The short answer
Reconcile the bank balance and check supporting documents as two connected controls. Match transactions to evidence without assuming that one bank line equals one invoice. Keep fees, transfers, split payments and unexplained items visible, with an owner and next action for each unresolved difference.
Confirm account and period coverage
List the client's bank accounts, cards and relevant payment-provider accounts. For each statement, record the account, currency, start and end dates, opening and closing balances. A file named 'September' can cover only half the month. Two files can cover the same transactions in different formats.
Check that the rows reconcile: opening balance plus credits less debits equals closing balance, using a consistent sign convention. A failed reconciliation can indicate missing pages, truncated extraction, fees or a parsing error. Resolve it before trusting a list of supposedly missing documents.
Maintain separate balance and evidence exceptions
Two controls, two questions
| Control | Question | Example exception |
|---|---|---|
| Balance reconciliation | Do statement and ledger balances reconcile? | Transfer posted to the wrong account |
| Evidence matching | Does the transaction have appropriate support? | Supplier payment with invoice missing |
| Coverage check | Do we have every relevant account and day? | Second card account not supplied |
A bank line proves a cash movement, not its business purpose or VAT treatment. Match it to the relevant invoice, receipt, agreement, payroll record or other appropriate support. Transfers, bank fees and taxes need suitable review, but should not automatically generate requests for supplier invoices.
Worked example: count payments and requests separately
A fictional statement contains 12 supplier payments. Seven have confirmed supporting invoices. Three are monthly charges to one software supplier with no support yet. Two are unmatched payments to different suppliers. That means five payments need investigation; the client can receive three grouped request items: one for the software supplier and one for each other supplier.
Show the grouped software request's three dates and amounts. If one invoice supports several charges, review whether its total, period and purpose actually cover them. Do not reuse a vaguely similar invoice across several payments merely because the supplier name matches.
Treat automatic matches as candidates
Compare counterparty, date, amount, currency and reference, then inspect the underlying document. Amount-only matching is weak: several payments can be identical. A difference caused by foreign exchange, processor fees or part payment needs an explanation, not an arbitrary tolerance that hides it.
Before reviewing gaps, identify duplicate statement exports. A PDF and CSV from the same account and period can describe the same cash movements. Count the transactions once while retaining both sources where useful. Conversely, do not merge different accounts just because dates and amounts happen to match.
A statement review checklist
Ready to request missing evidence
Ready to request missing evidence
- Account, currency and actual covered dates identified.
- Every row read; opening and closing balances reconciled.
- Overlapping exports and genuine duplicates identified.
- Transfers, fees, taxes and other special rows classified for review.
- Candidate matches confirmed using the document.
- Unmatched payments retain dates, amounts and references.
- Client requests group related items without losing payment detail.
When a document returns, confirm the match and update the related exception. Closing the request alone does not prove every payment is covered. Claister's documented statement workflow keeps payment-level gaps linked to requests and lets the accountant confirm suggested matches; it does not replace the ledger reconciliation.
Use the document request list for client wording and the month-end close checklist for the wider balance review. Keep receipt, matching and final accounting approval as distinct decisions.
Questions
No. Classify the transaction first. Taxes, transfers, bank fees and payroll have different supporting records and should not automatically become supplier-invoice requests.
Sometimes, for example part payments, but confirm the total and transaction details. Keep an explicit relationship rather than repeatedly matching by supplier name.
About this article
Author: Claister
Published by Claister, the company building the accounting practice management software discussed on this website.
Design partner: Natalija Miadzelic
Editorial review: Natalija Miadzelic · Accountant · Approved
Editorial policyAccounting processes: monthly work to annual accounts
Related tools, workflows and product guides
Month-end close checklist
Close a period with document coverage, bank reconciliation, balance review, approved reports and an owned exception list. Keep unfinished work visible in the handover.
View the checklisti.SAF invoice register deadlines in Lithuania
i.SAF monthly invoice register dates for Lithuanian legal persons, applicability checks, empty registers, VMI source and a calendar download.
View the filing guideKeep reading
i.SAF checklist: review the invoice register
An i.SAF invoice-register review checklist: duplicates, period selection, VAT classification, reconciliation and the evidence to keep after submission.
3 min readMonth-end close checklist for accounting firms
A month-end close checklist for client accounting: completeness, reconciliations, review, unresolved items and a clear handoff to reporting and filing.
3 min readDocument request list template for accounting clients
Three document lists you can copy for accounting clients: monthly bookkeeping, VAT and year-end, plus how to adapt them.
3 min read