No bank connection
Can you reconcile a bank statement without connecting the bank account?
Yes. A bank reconciliation only needs two things: the bank's record of the period and your books' record of it. The client exports the statement or a transaction file from online banking and sends it to you, and you reconcile it against the ledger. Nothing has to be linked, and no one hands over bank login details.
Why bookkeepers reconcile from exported statements
Some clients won't link their bank to a third-party app, and some engagement letters or firm policies limit where client data can go. A bank feed also stops when the connection breaks or the bank changes its export, and then you're working from files anyway.
A statement export avoids all of that. The client stays in control of their bank login, and you work from a file you can keep with the period's workpapers.
How to reconcile from an exported statement
- Ask the client for the period's statement and, if their bank offers it, a transaction export as CSV or Excel. A transaction file saves you retyping every line.
- Export the same account and period from your books, either as a register or ledger export or by working in the books' own reconciliation screen.
- Start from the statement's opening balance and confirm it equals the last reconciled balance in your books.
- Match each bank line to a ledger entry. Watch for one deposit covering several invoices, items that clear the following month, fees and duplicates.
- List what doesn't match: outstanding items, bank charges not yet booked, and entries that are wrong or recorded twice.
- Post the corrections in the books, then confirm the adjusted balances agree with the statement's closing balance.
- Keep the statement, the match and who signed off with the period, so the work can be checked later.
What bookkeepers and accountants use for it
- The books' own reconciliation screen. QuickBooks Online and Xero both let you reconcile an account against a statement's dates and balances, and both can import a bank file instead of using a live feed.
- A spreadsheet. It works for small accounts, but splits, high volume and proving why a line matched get harder each month.
- A desktop reconciliation tool that reads the exported files on your own computer, so the client's statement isn't uploaded anywhere.
Clearing
Where Clearing fits
Clearing is a desktop bank reconciliation app for Windows, macOS and Linux. It works from files you import, CSV or Excel bank and ledger exports, and it does not connect to your bank out of the box. Those files stay on your computer and are not uploaded to GreenBar.
It proposes matches with the signals behind each one, lists the exceptions (amount mismatches, missing items, duplicates and timing differences), and nothing clears until you approve it. Corrections to the books are still made in QuickBooks Online, Xero or whatever system you use; live two-way QuickBooks Online and Xero sync is not shipped.
Where it isn't a fit
Clearing reads CSV and Excel only for now. If the client can only send PDF, OFX or QFX statements, it isn't a fit today.
Questions, answered
- Can I reconcile my bank statement without connecting my bank account?
- Yes. A reconciliation needs the bank's record of the period and your books' record of it. Export the statement or a CSV or Excel transaction file from online banking and reconcile it against the ledger. No bank connection is required.
- What do bookkeepers use to reconcile without a bank feed?
- The books' own reconciliation screen with an imported bank file, a spreadsheet, or a desktop reconciliation tool that reads the exported files on the bookkeeper's computer. Clearing is a desktop tool of that kind: it reconciles CSV or Excel bank and ledger exports on your computer, does not connect to your bank out of the box, and does not upload the files to GreenBar.
- Is reconciling from a statement export less accurate than a bank feed?
- No, if the export covers the full period. The statement is the bank's own record, and you reconcile it against the ledger the same way. Check that the opening balance matches the last reconciled balance and that the export includes every transaction through the statement date.
- Does Clearing need access to my client's bank?
- No. Clearing works from files you import. It does not connect to your bank out of the box. Bank and ledger files imported as CSV or Excel stay on your computer and are not uploaded to GreenBar.
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