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Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit•5139• Updated about 16 minutes ago

Learn how to reconcile your accounts so they always match your bank and credit card statements.

Just like balancing your checkbook, you need to review your accounts in QuickBooks to make sure they match your bank and credit card statements. This process is called reconciling.

When you have your account statement in hand, you'll compare each transaction with the ones entered into QuickBooks. If everything matches, you know your accounts are balanced and accurate. We recommend reconciling your checking, savings, and credit card accounts every month. Here's how to get started.

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Prerequisite

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

Tip: You don't need to connect a bank or credit card to QuickBooks Online to reconcile. However, it automatically downloads transactions and enters the starting balance for you.

Make sure you match and categorize all of your downloaded transactions before you continue.

Once you have your monthly account statement, you can start reconciling. 

Start a reconciliation

If you're reconciling multiple months, do them one statement at a time, starting with your oldest statement:

  1. Go to Transactions, then select Reconcile (Take me there).
  2. 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 past reconciliation, you need to fix this before you start. Select We can help you fix it and follow the instructions.
  4. Make sure the Beginning balance in QuickBooks matches the one on your statement. If they don’t, you’ll need to fix any errors. 
  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 your account isn't connected to online banking, you can add service charges or interest earned during this period.
  7. If you see it, review the Last statement ending date. This is the end date of your last reconciliation. Your current account statement should start the day after.
  8. When you're ready to start, select Start reconciling.
  9. One by one, compare the transactions on your statement with what's in QuickBooks.
    1. If the listed transaction in QuickBooks matches your statement, check it off. This marks it as reconciled.
    2. If you're sure you've found a match but something small is wrong, like the recipient, select the transaction in QuickBooks, then select Edit. Make edits so the details match your statement.
    3. If a listed transaction in QuickBooks isn't present on your statement, leave it unchecked.
  10. When you reach the end, the difference between your statement and QuickBooks should be $0.00. If it is, select Finish now.

Note: If you have connected a bank account to QuickBooks Online, your transaction info comes directly from your bank. In some cases, your accounts may already be balanced.

If the difference amount isn't '0', here are a few things you can do:

  • Make sure the dates entered for each transaction in QuickBooks match the dates for each transaction in your account statement. If there are any missing QuickBooks transactions:
  • Select + New.
  • Add the transactions you need.

If there are more QuickBooks transactions, select Cleared date to show all the transactions that have been manually added into QuickBooks. This is where you will normally find discrepancies in your reconciliation. You can even use the audit log to help you when you edit or delete transactions.

If the total number of transactions match, make sure that the amount of each QuickBooks transaction matches the amount of each transaction in your account statement.

Next steps

Each time you finish reconciling, QuickBooks Online automatically generates a reconciliation report for that session. You can review the report in your settings. 

  1. Go to Transactions, then select Reconcile (Take me there).
  2. Select History by account.
  3. Find a report in the list and select View report. You can filter by date range or account.

If you want to print a reconciliation report to share elsewhere, from the View report ▼ dropdown, select Print report. However, these reports can’t be directly exported.

Related links

QuickBooks LedgerQuickBooks Online AdvancedQuickBooks Online EssentialsQuickBooks Online PlusQuickBooks Online Simple Start

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