My reconciliation will not balance
Working the difference down: what specific difference amounts tell you, and the order of checks that finds the cause quickest.
How-toFor Bookkeepers, Business owners, Firm staff
The difference is telling you something
| The difference is | Look for |
|---|---|
| Exactly one transaction's amount | A transaction missing from your books, or one ticked that should not be. |
| Exactly double a transaction | That transaction recorded twice, or the sign is inverted on it. |
| Divisible by 9 | Transposed digits — 54 entered as 45. A classic, and worth checking early. |
| A round number | Often a missing transfer between accounts, or a fee. |
| Small and odd | Bank fees or interest not yet recorded. |
| The prior period's difference | The previous reconciliation did not actually tie, or something posted into it afterwards. |
The order to check things
- 1
Confirm the beginning balance matches the prior statement's ending balance.
If it does not, the problem is in a period you already closed. Fix that first — otherwise you will chase the same difference twice.
- 2
Confirm you typed the statement ending balance correctly.
It is a surprisingly common cause and takes five seconds to rule out.
- 3
Count transactions: statement lines versus ticked lines.
A count mismatch means something is missing or extra, which is a different search than a wrong amount.
- 4
Work down the statement, not down the screen.
Ticking from the statement finds transactions missing from your books. Ticking from the screen cannot.
- 5
Check for uncategorized transactions in the period.
Uncategorized transactions are not in the ledger and cannot clear.
- 6
Check for transactions dated outside the statement period.
A date typed as the wrong month is a frequent cause.
- 7
Check for duplicates from overlapping imports.
Common questions
A genuinely immaterial rounding difference on a foreign-currency account can be adjusted, with a memo explaining it. Anything else should be found — small differences are frequently two large errors nearly cancelling.
Find the cause first. If it was a coding error that did not affect cash, recategorize and move on. If cash was actually wrong, you may need to unlock from that point and work forward — which is why locking only a genuinely tied statement matters.
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