MosoFin · bank reconciliation, in plain words

Does your bank match your books?

Your books say you have one amount of cash. The bank says another. This skill proves the two differ only for reasons you can name. Any amount that remains is an error worth finding.

The 20-second version

You give the skill a month and the bank statement. The skill reads every cash movement from your books and matches each one against the statement. It explains each difference (a cheque not yet cashed, a deposit not yet landed, a fee you didn't know about). It tells you whether the two sides meet to the cent. If they don't, it shows what's unexplained. It never changes anything itself.

Why the two numbers differ

Both can be right, and still disagree

Money moves on different days in the bank than in your books. You write a cheque today, and the bank sees it when someone cashes it. You bank the till on Friday, and the bank credits it on Monday1. The bank charges a fee and pays interest without telling your books. Reconciling means walking both numbers towards each other until they meet.

THE BANK'S SIDE Statement ending balance$12,480.00 + Deposit you banked, not yet credited+ 1,250.00 − Cheques you wrote, not yet cashed− 1,860.00 Adjusted bank balance$11,870.00 YOUR BOOKS' SIDE Cash balance in the books$11,880.50 − Bank fee the books don't have yet− 15.00 + Interest the books don't have yet+ 4.50 Adjusted book balance$11,870.00 They meet to the cent
Example figures. Accountants call the two ladders a bridge. Each step on it is a named reason. The skill will not accept a bridge that "nearly" balances. More on that below.
The mistake it catches

"Close enough" is where errors hide

Suppose the ladders end $25.00 apart. The tempting move is to post a $25 "miscellaneous" entry so the month closes. QuickBooks itself warns against forcing an adjustment like that and says it is usually better to resolve the difference2. The skill's rule is stricter: the bridge ties to the cent. A leftover amount is an unidentified item, not rounding.

What the skill does

Finds the $25 before anyone dismisses it
Adjusted bank balance$11,870.00
Adjusted book balance$11,895.00
Unexplained$25.00
Found: the same $25 supplier payment recorded twicefix it
It checks the books against themselves for duplicates (same amount, same payee, same date). It does this before it needs the statement.

The common shortcut

Post $25 to "miscellaneous" and continue
Adjusted bank balance$11,870.00
Adjusted book balance$11,895.00
"Misc. adjustment"−$25.00
Duplicate payment still in the bookshidden
The month closes. The duplicate stays. If that cheque is ever reissued, you pay twice.
Cheques you deposit2 daysMost cheques become available by the second business day after deposit, under US funds-availability rules1. Because of this, a deposit still missing after weeks is not timing.
Cheques you write90 daysIf a cheque stays uncashed for a quarter, the skill escalates it. It may be that the cheque is lost or that you are about to pay twice. That age is the skill's rule, not a published standard.
Then, by lawthe state'sMoney that nobody claims for a set period, often a year or more, becomes unclaimed property. You must give that property to the state3.

The IRS expects a business to reconcile its bank account every month. It also expects the business to keep the deposit slips, cancelled cheques and statements that support its return4. This skill produces that reconciliation. It does not replace the records.

One honest limit

It can read your books. It cannot read your bank.

With MosoFin connected, the skill reads one side of the bridge directly: the cash balance, every payment, deposit and transfer in your books. No accounting connection shows it the bank statement. So it always asks you for the statement. It says exactly what it did and did not conclude. Comparing the books to the books is not a reconciliation, and the skill will not call it one.

Without the statement, the skill still does useful work. It builds the whole book side, and it lists the cheques and deposits that are probably still outstanding. It finds duplicates and wrong-date entries. It gives you a template. The only remaining job is to match the template against the statement when the statement arrives.

How a run starts

It asks six questions before it looks at anything

  1. Use MosoFin as your data source, or upload the files yourself?
    MosoFin is the connection to your books (QuickBooks and the other platforms you link). With it, the skill reads the data from there. Without it, you upload the files. The checks are the same. You need no subscription.
  2. Which bank account, or accounts?
    It lists the cash accounts from your books by name. It never shows or stores a full account number.
  3. Which period?
    It never assumes a month.
  4. Can you give the bank statement as a PDF or CSV, or at least the ending balance and the lines?
    The statement is the one thing the skill cannot see. The skill asks early so you know what the result will and won't be.
  5. When did you last reconcile this account?
    Without that date, an item that looks new may be months old. It will tell you the bridge starts blind.
  6. How small a difference is worth chasing?
    Your threshold decides which items get an owner and a date. The bridge still has to tie exactly.

Then it repeats your answers: "Reconciling the Operating account (…4471) for September against the statement you uploaded. Go ahead?" It waits for your yes.

What you need

Connect once, or upload two files

Connected with MosoFin

Say yes, then add the statement

  • It reads the cash balance, payments, deposits, transfers and manual entries from your books. You do not export anything.
  • It finds your bank accounts by name from your chart of accounts
  • You still give the bank statement, every time
  • Helpful but optional: last month's reconciliation report
Uploading instead

Bring two files, three if you have them

  • Bank statement for the period (PDF or CSV)
  • Your books' cash activity for the same account and period: a general ledger export, plus the ending balance (a trial balance works)
  • Last reconciliation if you have one: the report, or just the date you last reconciled the account
What you get back

A bridge that balances, or the exact reason it doesn't

The two laddersIt shows the bank side and the book side. They meet to the cent, or they do not. It states the unexplained amount plainly and says whether you gave a statement.
Every match, and how the skill made itEach match uses one method. The methods are: same amount and date, same amount and similar wording, a cheque number or reference, or one bank line that covers several entries. The weaker the method, the more you should look.
What's unmatched, sortedThe skill sorts each unmatched item into fees, interest, a bounced payment, a card dispute, a loan debit, or "unknown". An "unknown" item gets an owner and a date to learn what it is.
Suggested entries, and a sign-off lineThe skill suggests the fee and interest entries your bookkeeper would post. It ties each entry to the statement line that proves it. Then it gives you a sign-off line for two named people to prepare and review. They can't be the same person.
What it never does
  • Never changes your books. It reads and suggests. It cannot mark an item cleared or sign a reconciliation.
  • Never calls it reconciled without the statement. The skill labels a book-side total a preparation, not a reconciliation.
  • Never guesses a number. It reports a missing item as missing and names the tool or file that would have covered it.
  • Never shows a full bank account number. It always masks the number.
  • Never reads anything before you say yes.
Words you'll hear

Six terms, in plain English

Deposit in transit
Money you banked that the bank hasn't credited yet. Cash and some cheques land the next business day. Most other cheques land by the second business day1.
Outstanding cheque
A payment you wrote that is still uncashed. Your books show it gone. The bank doesn't show it gone yet.
Bridge
The two ladders of named adjustments that bring the bank balance and the book balance to the same figure. If they don't meet, something remains unexplained.
Returned item / NSF
A payment that bounced. The bank returns a cheque you deposited because the writer's account couldn't cover it5. "NSF" means non-sufficient funds.
Chargeback
A customer disputes a card payment with their card issuer. The dispute reverses the payment, and your balance loses the amount, plus a dispute fee6.
Preparer and reviewer
Two different people: one does the reconciliation, another checks it. Separating who authorises, who handles the money and who records it is a basic control against fraud and error7. The skill writes neither name.
Sources

Where the facts on this page come from

The sources are regulators, the US standard for internal control, and the software's own documentation. Each one is as published when MosoFin checked it on 21 October 2026. Rules and timings change, so follow the link for today's wording. What the skill does comes from the skill's own file.

  1. FDIC: Expedited Funds Availability Act (Regulation CC)Cash, electronic payments and certain cheques are available the next business day. Other cheques are generally available by the second business day after deposit.
  2. Intuit: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks OnlineEnter the statement's ending balance and date. Tick matching items. Finish at a difference of $0.00. Talk to your accountant before you force an adjustment.
  3. NAUPA: What is unclaimed property?Uncashed cheques count. After a dormancy period with no owner contact, the holder must give the property to the state.
  4. IRS: Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping RecordsReconcile the business bank account monthly. Keep deposit slips, cancelled cheques and bank statements as supporting records.
  5. CFPB: Bulletin 2022-06, Returned Deposited Item feesA returned deposited item is a deposited cheque that a bank returns because the bank could not process it against the writer's account.
  6. Stripe: DisputesA dispute (chargeback) reverses the payment. Stripe debits the amount and a dispute fee from your balance.
  7. GAO: Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government (Green Book), GAO-25-107721, ¶10.21–10.23Segregate authority, custody and accounting. Where that is not practical, design alternative controls.

No outside authority backs the 90-day and 10-business-day escalation ages, or tying to the cent rather than to a materiality threshold. They are the skill's own quality rules. They are common bookkeeping practice, not a published standard.

About this skill

This page explains bank-reconciliation, from the MosoFin finance skills library, MosoFin/mosofin-finance-skills on GitHub. Read the skill on GitHub → Want the worked examples? Learn it step by step →