Bank statement guide
Bank statement balance does not match: a row-by-row check
Updated
First decide what does not match: the statement’s own arithmetic or the balance in your books. For an extracted statement, start with the printed opening and closing figures, then trace the first running-balance difference.
This checks extracted statement arithmetic. It does not match transactions to your books. All worked figures below are synthetic.
Convert a bank statementReview workflow
Check the statement’s closing equation
Use one account, currency and period
Take opening and closing from the same statement. Confirm that your working rows cover its period. A difference from the books is a separate investigation; this equation checks only the statement figures and extracted rows.
Add receipts and subtract payments
Calculate expected closing = opening + credits − debits. For the fictional sample: 12,480.15 + 15,225.40 − 10,671.80 = 17,033.75. Difference = printed closing − expected closing.
Work through a missing fee
If the sample’s 25.00 monthly fee is omitted, debits become 10,646.80 and expected closing becomes 17,058.75. The printed closing is still 17,033.75, so the difference is −25.00. Look for the missing source row; do not insert a balancing adjustment without evidence.
Review workflow
Trace the first running-balance difference
Start in statement order
Compare each printed running balance with the preceding balance plus that row’s credit less its debit. Start at the earliest difference in the statement’s transaction sequence. Do not reorder same-date rows while diagnosing a printed balance chain.
Inspect the source around that row
Check the current amount, the previous balance and the debit/credit column. Look above and below for a wrapped description, a skipped row or a repeated page header. Check signs and decimal separators against the printed source.
Recognise a grouped check
If intermediate rows have no printed running balance, compare their combined amounts with the next printed balance. That group can add up without proving each amount individually. Review every row in the group.
Record the correction or missing evidence
Keep the untouched export. In a working copy, record the source-supported correction and recheck subsequent balances. If opening, closing or running balances are absent, note which arithmetic checks could not be completed.
Review workflow
Reproduce the arithmetic in a spreadsheet
Use the signed amount column
In the sample CSV, column E is amount: credits are positive and debits negative. Put the opening balance 12480.15 in K1 in a working copy. Put = $K$1 + SUM($E$2:E2) in a spare column on row 2 and fill down through row 10.
Compare expected and printed balances
Column F holds the sample’s printed balances. Compare each row with your calculated value. The final expected closing should be 17033.75. Keep your formula column outside any accounting import file.
Test a direction error
In a copy, change the final fee from −25.00 to +25.00. The signed movement changes by 50.00, so the final expected balance increases by 50.00. A difference twice an amount is a clue to a sign reversal, not proof of its cause.
Why a matching total is not enough
A missing 100.00 receipt and a missing 100.00 payment cancel in the closing equation. A balanced total therefore cannot establish completeness. Printed running balances can narrow the affected interval, but a group without intermediate balances still needs review.
Compare every source row, its date and description as well as the amount. Confirm the account and period. When you later prepare an import, inspect overlap with transactions already present in the accounting system.
Use the tool’s result as a review aid
The free statement tool reports the closing equation and printed running-balance checks on the extracted figures. Excel includes a Balance check sheet. Read any mismatch, grouped or unchecked status and compare it with the source before correcting a working copy.
For month-end handoff, retain the statement, original export, correction notes and any unresolved rows. A discrepancy in your accounting system requires reviewing those books separately; a statement check alone cannot resolve it.
Work through the fictional example
Example Bank and Example Logistics Co. are invented. Use these files to inspect the layout and arithmetic. Keep them out of your live books.
The free statement tool’s scope
- One PDF, JPG or PNG statement at a time, up to 5 pages and 10 MB. No account is needed. The daily allowance is 3 documents per browser, shared with the invoice tool and subject to shared service limits.
- The tool checks arithmetic on the extracted statement. It does not connect to your bank or match transactions to your books. You prepare and import the file yourself.
- Review the source and the exported rows before using them. A matching closing total alone does not prove that every transaction was read correctly.
Questions
Should I add an adjustment so the spreadsheet balances?
First find evidence in the source. An unexplained adjustment hides the difference. Keep the row unresolved until the source supports a correction.
What if no running balances are printed?
The closing equation can still be checked when opening and closing are available. It gives less row-level evidence. Review the transaction rows manually; the tool reports checks it could not complete.
Can two missing transactions leave the closing balance unchanged?
Yes. Equal amounts in opposite directions cancel in the closing equation. Compare all source rows even when the total agrees.