Manually Reconcile Your Bank Account

If your Clear Books balance doesn't match your actual bank account balance, you likely have missing or duplicate transactions. To fix this, you need to compare your actual bank statement against Clear Books month by month.

Before you begin: Open your actual bank statements in a separate window or have them printed out.

Phase 1: Find the "Error Month"

You cannot fix the current month if the error occurred months ago. First, locate exactly when the balances stopped matching.

• Click on Bank accounts on the Dashboard.
• Click on the balance of the account you need to reconcile. (The Clear Books balance and not the bank feed balance)
• Use the Choose a month drop-down menu to view previous months.
• Work backward month by month. Compare the Opening Balance in Clear Books against the Opening Balance on your actual bank statement.
• Stop when you find the first month where the Opening Balances match, but the Closing Balances do not. This is your "Error Month."

Phase 2: Reconcile the Error Month

Now that you have located the month where the discrepancy began, you will reset that month and re-match the transactions.

• Ensure you are viewing the "Error Month" you found in Phase 1.
• Reset the month: Check the box at the very top of the transaction list to select all items, then click the Unreconcile button. Note: This removes the "reconciled" status but does not delete your data.
• Match transactions: Look at your actual bank statement for that month. Go through the list in Clear Books one by one:
  • If a transaction appears on both your actual statement and Clear Books, tick the checkbox next to it.
  • Once you have ticked all valid transactions, click the Reconcile button. 
  • Successfully matched transactions will now show a blue tick in the Reconciled column.

Phase 3: Fix Duplicates or Missing Items

After reconciling, you will be left with the errors that caused the imbalance.

Duplicate Transactions: If you have unticked items left in Clear Books that do not appear on your bank statement, they are likely duplicates.

Click on the amount (in the Withdrawals or Deposits column) to open the transaction details.

Click Delete at the top of the menu.

Missing Transactions: If an item is on your bank statement but not in Clear Books, you must add it manually as a new transaction using the record income/expenses buttons on the Dashboard.

Phase 4: Move Forward

Once the "Error Month" is fully balanced (the closing balance in Clear Books matches your bank statement):

• Select the next month from the drop-down menu.
• The Opening Balance should now automatically match your actual statement.
• If the Closing Balance for this new month does not match, repeat Phase 2 & 3 for this month.
• Continue this process until you reach the current date.