Reconcile Before the End of the Period

Question: I produce my month-end statements and then do my reconciliations whenever the statements are ready. Is that the right order?

Answer: Reconciliations are an important step in keeping your data up to date. Reconciliations are a safeguard that your numbers are correct, or at least entered in your system. A reconciliation shows transactions that might have been omitted and need to be recorded, or which ones might have been entered twice. When you have completed your reconciliations, you will know that all cash inflows and outflows have been accounted for, even if you don’t know whether or not they are in the correct account.

For this reason, it is best to do your reconciliations before you consider your period to be ended, be it month, quarter or year, and before you produce and provide statements for others or yourself to use.

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