How to Reconcile an Account

When you receive an account statement (usually monthly) for a bank account, credit card account, or some other asset or liability account, you'll want to reconcile the account to make sure everything in MonkeyPod is correct and in sync with your financial institution.

If your organization chooses to turn on AI assistance, MonkeyPod can also read your statement and help with the matching.

How do I start a reconciliation?

1. Get started by visiting your Chart of Accounts: choose Finance from the main menu, then select Chart of Accounts.

2. From here, find the account you'd like to reconcile, and select the Reconcile icon.

3. On the next screen, select Start New Reconciliation. (Reconciliations that are in progress are also listed here, but for now we'll focus on creating a new one.)

4. When prompted, enter the Statement Date, and drag and drop or upload a PDF version of your bank statement here.  Best practices call for archiving a copy of the statement with the reconciliation to keep your documentation organized. If you have multiple accounts with the bank, make sure they're not consolidated in one PDF. You'll only want to upload the pages relevant to the account that you're reconciling.

5. When you're ready, select Get Started.

How do I reconcile line items manually (without AI assistance)?

After starting a reconciliation, as described above, go through each line item on your bank's account statement and select the matching transaction in your MonkeyPod list of Unreconciled Debits or Unreconciled Credits. If your books are thorough and up to date, all of the transactions should be there.

You'll know the reconciliation is complete when all line items have been matched and the closing balance in MonkeyPod matches the closing balance on your account statement. 

Add adjustments from your statement

If your statement shows interest earned or bank fees and charges (transactions that only appear on the account statement itself), you can add them right on the reconciliation page. In the Expense row or the Income row, enter the amount and date, select the appropriate account, and select the checkmark to save the entry.

Missing transactions?

If there are other transactions on your statement that aren't in your MonkeyPod yet, you'll need to add them before you can finish:

1. Select Finish Later to step away from the reconciliation and save your progress.
2. Record the missing transactions in your MonkeyPod.
3. Choose Finance > Other > Reconciliations to select your reconciliation. Then select Edit reconciliation from the action menu in the top left of the reconciliation page to pick up where you left off.

How do I reconcile line items with AI assistance?

With AI assistance enabled, MonkeyPod's AI reads the statement you upload, checks off the matches it's confident about, and suggests what to do with the rest. You'll still review everything and make the decisions to save any changes yourself.

When you start a reconciliation (see How do I start a reconciliation? above), turn on the setting to Allow MonkeyPod to help with your bookkeeping, upload a PDF version of your statement, and select Get Started.

Note that you can also upload the statement to the Bank Statement area of an existing reconciliation. Either way, providing the PDF account statement kicks off the review.

Once MonkeyPod has read your statement, a note at the top tells you how it went, for example: "We pre-selected 4 lines from your uploaded statement and left 11 unmatched."

Review unmatched items

Unmatched items are listed first under From your statement, not yet in your books. They'll show the results of the review for each item, along with an option to review the suggested match(es) or add a new transaction.

The possible outcomes from the review are:

• Possible match: a transaction was found in your books that might match. Select the match candidate icon at the end of the row to expand the view to compare the date and amount.

  

  Then select either the checkmark to confirm the match, or select the X to exclude that match from this item if it isn't the right one. (If you exclude a match, the line says "Match candidate rejected," and you can select Undo if you change your mind.) If none of the candidates fit, select Add as new to record it as a new transaction in your books (see Add statement lines that aren't in your books below).

• Suggested: there's no match in your books yet, but MonkeyPod has a good idea of what the transaction is. Select the + icon to review the full suggestion and modify or enter any necessary details.
• Nothing found: there's no match and no suggestion. Select the + icon to record it yourself.
• Already cleared: the matching transaction is already checked off for another line on this statement. This usually means the statement shows the same amount twice, so it's worth a quick look.

Add statement lines that aren't in your books

As mentioned above, selecting the + icon (or Add as new) opens a form to add that transaction. MonkeyPod fills in the form with its best guess. On the left, you'll see the line from your statement, MonkeyPod's suggestion, how confident it is (for example, "High confidence") and why ("Your bank described this as an office-supply purchase, and you have categorized this vendor the same way before.").

Change anything that needs correction, or select Clear Suggestions to start fresh. Fill in details for the transaction as needed, and select Save and Next to record the transaction and move on to the next line.  

Review pre-selected lines

When MonkeyPod is confident that a statement line matches a transaction already in your books, it checks that transaction off for you in the Unreconciled Debits or Unreconciled Credits list. These sections appear below the unmatched entries. Review these and uncheck anything that doesn't look right to you.

Check your statement's balances

MonkeyPod also reads the opening and closing balances printed on your statement and checks whether they add up with the transactions on it. If they do, MonkeyPod compares them with your reconciliation when you finalize and tells you whether they agree, or how far apart they are. If they don't add up, you'll see Statement doesn't add up next to the list.

How do I save a reconciliation in progress?

Need to step away from a partially completed reconciliation? Select Finish Later. Your progress saves automatically as you go, so nothing you've already checked off will be lost.

You can find all reconciliations (in progress or closed) by choosing Finance > Other > Reconciliations from the main menu.  Select the statement date to view the reconciliation, and then select Edit reconciliation to continue reconciling the account for that statement.

How do I finalize a reconciliation?

When everything matches up between your account statement and your reconciliation, it's time to finalize it. Select Finalize Reconciliation.

MonkeyPod asks you to confirm that the closing balance on your statement exactly matches the closing balance shown, since a reconciliation can't be edited once it's finalized. Select Finalize Reconciliation to finish.

If your organization uses AI assistance and MonkeyPod was able to read your statement's balances, this message also tells you whether the statement's balances agree with your reconciliation.

How do I export a reconciliation report?

You can export a reconciliation at any time as a spreadsheet or a PDF. When viewing a reconciliation (or the list of reconciliations), you'll see both options: a spreadsheet (an Excel file you can sort, filter, and compare with your bank statement or budgets) or a PDF (a summary report to save, print, or share with your board or auditor).

What's in the spreadsheet:

• Cleared tab: every transaction you've checked off, in date order, with deposits as positive amounts and payments as negative, plus a running Balance column from the opening balance to the closing balance.
• Outstanding tab: transactions up to the statement date that haven't cleared yet, with a total.

If you export a reconciliation that's still in progress, each tab's title says "(In Progress)," so there's no mixing it up with the final version.

If your organization uses AI assistance and MonkeyPod's reading of your statement adds up, the Cleared tab also ends with Statement Closing Balance and Difference (Statement − Cleared).

Can multiple people work on a reconciliation?

Only one person can edit a reconciliation at a time. If you're working on a reconciliation, it's automatically locked so no one else can edit it until you're done.

When you're ready to hand it off, select Unlock. Your progress is already saved, so the next person picks up right where you left off.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I modify a reconciliation after it's been finalized?

The short answer to this one is no. However, you can delete the finalized reconciliation and create a new one. To delete it, open the reconciliation and choose Delete reconciliation from the action menu in the top left.

Can I upload a digital copy of my account statement to store with the reconciliation?

Absolutely, and it's a good idea. Just drag and drop or upload a PDF version of the statement in the Bank Statement area of the reconciliation.

Can I upload my statement as a spreadsheet or CSV file?

If you aren't using AI assistance, you may still upload a spreadsheet or CSV file to be stored with the reconciliation. The Bank Statement area accepts only PDFs when AI assistance is enabled, since MonkeyPod's AI is trained to read a typical bank statement. Most banks offer a PDF download from online banking, usually wherever you find your monthly statements.

Can I set a statement line aside without matching or adding it?

Not right now. With AI assistance, each line from your statement needs to end up matched, excluded, or added as a new transaction. If you're not sure how to handle a line yet, select Finish Later and come back to it.

Can I attach a statement to a reconciliation after I've finished it?

Yes, you can! Just drag and drop or upload it to the Bank Statement area on the finished reconciliation page. Attaching a statement doesn't change the finalized reconciliation.