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Key takeaways
- Prove opening balance, complete movement coverage, and closing balance for every relevant account.
- Give each movement an explained result; do not hide unmatched rows in a suspense bucket.
- Supplier payments, customer receipts, transfers, payouts, duplicates, and reversals need different evidence.
- DeinHans prepares deterministic, reviewable matches and visible exceptions rather than relying on amount similarity alone.
- The owner supplies missing facts; the accountant reviews classification and approves the prepared work.
What must agree at month end
A reconciled account answers four questions:
- Does the imported period begin at the statement’s opening balance?
- Are all statement movements present once and only once?
- Does opening balance plus movements equal the statement’s closing balance?
- Does every relevant movement have an evidence-backed explanation or an explicit open status?
The first three prove bank coverage. The fourth connects bank truth to bookkeeping truth. A correct balance can coexist with a duplicated import and a missing import if the two errors offset each other.
What evidence arrives
For each account, keep the original statement or authoritative bank source, imported transaction rows, invoices and receipts, customer sales evidence, payout reports, and explanations for own-account transfers or exceptional movements. When several bank or payment accounts exist, reconcile each one separately before treating the month as complete.
Synthetic example: two accounts, six different outcomes
“Klarwerk Services GmbH” has a current account and a card account. The following April rows are synthetic:
| Bank movement | Evidence found | Correct workflow result |
|---|---|---|
| −€1,190 supplier payment | Supplier invoice for €1,190 | Match invoice and payment; do not create expense again on payment date |
| +€2,400 customer receipt | Sales invoice already recorded | Settle the open receivable; do not create revenue again |
| −€1,000 from current account / +€1,000 to card account | Both sides of internal transfer | Link as own-account transfer, not expense and income |
| +€8,200 platform settlement | Payout report reconstructed into sales, fees, refund, chargeback, and reserve movements | Match net settlement while preserving the component bridge |
| −€89 duplicate-looking software debit, then +€89 reversal | Invoice, original debit, reversal | Preserve both bank rows and connect the reversal; do not delete history |
| −€147 card payment | No receipt; owner identifies business trip but cannot supply invoice yet | Keep explicit evidence task and accountant review point |
These rows should not all end in a generic “matched” state. Their results are different: invoice settlement, receivable settlement, internal transfer, payout settlement, reversed payment, and unresolved evidence.
How the DeinHans workflow prepares reconciliation
1. Establish bank coverage
DeinHans uses the bank source to preserve amount, date, currency, account, and description. The period must cover the complete statement range for each account. Gaps or duplicate imports cannot be solved by document matching.
2. Look for evidence-based candidates
The strongest match is not merely the closest amount. It combines compatible amount and direction with relevant dates, counterparty or reference information, and existing document or open-item evidence. A candidate remains reviewable; it is not an accountant’s approval.
3. Separate exception types
Own-account transfers need both sides. Payouts need their reconstructed report. Reversals and genuine duplicate payments must be distinguished. One payment covering several invoices needs an explicit allocation whose sum equals the bank row. A transaction without evidence stays open.
4. Route missing facts
Questions should ask the owner for facts: “What was this €147 payment for, and is an invoice available?” They should not ask the owner to choose a formal account or tax code.
5. Prove each account before close
The month-close preparation should show statement coverage, opening and closing balances, explained movements, and the remaining exceptions per bank account. One reconciled account does not make another account complete.
The shipped core supports bank import, matching preparation, exception handling, and close readiness. Exact support for complex allocations or correction actions can vary by case and visible interface, so the article does not promise universal automatic splitting.
If you run the business
Supply every business bank and payment account, original statements where needed, and the documents or business explanations behind unexplained rows. Confirm own-account transfers and private or mixed movements factually. Do not approve a transaction by choosing the category that makes the dashboard green.
If you prepare or review the books
Check period coverage, duplicate imports, match evidence, open-item effects, payout bridges, transfers, reversals, and unresolved payments. Decide professional classification and whether a missing source blocks handoff. Preserve the source row and any correction trail.
Reconciliation proof
Use this checklist for every account:
- Account identity and currency are correct.
- Opening balance agrees to the authoritative source.
- The imported movement population covers the complete period.
- No transaction is missing or imported twice.
- Opening balance plus movements equals closing balance.
- Every material movement has a specific result or visible exception.
- Transfers have both sides; payouts have their component bridge.
- Combined payments have an exact allocation.
- Reversals and duplicates preserve original history.
- Remaining evidence gaps have an owner, next action, and review consequence.
What reaches the accountant should be more than a matching percentage. It should be a complete bank population with evidence-backed results, explicit exceptions, and enough context to review without reconstructing the account from scratch.
Sources
Sources were checked on 21 July 2026. This article provides orientation and is not tax, legal, or accounting advice.
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