Bank Reconciliation Checklist

Download the PDF statement from the bank portal or client document upload (SmartVault, Liscio, Hubdoc). Confirm the statement covers the full close period — partial statements from mid-cycle account changes are a common gotcha.

Confirm the QBO or Xero bank feed has pulled transactions through the statement end date. Plaid feeds occasionally lag 24-48 hours after a long weekend; manually upload a CSV from the bank if the feed stalled.

Pull the bank register in QBO or Xero filtered to the statement period. Note the GL ending balance before reconciliation begins so any reclass postings made during recon are traceable.

Check that last month's reconciliation report shows a zero variance and the period is locked with a close date password. Reconciling forward over an unfinished prior period compounds errors.

The statement opening balance must equal the prior reconciliation's ending balance. A mismatch usually means a posted transaction was edited or deleted after the prior period closed — investigate the audit log before proceeding.

Match each deposit on the statement to the GL by date and amount. Watch for batched deposits where the statement shows a lump sum but the GL shows individual customer payments — these tie in total, not line by line.

Walk the disbursement side of the statement against the check register. Confirm Bill.com / Ramp ACH payments posted as a single line in the GL match the bank's individual debits. Note any transposition errors for adjustment.

Stripe, Square, and QuickBooks Payments deposits arrive net of fees on the bank but should hit the GL gross with fees in a separate expense account. Verify the fee posting before clearing the deposit.

Document every uncleared item with check number, payee, date issued, and amount. Flag anything aged more than 90 days for stale-check review — escheatment rules in most states require unclaimed funds reporting after 1-3 years.

Look for duplicate charges, wrong-amount postings, and ACH debits the client doesn't recognize. Reg E gives consumers 60 days to dispute; commercial accounts have shorter windows defined in the deposit agreement, often 30 days.

Post service charges, wire fees, NSF fees, and interest income that appear on the statement but not in the GL. These are the most common reason a bank rec carries a residual variance into the adjustment phase.

After clearing matched items and recording fees/interest, compare the running variance to the client's materiality threshold (commonly $500-$1,000 for SMB). A material unexplained variance routes to client follow-up; immaterial variances get a documented plug entry.

Use the client portal (Liscio, Karbon, TaxDome) to send a categorized question list — unidentified deposits, unsupported wires, missing receipts. Avoid email for anything containing account numbers; WISP and IRS Pub 4557 both call this out.

Collect check images, wire confirmations, vendor invoices, or deposit detail. Attach each support file to the corresponding GL transaction in QBO/Xero so the audit trail is intact for future review or audit.

Anything still unexplained after client response goes to the controller or engagement manager with a short memo: amount, dates, parties, what was tried. Don't post a plug entry to suspense without escalation — that's how variances become permanent.

Each AJE needs a memo line citing the source (statement page, transaction date, support filename). Generic memos like "to reconcile" get rejected on partner review and complicate any future audit walkthrough.

Enter journal entries in QBO/Xero dated as of the period end. Confirm class/location/dimension tags carry through if the client uses departmental reporting — a missing class on a fee entry shows up as a P&L blow-up later.

Adjusted bank balance (statement ending + deposits in transit − outstanding checks ± bank errors) must equal adjusted book balance (GL ending + interest − fees ± corrections). Difference must be zero before sign-off.

Export the QBO or Xero reconciliation summary plus the detail report. Save both to the engagement workpaper folder named with period and account (e.g., "2024-03 Operating BoA 1234 Recon.pdf").

Route to the senior accountant or controller via Karbon or Canopy review queue. Include the report, any AJE support, and the aged outstanding-items list. Two-person sign-off is a standard internal control for cash reconciliations.

Set the QBO close date and password (or use Xero's lock dates) once the supervisor has signed off. Locking prevents back-dated edits that would break the next month's opening balance tie-out.