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Month-end bank reconciliation checklist

A free, printable checklist for closing the month on your bank and credit card accounts. Steps follow Intuit's QuickBooks Online help; record-keeping follows the IRS. No email required.

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1. Before you start

  • One per bank and credit card account. If you are behind, work one statement at a time, oldest first. [Intuit (Canada)]
  • Match and categorize downloaded bank-feed transactions before reconciling. [Intuit]
  • QuickBooks Online accepts a 3-column (Date, Description, Amount) or 4-column (Date, Description, Credit, Debit) CSV, or a .qbo Web Connect file. [Intuit] [Intuit]

2. Reconcile

  • On a first reconciliation, a mismatch is often an incorrect opening balance; fix that before you start. [Intuit (Canada)] [Intuit]
  • The current statement should start the day after it. [Intuit]
  • Some banks call it the new or closing balance. [Intuit] [Intuit (Canada)]
  • Leave items that are in your books but not on the statement (for example uncleared checks) unticked. [Intuit (Canada)]
  • If it will not balance, check the ending balance and date you typed in first. [Intuit]

3. If it does not balance

  • A dropped row or a flipped sign shows up as a difference equal to that amount (or twice it).
  • On a first reconciliation only the opening balance should carry an R. [Intuit]
  • Opening balance + credits − debits should equal the printed closing balance. If your source CSV does not add up, fix it before importing.

4. After you finish

  • QuickBooks saves one; find it under Reconcile › History by account. [Intuit]
  • For most small businesses the business checking account is the main source for book entries, and account statements are a supporting document for expenses. [IRS]
  • Generally until the period of limitations for that return runs out: 3 years in the basic case, longer in some situations (for example 7 years for bad-debt or worthless-securities claims); employment tax records at least 4 years. [IRS]

StatementHaul's parser is generic: it reads standard text-based PDF statements by column position. It has been tested on 11 published sample statements and our own synthetic ones, not on most real banks' current statements. Scanned or image-only PDFs are not supported (check yours free). The balance check tells you on screen whether the rows add up to the printed closing balance; statements that don't parse or don't balance aren't counted.

Convert the PDF and check it to the cent

Drop a text-based statement PDF into StatementHaul. It's converted in your browser, never uploaded, and the opening + credits − debits = closing check runs on every statement. 5 statements a month are free with no signup (statements that don't balance aren't counted), then $9 one-time for 10 or $29 one-time for 100.

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Sources

  1. Intuit: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online (checked 2026-10-24)
  2. Intuit (Canada): Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online (checked 2026-10-24)
  3. Intuit: Fix issues the first time you reconcile an account (checked 2026-10-24)
  4. Intuit: Format CSV files to get bank transactions into QuickBooks (checked 2026-10-24)
  5. Intuit: Manually upload transactions into QuickBooks Online (checked 2026-10-24)
  6. IRS: What kind of records should I keep (checked 2026-10-24)
  7. IRS: How long should I keep records? (checked 2026-10-24)

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Not tax or accounting advice. StatementHaul is not affiliated with Intuit or the IRS.