Account reconciliation

A reconciliation item identifies a provider movement by event identifier, occurrence date, amount and ledger account. It also points to a matched accounting document. This gives the reviewer a concrete starting point: which external movement occurred, which financial account it affected and which confirmed instruction might explain it. The item’s state distinguishes an unmatched movement, a matched one and an exception.

The match rule is deliberately strict. The amount and confirmed occurrence date must agree exactly with a confirmed instruction linked to the same account. A difference in amount or date remains open or becomes an exception. An operator should not resolve a difference by forcing a match. Instead, the reviewer identifies whether the provider event, document or account assignment requires investigation.

• Source movement. Provider event identity, amount and date establish the item being reconciled.
• Candidate document. The linked accounting document and its account lines show the proposed financial explanation.
• Disposition. Matched, unmatched and exception states keep unresolved items separate from supported matches.

Agree the provider source, event identifier format and date convention before importing movements. Choose how the finance team handles a provider event that arrives after the document, or a document whose outcome is still pending. Define which account a movement belongs to and make sure document lines use the same account identity. The reviewer needs access to the provider evidence that supports the comparison.

The team should rehearse duplicate provider events as well as mismatches. One event identifier should not create two independent matches. A correction should retain the original source item and the reason for changing its disposition. An auditor must be able to follow the link from movement to account, document and provider evidence.

A supplier-related instruction has a confirmed provider outcome on an account. A provider movement arrives with the same amount and occurrence date. The reviewer checks the account link and the source event identifier, then marks the movement matched against the document. A second movement arrives with the same amount but the next day’s date. It remains unmatched or is marked an exception; matching the amount alone is insufficient. A third event with a different amount also remains open. The reviewer can use the exception list to determine whether the cause is a provider correction, wrong account or wrong candidate document.

The matched population should be understandable without hiding open items. The team can group exceptions by account and date, then return to the underlying source record. Keep the provider event identifier visible in reports so an external statement can be compared with the local record.

• Reconciliation exceptions — Examine open movements with account, amount and occurrence date.
• Matched movements — Trace accepted links from a provider event to its confirmed document.

Reconcile an account and review the source model.