and the ledger narration must contain one another, and the direction (money in or out) must agree. The built-in policy never confirms a match on its own. See Bank reconciliation matching rules.
• Ranking. Each candidate scores 100, minus 10 for every day between the two dates, plus 25 when the references agree. Candidates scoring 100 or more are listed under Best Matches, and lower scores under Possible.
• Automatic matching. If a rule with auto-match switched on leaves one clear winner (the only candidate, or one that strictly outscores the next), xMatix confirms that match as soon as you open the line, and the line becomes Matched.
• What a match records. Each ticked ledger entry becomes a separate reconciliation match carrying the statement line's full signed amount. There is no partial amount, and the panel does not stop you ticking entries that add up to more than the line.

Prerequisites

• A bank account record that is active and linked to a GL account whose account type is Bank. Without the GL link the account does not appear, and suggestions fail with "Bank account has no linked GL account; cannot reconcile."
• The period's bank statement recorded with its lines. You can also import it from the workspace (Step 2).
• The period's payments, receipts, transfers and journals posted. Draft entries are never suggested.
• Access to the Banking app and the permissions listed under Permissions.

Procedure

Step 1 — Open the workspace and choose the account

Open the Banking app and select Bank Reconciliation. The header shows the Select Partner Account and Select Branch pickers, already set to your defaults. Branch is available only after a partner account is chosen, and changing the partner clears the branch. On a tenant with one company or one location the matching picker is hidden.

The summary strip shows the first bank account for that company and branch. When there are several, select the account name to choose another. If none qualifies, the strip reads "No bank accounts for this company and branch. Add one under Settings › Bank Accounts, linked to a Bank-type GL account."

Step 2 — Import the statement, if it is not already recorded

Select Import statement in the header, or on the Statements tab. In the Import bank statement dialog, fill in Bank account, Statement date, Statement number, Description, Opening balance and Closing balance ("As printed on the statement"). The opening balance is filled from the previous statement's closing balance. Select Continue to upload. xMatix creates the statement, and you then upload the line file in the data import step and select Close. If you close without importing any lines, the empty statement is deleted.

Imported lines start as Unmatched. For entering statement lines by hand and checking the statement's balances, see Bank statements and statement lines.

Step 3 — Find the lines to reconcile

Open the Bank transactions tab. The status filter starts on Unmatched, and each choice (All, Unmatched, Matched, Ignored) shows its count. Narrow the list with the From / To dates or the Source: All statements picker if needed.

Step 4 — Match a statement line

Select a line, or its Match action. The Reconcile panel opens with the line's date, Narration (its reference, or description) and Open Amount, and the Match tab lists suggested ledger entries under Best Matches and Possible. Each entry shows its source document, date, party and amount.

Read the line's date, amount and reference, open the source document if you are unsure, then tick the entry that records the same transaction. Open Amount drops by each ticked amount. Select Reconcile. The toast "Transaction matched successfully." confirms it, and the line's status becomes Matched.

If the panel says "No matching documents found", either the entry is missing from the books (Step 5) or the rules exclude it (see Common problems).

Step 5 — Post what the books are missing

For a bank charge, interest credit or direct debit with no entry in the books, open the panel's Post tab:

• Payment — "Create a pre-filled Payment Given/Taken record." Select New. The payment form opens with the type (Payment Taken for money in, Payment Given for money out), amount, date, reference and remarks filled from the line. Check the GL Account field and choose the bank's GL account before saving, because the shortcut does not fill it reliably.
• Journal — "Create a pre-filled adjustment record." Select New. The journal form opens with the amount, date, reference, remarks, company and branch filled in. When you save, xMatix adds the bank line to the journal (a debit for money in, a credit for money out). Open the journal, add the other side (for example the bank charges expense account), and post it.

The new entry is saved but not posted. It becomes a suggestion only after you post it. Then return to the statement line and match it as in Step 4.

Step 6 — Ignore a line that should not be reconciled

To exclude a proven duplicate or a line that needs no accounting, select Ignore at the top of the panel. The line's status becomes Ignored ("Statement line ignored successfully."). Ignore cannot be undone from the workspace, so use it sparingly. Do not ignore a timing difference or a missing book entry.

Step 7 — Review a matched line

Select a matched line, or its View match action. The panel shows Already Matched, the number and total of matched documents, and a card for each one marked Matched or Auto-matched. Select a card to open its source document.

Step 8 — Check the result

When the Unmatched count reaches zero, compare the latest statement's closing balance with Book balance. Book balance includes every posted entry on the bank's GL account up to today, so entries dated after the statement date (and cheques not yet presented) make the two differ. List those outstanding items on a reconciliation worksheet if your close needs a written statement.

Fields

Summary strip

Reconcile panel

Business rules

• Only Unmatched lines get suggestions. Matched and Ignored lines open their status view instead.
• A journal line can be matched once per bank account. Once used, it is no longer offered for other statement lines on that account.
• Matches record the full line amount, once for each ticked entry. Ticking two entries for one line records two matches, each for the line's full amount.
• Auto-match runs when the line is opened, not when the statement is imported. Opening a line can therefore change its status.
• Ignore only changes the status. It records no match, and nothing in the workspace sets the line back to Unmatched.
• No unmatch. The workspace has no supported way to remove a confirmed match. The Unmatch control in the panel does not appear on the shipped screens.
• Nothing is locked. Reconciling posts nothing, closes no period, and does not change the statement's Status.

Example

A finance user reconciles the current account for September. The statement, imported from the workspace, has four lines.

1. A receipt of 45,000.00 dated 4 September, reference "RCPT-0912". The books hold a posted receipt of 45,000.00 dated 3 September with the narration "RCPT-0912 customer receipt". The account's rule has auto-match on, so when the user opens the line it is matched straight away and shows Auto-matched.
2. A payment of 58,000.00 to a supplier. Two ledger entries of 58,000.00 pass the rules, and the one with the matching cheque number is listed first under Best Matches. The user ticks it and selects Reconcile.
3. Bank charges of 550.00 with no book entry. On the Post tab the user creates a journal, adds the bank charges expense line and posts it, then matches the line to it.
4. A duplicate line the bank sent twice. After confirming with the bank, the user selects Ignore.

The Unmatched count is now zero. Book balance is 3,500.00 lower than the statement's closing balance because of a cheque issued on 30 September that the bank has not yet paid. The user records it on the September worksheet as an outstanding item.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox with a bank account linked to a Bank-type GL account:

1. Post a payment of 1,200.00 from that bank account with the reference "TRAIN-01" in its narration.
2. In the workspace, import a statement with one withdrawal line of 1,200.00, dated the same day, reference "TRAIN-01".
3. Open the line, tick the suggested entry and select Reconcile.

Expected result: the entry appears under Best Matches, the line becomes Matched, the Unmatched count drops by one, and View match shows the payment.

Quick reference

• Banking → Bank Reconciliation; choose company, branch and bank account.
• Only Posted (and Reversed) journal lines on the bank's GL account are suggested.
• Without rules: amount within 100.00, date within 5 days, references must agree, same direction, never automatic.
• Tick, then Reconcile; the line becomes Matched.
• Post tab: create the missing payment or journal, post it, then match it.
• Ignore cannot be undone from the workspace.
• There is no unmatch on the shipped screens.
• Bank balance sums every statement's closing balance, so compare with the latest statement instead.

Permissions

• App. The user's security profile must include the Banking app (Setup → Access Control → Profiles, Apps tab). See Security profiles.
• Server actions. The workspace runs three actions on the Bank Reconciliation entity: Get Bank Accounts (account list and balances), Get Match Suggestions (suggestions and auto-match) and Confirm Matches (the Reconcile button). Each needs a grant on the profile's Actions tab. The built-in SystemAdmin and StandardUser profiles have all three. Without them, the account strip stays empty, or suggestions or Reconcile fail.
• Records. Reading the lists needs read access to Bank Statement and Bank Statement Line. Ignore edits the statement line. Import statement creates a Bank Statement and its lines. The Post tab creates a Payment or a Journal and its line. Each needs the matching entity permission.

Configuration

• Bank accounts. Link each bank account record to a GL account whose account type is Bank, and keep it active. Set its company and branch so that it appears under the right pickers.
• Matching rules. Set them on the workspace's Matching rules tab, per account or for all accounts. A rule decides what is suggested and whether a clear winner is confirmed automatically. See Bank reconciliation matching rules.
• Default company and branch. The pickers start from each user's default partner account and branch on their resource record. See Resources.
• Menu. The workspace is the Bank Reconciliation page of the shipped Banking app. Administrators can add it to another app with Setup → Design Studio → Apps → Manage Items.

Common problems

No bank accounts appear

The bank account is inactive, has no linked GL account, its GL account is not of type Bank, or it belongs to a different company or branch from the one in the pickers. Fix the bank account record or change the pickers.

A payment I know exists is not suggested

It may still be Draft (only posted entries count), it may already be matched to another line on this account, or a rule may exclude it: amount, date, reference or direction. Under the built-in policy, the statement reference must appear in the ledger narration, or the narration in the reference. Check the payment's status, then review the rules.

"Bank account has no linked GL account; cannot reconcile."

Open the bank account record and set its GL account, then reopen the line.

A line was matched to the wrong entry

There is no unmatch in the workspace. Do not create an offsetting match. An administrator can delete the wrong match record and set the statement line back to Unmatched, under your organisation's correction process. See Reconciliation matches.

Reconciled up to always says Not yet

Nothing in xMatix sets a statement's Status to Reconciled. Use the Unmatched count and Step 8 to judge progress instead.

The bank balance is far higher than the bank's figure

Bank balance adds up the closing balance of every statement on the account. Compare with the latest statement's closing balance instead.

The journal I created from the Post tab is not suggested

It is saved as Draft. Add the other side of the entry, post it, and then open the statement line again.

Common questions

Is the workspace the same as a reconciliation worksheet?

No. The workspace matches statement lines to ledger lines and changes each statement line's status. A reconciliation worksheet is a separate record on which you type the closing balances and list outstanding items by hand. The two are not linked: matching here adds nothing to a worksheet, and a worksheet line matches nothing. Many teams match in the workspace, then use a worksheet to document what is still outstanding at the statement date.

Can I undo a confirmed match?

Not from the shipped screens. The workspace has no unmatch action for statement lines, and the panel's Unmatch control is not shown. To correct one, an administrator deletes the match record and sets the statement line back to Unmatched (see Reconciliation matches), so check the date, amount and reference before you select Reconcile, and review auto-matched lines after opening them.

Why did a line become Matched as soon as I opened it?

One of the account's matching rules has auto-match on, and after its tests exactly one entry was left, or one entry clearly outscored the rest. xMatix confirms that match as soon as the suggestions load. The match shows as Auto-matched. If automatic matches are not wanted, switch auto-match off on the rule.

Does completing the reconciliation lock the period?

No. Reconciling records matches and line statuses only. It posts nothing, does not close or lock a period, and does not change the statement's Status. Lock the period separately when you close the period.

Related topics

• Banking
• Bank statements and statement lines
• Bank reconciliation matching rules
• Reconciliation worksheets and reconciling lines
• Reconciliation matches
• Recording and applying payments
• Journals
• Closing a period
• Bank Reconciliation — entity reference
• Bank Account — entity reference
• Account — entity reference