Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online

Like balancing your chequebook, you should check your QuickBooks accounts to make sure they match your bank and credit card statements. This process is called reconciling.

This page will take you through the following steps to reconcile your account:

1. Review your opening balance
2. Start a reconciliation 
3. Compare your statement with QuickBooks Online
4. Next steps

Before you start

Keep your bank statement nearby when entering transactions into QuickBooks. Compare each transaction to make sure they match. If everything matches, your accounts are accurate and balanced. It's a good idea to reconcile your transactions, savings, and credit card accounts once a month. Learn more about the process in our complete reconciliation guide.

Step 1: Review your opening balance

If you're reconciling an account for the first time, review the opening balance. It needs to match the balance of your real-life bank account for the day you decided to start tracking transactions in QuickBooks.

Tip: You can save a step by connecting your bank and credit cards to online banking, which automatically downloads transactions and enters the opening balance for you.

If you forgot to enter an opening balance in QuickBooks in the past, don't worry. Here's how to enter an opening balance later on.

Need more info? Learn more about opening balances.

Step 2: Start a reconciliation

Once you have your monthly bank or credit card statement, you can start reconciling. If you're reconciling multiple months, do them one statement at a time, starting with your oldest statement:

1. If your accounts are connected to online banking, make sure you match and categorise all of your downloaded transactions.
2. Go to Settings and then Reconcile (Take me there). If you're reconciling for the very first time, select Get started.
3. From the Account ▼ dropdown, select the account you want to reconcile. Make sure it's the same one on your statement.
   

   Important: If you see a message about a previous reconciliation, select We can help you fix it. You need to fix this before you start.

4. Review the Beginning balance. Make sure the beginning balance in QuickBooks matches the one on your statement. Here's what to do if they don't match.
5. Enter the Ending balance and Ending date on your statement. Some banks call the ending balance a "new balance" or a "closing balance."
6. If you see it, review the Last statement ending date. This is the end date of your last reconciliation. Your current bank statement should start the day after.
7. When you're ready to start, select Start reconciling.

How to see a reconciliation report:

1. Select Settings ⚙ and then Reconcile. If you're reconciling for the very first time, select Get started to continue.
2. Select History by account.
3. Select the year you want to view the report for, then select View report in the Actions column.

Step 3: Compare your statement with QuickBooks

Now, simply compare the transactions on your statement with what's in QuickBooks. Go over them one-by-one. The tricky part is making sure you have the right dates and transactions in QuickBooks so you know everything matches.

Follow the section for the type of account you're reconciling:

Next steps

Review past reconciliation

Run a reconciliation report to review your work:

1. Go to Settings ⚙ and select Reconcile.
2. Select History by account.
3. Use the dropdown menus to select the account and date range. Or, print or export your reconciliation reports if you need to share them.

Edit completed reconciliations

You can make changes to past reconciliations, but be careful. Changes can unbalance your accounts and other reconciliations. It also affects the beginning balance of your next reconciliation.

Start by reviewing a previous reconciliation report. If you reconciled a transaction by mistake, here's how to unreconcile it. If you adjusted a reconciliation by mistake or need to start over, reach out to your accountant. These kinds of changes get complicated.