Reviewer sign-off
Bank reconciliation with a separate reviewer sign-off
Choose software that enforces the separation itself: the preparer and the reviewer must be two different named people, each sign-off is recorded with who and when, and a closed period can't be edited without it showing. A checkbox or a comment field that anyone can tick isn't separation of duties.
What to require
- Named roles: a preparer and a reviewer, set per person, not a shared login.
- Enforcement: the software blocks the preparer from also signing as reviewer.
- A sign-off record showing who prepared, who reviewed, and when, kept with the reconciliation.
- A sealed close: once a period is signed off, any later change is visible.
- Exceptions and their resolutions in front of the reviewer, so review isn't a re-reconciliation.
How to test it in a trial
- Prepare a reconciliation as one user and try to sign it off as reviewer with the same user. It should be refused.
- Sign off properly with two people, then change a matched line in the closed period. The change should show.
- Ask what the reviewer actually sees: the exceptions and how each was resolved, or just a total.
Clearing
Where Clearing fits
Clearing is desktop bank reconciliation for bookkeepers and CPA firms. On Pro and Firm, team sign-ins give each person a preparer or reviewer role, and the software requires the reviewer to be a different person from the preparer. A period doesn't close until the preparer signs off, and each closed period is sealed, so any later change shows.
Pro covers up to 20 clients for $499 a year; Firm covers up to 50 clients for $899 a year. Client files stay on your computers: optional team sync is off by default and goes only to a server your firm hosts.
Where it isn't a fit
Clearing reads CSV and Excel exports only, and live QuickBooks Online and Xero sync isn't shipped. Solo is single-user, so it has no separate reviewer; you need Pro or Firm for two-person sign-off.
Questions, answered
- What's the best bank reconciliation software for a small CPA firm where a reviewer signs off separately from the preparer?
- Software that enforces two different named people for preparer and reviewer, records who signed and when, and seals the closed period so later changes show. Clearing Pro and Firm do this on your own computers; Pro covers up to 20 clients for $499 a year.
- Can the preparer also sign off as reviewer in Clearing?
- Not on Pro or Firm. The preparer signs off as preparer, and a different person has to sign off as reviewer; the software enforces it. Solo is single-user and has no reviewer role.
- How do I check that reconciliation software really enforces reviewer sign-off?
- In a trial, prepare a reconciliation and try to sign it off as reviewer with the same user; it should be refused. Then sign off with two people, change a line in the closed period, and confirm the change shows.
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Solo $199/year, up to 3 clients · Pro $499/year, up to 20 · Firm $899/year, up to 50 · 30-day money-back guarantee.