A Beginner's Guide to Bank Reconciliation

Bank Reconciliation 

Bank reconciliation is the process to ensure that your accounting software and your bank account match (equal) on a specific transaction period (usually a month or a year). The goal of reconciliation is to make sure you have an accurate representation between the transactions in your bookkeeping software and the transactions listed in your bank account.

Sunrise lets you review the differences and spot what might be inaccurate if they’re not matching up. 

Note: This guide assumes you’ve already synced your bank accounts and recorded expenses for the period you’re reviewing. If you haven’t, you’ll need to do that before reconciling. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Go to your bank account.

After logging into Sunrise, on the left-hand column, click on the link to Bank accounts:

Step 2: Visit your account balance

Select Account Balance on the upper right-hand side. Depending on your settings, you may skip this step and jump right to Step 3.

Step 3: Spotting differences by month or year

Use the data filter to check, month-by-month, that your account balance in Sunrise matches the account balances shown in your bank statements

Pick the same date range in Sunrise as you get from your bank transactions:

What to do If they’re not matching

Step 1: Note the difference

Subtract the balance in Sunrise from the balance shown in your bank account or bank statement.

This difference is what we’re going to track down as it's likely one or more transactions from your bank never made it into Sunrise.

Step 2: Find the transaction(s) that total this difference. 

Let’s say, for our example, the difference is $500.  Either you’ve got a duplicate, an errant transaction (maybe a typo when you entered it)? Or are missing one. It’s one of those three or a combination.

Go line by line between your transactions in Sunrise and the transactions in your bank account until you spot the one(s) that add up to the difference.

Pro Tip: It often helps to download both transaction lists as CSVs, one from Sunrise and one from your Bank, so that you can match them in a spreadsheet. Then you can eliminate transactions that Sunrise has captured, leaving behind the ones that were not imported into Sunrise. 

Step 3: Check your manual transactions – the amounts may vary if you’re inputting transactions manually. 

Typos happen, and it can be as simple as that. Most times, the bank gets it right, so pay attention to the transactions you’ve entered manually.

Step 4: Upload a CSV with the missing transactions

Once you have identified the missing transactions, you can put them into a CSV file with Date, Description, and Amount headers and upload them into Sunrise. 

Further Trouble Shooting: tips transactions don’t match

Triple check manual transactions

The bank account sync to only accounts for what’s in your bank. If someone is paying you in cash or activity outside of your bank, you’ll want to manually add those transactions. You can manually enter the missing transaction if this is the case. 

Turn to an expert

Reconciliation is a time-consuming task. Sunrise has professional bookkeepers available to solve this and loads of other tasks. You can easily hire one here.

Check bank fees/Interest.

Occasionally these aren’t listed as a transaction, so if you’ve made interest or incurred a fee, double-check that it’s included.

Review deposits

You may have received a payment/check from a customer but not deposited it. Good to spot check those.

Pro tip: Sometimes, the difference in totals is more than one entry. Look for two or more totals that add up to the $500 you’re missing.