Bank Reconciliation

Match Your Books to the Bank

Bank reconciliation is the process of matching the transactions in your Alignmint books to the transactions on your bank statement. It's one of the most important internal controls for any organization—it catches errors, prevents fraud, and gives you confidence that your financial statements are accurate.

Reconciliation Process

1. Go to Tools → Reconciliation
2. Select the bank account to reconcile
3. Enter the statement ending date and ending balance from your bank statement
4. Check off each transaction in Alignmint that matches a transaction on the statement
5. If there are unmatched items, investigate (common causes: outstanding checks, pending deposits, bank fees not yet recorded)
6. When the difference is zero, click "Complete Reconciliation"

Auto-Matching with Plaid

If you've connected your bank account through Plaid, transactions are automatically imported into Alignmint. The system will suggest matches between imported transactions and your recorded entries, making reconciliation much faster. You just review and confirm.

Common Reconciliation Items

• Outstanding Checks: Checks you've written but the recipient hasn't cashed yet
• Deposits in Transit: Deposits you've recorded but haven't cleared the bank
• Bank Fees: Monthly fees or transaction charges from your bank
• Interest Earned: Interest payments credited by the bank
• Errors: Typos, duplicate entries, or incorrect amounts

Best Practices

• Reconcile every bank account at least once a month
• Don't let reconciliation fall behind—catching errors early is much easier
• Keep a record of completed reconciliations for your auditor

Related

After reconciling, run the Bank Reconciliation Reports to see a summary of reconciled vs. unreconciled transactions across all accounts.