How to Reconcile Your Bank Account

Bank reconciliation is the process of confirming that every transaction in your bank account has a matching entry in Vendra's accounting system. When they match, you know your books are accurate. When they do not, you have found something that needs investigating — a payment not recorded, a bank charge not entered, or a duplicate transaction.

Vendra makes this process fast by automatically matching statement lines to existing journal entries as soon as you import your statement. Most transactions match on the first pass. You only need to manually handle the exceptions.

Before you start

Download your bank statement from your online banking portal before opening Vendra. Most banks allow you to export transactions in CSV, OFX, or QIF format. If your bank only provides a PDF statement, you will need to enter the transactions manually. For regular reconciliation, OFX format gives the best matching results because it includes reference numbers and payee details alongside amounts.

Step-by-step: reconciling your bank account

1. 1
   Open your bank account in VendraGo to Accounting in the left sidebar, then Bank and Cash. Click on the name of the bank account you want to reconcile. This opens the account's journal with its current transaction history.
2. 2
   Import your bank statementClick Import Statement at the top of the page. Upload your CSV, OFX, or QIF file from your computer. Vendra reads the file and imports each transaction line from the statement period.
3. 3
   Review automatic matchesAfter import, Vendra automatically compares each statement line against open journal entries — payments, invoices, and receipts — and suggests matches. Green lines are already matched and ready to confirm. Orange lines have a suggested match that needs your review before accepting.
4. 4
   Accept or adjust matched transactionsWork through the orange lines. For each one, review the suggested match. If the amount, date, and reference all align, click to confirm the match. If the suggestion is wrong, use the search field to find the correct invoice or payment manually and link it instead.
5. 5
   Handle unmatched statement linesSome lines will have no suggested match at all — these are transactions in the bank that do not correspond to any existing entry in Vendra. Search for the related invoice or payment and link it. If it genuinely does not exist in the system yet, create it from within the reconciliation screen.
6. 6
   Record bank charges and interestBank charges, loan repayment deductions, and interest credits appear on the bank statement but are rarely pre-entered in Vendra. For these lines, click to create a journal entry directly from the statement line — select the appropriate expense or income account and post the entry without leaving the reconciliation screen.
7. 7
   Validate the reconciliationOnce every statement line has been either matched to an existing entry or explained with a new journal entry, click Validate. Vendra marks all matched items as reconciled and closes the statement period.
8. 8
   Verify the closing balance and run the reportAfter validation, confirm that Vendra's reconciled bank balance matches the ending balance shown on your bank statement. If they match, reconciliation is complete. Run the Bank Reconciliation report from Accounting → Reporting for your records.

Understanding the match colours

Green lines are already matched — Vendra found an exact or near-exact match and is confident. You can accept these in bulk. Orange lines have a suggested match that differs in some detail — perhaps the date is slightly off or the amount has a minor rounding difference. Review each orange line before accepting.

What if the closing balance still does not match?

If after reconciling all lines the Vendra balance does not equal the statement balance, look for: a missing transaction not on the statement (a payment recorded in Vendra but not yet cleared by the bank); a duplicate entry (the same payment entered twice); or a transaction in the wrong currency or amount. The General Ledger report under Accounting → Reporting is useful for tracing the discrepancy line by line.