Bank Reconciliation

Cross-check your transactions against bank statements.

Overview

Bank Reconciliation is the process of cross-checking the transactions recorded in Beeswax against your actual bank statements. It confirms that what you have recorded matches what the bank has processed.

Regular reconciliation is one of the most important accounting practices you can maintain.

Why Reconcile

There are seven key reasons to reconcile your bank accounts regularly:

  1. Ensures correctness — confirms that all transactions have been recorded accurately
  2. Verifies deposits — checks that all expected deposits have cleared
  3. Confirms matching — validates that your records match the bank's records
  4. Prevents double payments — catches duplicate payments before they become a problem
  5. Avoids fraud — surfaces unauthorised transactions early
  6. Highlights unnecessary expenses — makes recurring costs visible so you can review them
  7. Identifies savings — helps you spot areas where you could reduce spending

How Beeswax Handles Reconciliation

Beeswax makes reconciliation straightforward with several built-in features:

  • Visual alerts — if a previously reconciled transaction is altered, Beeswax flags it so you can investigate
  • Visual bank statements — a clear layout that makes it easy to compare your records against the bank
  • Red and green approach — reconciled transactions appear in green, unreconciled in red, giving you an instant visual status of where things stand

How to Reconcile

Create a New Statement

  1. Navigate to Money > Bank Reconciliation
  2. Click New Statement
  3. Enter the following details:
Field Description
Opening Balance The starting balance from your bank statement
Closing Balance The ending balance from your bank statement
Start Date The first date of the statement period
End Date The last date of the statement period
  1. Beeswax displays all transactions within that date range
  2. Tick off each transaction that matches your bank statement
  3. When the difference between reconciled transactions and the closing balance reaches zero, the statement is balanced

Note: If there is a discrepancy, review your transactions carefully. Common causes include missing payments, duplicate entries, or transactions recorded with the wrong amount.