Reconcile bank accounts regularly
Reconciling means matching your books to your actual bank statement so they agree to the penny. Doing it regularly catches errors, missing transactions, and fraud before they become a mess.
Do this
- Each month, open your bank statement and your accounting software side by side.
- Use the software's reconcile tool to match every transaction.
- Investigate anything that doesn't match — duplicates, missing entries, fees.
- Mark the month reconciled only when the balances agree.
Monthly Reconciliation Checklist
- Pull the month's bank + card statements
- Match every transaction in your software
- Flag and fix anything that doesn't match
- Confirm ending balance = bank balance
- Lock/mark the period as reconciled
