Reconciling your bank
When you have an automated bank feed running on your account, you rarely need to worry about balance reconciliation. The transactions are automatically pulled from your bank so will always be aligned. If however, you’re manually marking invoices as paid then there may be some extra work to get everything balancing. This is where bank reconciliation comes in.
Prefer to watch?
Prefer a video walkthrough? Watch our How to Reconcile Your Bank with QuickFile tutorial on the QuickFile Help Guides YouTube channel.
What does a reconciled bank account look like?
When you view your bank statement you will be able to see if your transactions are tagged. When a bank transaction is tagged it means that it is accounted for in QuickFile and is linked to an invoice, purchase, transfer or other financial transaction within your business. When completing a period of your bookkeeping the objective is to ensure that all your bank transactions have been tagged and matched against your paper statement.
Find out more about the bank tagging process.
Which method should I use?
There are essentially two approaches to completing your bookkeeping and reconciling your bank in QuickFile. Some people prefer to use QuickFile as a day-to-day management tool and others prefer to complete their bookkeeping retrospectively. The approach you choose will determine how you reconcile the bank. You can also use a combination of the two.
Method 1: upload your statement or use a bank feed, then tag
QuickFile allows you to upload a spreadsheet file (CSV format) that contains all your transactions for a given period. These files are downloaded from your online banking service provider (Options > Upload statement on the bank statement). A bank feed brings the transactions in for you instead. Either way, your start and end balances will match and you’re only concerned with the process of tagging all your transactions.
The tagging process will build all your double-entry bookkeeping records on the fly. Invoices, purchases, salaries, and tax payments are all created from the bank tagging wizard. When all your transactions are green (Tagged) and the opening and closing balances match your statement, you have a reconciled bank account!
Method 2: record payments day to day, then check your statement balances
This method is suited to those who are using QuickFile on a day-to-day basis to manage their books. This means you are logging into QuickFile to create new invoices, mark as paid and log your receipts and expenses. As you mark purchases and sales as paid the banking transactions are automatically dropped into the appropriate bank account. At the end of the month your statement in QuickFile may not resemble your actual paper statement exactly, so use the Reconcile tool below to check it.
How do I reconcile using my statement balances?
Have your bank statement for the period ready, then:
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Click Banking, then click View next to the bank account to open its statement.
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Click Options, then choose Reconcile.
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In Start Period and End Period, enter the first and last dates of your statement (for example 01/10/2026 and 15/10/2026).
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In Start Balance, enter the opening balance from your statement.
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In End Balance, enter the closing balance from your statement.
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Click GO.
QuickFile shows the result next to the figures, and the statement below now lists only the transactions in that period, oldest first:
Please note: QuickFile doesn’t save these figures. The fields are empty the next time you open Reconcile, and choosing Options > Reconcile again hides the panel.
What does the result mean?
| Result | What it means |
|---|---|
| PERFECT! | The transactions in QuickFile for the period add up to the same change as your statement (closing balance minus opening balance). |
| GBP 50.00 OVER (green) | The transactions in QuickFile come to £50 more than your statement shows: there may be a duplicate or an extra entry, or money in recorded as money out. |
| GBP 50 SHORT (red) | The transactions in QuickFile come to £50 less than your statement shows: something on the statement is probably missing from QuickFile. |
Important: The check compares the movement between your two balances with the transactions in QuickFile for the period. It doesn’t check QuickFile’s own balance, so an incorrect opening balance still shows PERFECT!. To be sure, also check the Balance column on the last day of the period matches your statement’s closing balance.
How do I find the difference?
Your QuickFile bank balance is the opening balance plus all the transactions on the account. If it doesn’t match your bank, it’s usually caused by:
- an incorrect opening balance
- extra transactions on the account, such as a payment entered twice
- missing transactions, such as bank charges or a payment you haven’t recorded yet
- incorrect transactions, such as the wrong amount or date
Scroll through the statement QuickFile shows after GO and compare it line by line with your paper statement to see where the balance goes out of sync. Then enter, correct or delete the transactions needed to bring it back in line, and click GO again.
Tip: The Balance column only shows the closing balance of each day, on the last transaction of that day. Compare it with the end-of-day balances on your statement to find the first day that’s different.
Tip: If the difference divides exactly by 9 (for example £540), you may have swapped two digits when entering an amount, such as £3,605 instead of £3,065.
How do I lock a reconciled period?
QuickFile will lock a transaction when it has been reconciled in a VAT Return or you have completed the Year-End process. This protects the figures in your accounting reports.
You can also lock your accounts to a specific date yourself:
- Go to Account Settings > All settings.
- Click Account lock date.
- In Lock Accounts to:, enter the last date you’ve reconciled.
- Click Save.
This prevents transactions from being posted for the locked period. If you try to delete a locked transaction from the bank statement, QuickFile shows: You cannot delete a locked transaction. Unlock the transaction first before deleting.
Tip: QuickFile doesn’t record when you last reconciled. Setting the account lock date when you finish is a handy way to remember where to start next time.
Troubleshooting
The result is PERFECT! but my QuickFile balance is still different from the bank
The check only compares the movement in the period. Your opening balance (or a transaction before the period) is probably wrong. Run Reconcile for an earlier period, or check the Balance column against older statements to find where it first differs.
I can’t remember which date I reconciled up to
QuickFile doesn’t store this. Set an Account lock date when you finish each reconciliation, or keep a note of the date.
I reconciled but my VAT return still looks wrong
Reconciling doesn’t change or lock anything. Transactions are only locked by a VAT return, the year-end process or an account lock date.
I can’t delete a transaction
It may be locked (see above), or it may have been created elsewhere, for example by a journal. Lines created by a journal entry show a grey date and a grey × on the statement: change or delete them from the journal entry instead.
Related topics
New to bank reconciliation? Start with Tagging your bank transactions, because a reconciled account is one where every line is tagged.
- Tagging your bank transactions: Explain each bank transaction so it turns green, one at a time or in bulk.
- Importing your bank statement: Upload a CSV file from your online banking into QuickFile.
- Managing Open Banking Feeds: Connect your bank so transactions come into QuickFile automatically.
- Automated bank tagging rules: Let QuickFile tag repeat transactions for you.
- Simplified year-end tool: Close your accounting year, which locks that year’s transactions.
- What Do You Need To Check When Reconciling Your Bank Account? (blog): A checklist for any reconciliation, including uncleared payments and the rule of 9.