Reconcile an account against a statement

Say you keep Everyday Checking as a manual account and get a statement each month. Reconciling means checking that Pennyweight's balance on the statement's closing date matches the bank's. Your AI does the arithmetic, and when the figures differ it finds the gap. Set-up for the opening balance itself is in set or correct an opening balance.

How to do it

1. Take two things from the statement: the closing balance and the closing date. Tell your AI both, and name the account.
2. Ask your AI whether Pennyweight agrees. Pennyweight keeps each account's balance as of today, so your AI works back from today's balance using the transactions dated after the closing date.
3. If the figures differ, ask your AI for the size of the gap and for transactions in that period that could explain it. Ask it not to change anything yet. See ask about any transaction.
4. Fix what it finds. A transaction recorded twice goes through find and fix duplicates. A missing one can be added from the statement.
5. If every transaction matches the statement and the balance is still off by the same amount, the opening balance is wrong. Ask your AI to correct it. See balance looks wrong after an import.

What you'll see

Your AI gives Pennyweight's balance for the account at the end of the statement period and says whether it matches the statement. When it doesn't, it gives the difference and which side is higher, then lists transactions that could account for it. For an opening-balance fix, it sets the new opening and reports the account's recalculated balance as of today.

You can also check by eye in the web app. Click the account in the sidebar to open its transactions, keep the date range on All time with no other filter, and a Balance column shows the account's balance after each row. Read it at the last transaction on or before the statement's closing date.

Good to know

• Today's balance won't match an old statement. Your account list shows the balance after every transaction, including ones after the statement date. Compare like with like: give your AI the closing date.
• Transfers count toward a balance. Totals your AI runs leave out linked transfers and rows categorized as transfers unless it asks for them. A balance needs them, so if your AI reports a gap equal to a transfer, ask it to include transfers and check again. See transfers aren't spending.
• The opening balance has no date. It sits before the account's oldest transaction. Don't set it to the statement's closing balance. The right figure is what the account held before its first transaction in Pennyweight.
• Other currencies stay apart. An account's balance counts only rows in the account's own currency. See multiple currencies.
• Linked bank accounts work differently. Their balance is the one the bank reports. When you set an opening balance on a linked account, your AI gets back the gap between the bank's balance and what the transactions add up to, and a gap of zero means they match.
• Make it a habit. To reconcile each month right after you import the statement, see a monthly routine for statement-only accounts.