Bank Reconciliation Services in San Diego County

What reconciliation proves

A reconciled account proves one thing: every transaction on the statement is in the books once, and nothing is in the books that did not happen. That sounds small. It is the base of every other report. If cash is wrong, profit is wrong too, because each missing or doubled line also landed in income or expenses.

Bank feeds do not reconcile anything. A feed copies lines from the bank. It can drop a day, send the same line twice or disconnect without warning. Reconciliation checks the books against the statement, which is the record the bank stands behind.

How each account is reconciled

Start from the last good balance The bookkeeper confirms the opening balance matches the prior statement's ending balance.
Match each line Every deposit, withdrawal, check and fee on the statement is matched to one entry in the books.
Find the differences Lines in the books but not on the statement are reviewed. Real timing items stay. Errors are fixed.
Tie the ending balance The books equal the statement, with any outstanding checks or deposits listed by name and date.
Save the report The reconciliation report is kept for each month, so your CPA can see the support.

Accounts that need reconciling

Account	What it is tied to
Checking and savings	Monthly bank statements
Business credit cards	Card statements, by closing date
Loans and lines of credit	Lender statements showing principal balance
Merchant and processor clearing accounts	Processor payout reports from Square, Stripe or Toast
Payroll liabilities	Payroll provider tax and benefit reports
Sales tax payable	Sales tax returns filed with the CDTFA

Differences we find most often

Checks written years ago that still show as uncleared
Transfers between your own accounts recorded on one side only
Card payments booked as an expense instead of a payment to the card
Deposits entered by hand and also pulled in by the feed
Bank fees and interest never recorded
A past reconciliation forced to balance with an adjustment line

Why it matters for San Diego businesses

A brewery with taproom sales, distributor payments and keg deposits moving through one account needs each stream to land correctly. A tour operator in the Harbor area with seasonal swings needs to know real cash before the slow months. A Sorrento Valley startup reporting runway to investors needs cash that matches the bank to the dollar, since that is the first number an investor checks.

In each case, a monthly reconciliation turns the cash figure from a guess into a fact.

One-time or monthly

If your accounts have not been reconciled for months, the first job is a catch-up or cleanup that brings each one current. See catch-up bookkeeping and bookkeeping cleanup. After that, reconciliation is part of every monthly close.

Where we work

We keep books for businesses across the City of San Diego, North County, the South Bay and East County.

Questions

Why does QuickBooks or Xero say reconciled when the balance is wrong?

Someone may have forced the reconciliation with an adjustment, or reconciled to the feed rather than the statement. The fix is to undo that and reconcile again.

How often does each account need reconciling?

Every month, for every account. Monthly is short enough that errors are easy to trace.

What do you need from me?

Statements for each account and access to your accounting file (QuickBooks, Xero and more). Questions about unknown lines come in one list.

Can you reconcile accounts I closed?

Yes, if you have the statements. Closed accounts should still tie out through their final statement.

Do you reconcile payment processor accounts?

Yes. Processor payouts are matched to the processor's reports so sales, fees and refunds all show.

Bank reconciliation for San Diego County businesses