Start a Reconciliation

Open the reconciliation workflow for a bank or credit card account, review the statement dates and balances that SPRK locks or derives, and start the clearing session correctly.

When to use this

Use this guide when you are ready to begin reconciling one bank or credit card account against a statement.

For an enabled balance-sheet account that is not a bank register, use Reconcile general ledger accounts.

Before you start

• An active company is selected.
• The bank or credit card account you want to reconcile already exists.
• You are ready to confirm that the selected account matches the statement you are holding, even if SPRK opens a saved default account automatically.
• The transactions you expect to clear have already been confirmed in SPRK.
• For a first-time reconciliation, you know whether the account opened at zero or needs a ledger entry for its opening balance.

Steps

1. Open Reconcile.
2. In the account picker near the page header, choose the bank or credit card account you want to reconcile.
   • If SPRK opens a saved default account automatically, confirm that it matches the statement before you continue.
3. Select Start.
4. Review the Start reconciliation window:
   • If SPRK finds a prior reconciliation for that account, the Statement opening date and Statement opening balance fields are locked from the last posted reconciliation before the selected statement ending date.
   • If SPRK does not find a prior reconciliation, choose Start at $0 — New account or Use a Ledger Entry to establish the opening balance under How should this account start?.

1. For Start at $0 — New account, enter Account opened on; Starting balance stays at $0. For the ledger-entry method, choose Opening balance journal entry or use Create Opening Balance to make the balanced entry first.
2. If this is not the first reconciliation, enter or confirm the Statement ending date.
   • Use the calendar control or type the date directly in the order set by your Preferences date format.
3. If this is not the first reconciliation, enter the Statement ending balance:
   • Use a positive number for bank accounts.
   • Use a negative number for credit accounts.
4. Select the modal action to continue:
   • Start begins a normal reconciliation session when a prior reconciliation exists.
   • The first-time action establishes the chosen opening anchor and continues the reconciliation workflow.

How SPRK Determines The Beginning Balance

SPRK uses reconciliation history to set the beginning balance for a normal reconciliation. It does not recalculate the beginning balance from every general-ledger line each time you open the reconciliation page.

• For the first reconciliation, the source is either a nonposting $0 opening anchor or the selected Opening balance journal entry.
• For later reconciliations, the source is the last posted reconciliation for the same account before the selected statement ending date.
• The Statement opening date and Statement opening balance are locked from that prior posted reconciliation record. They are carried forward as reconciliation history, not edited directly in the start window.
• Selecting an existing opening-balance journal entry for the first anchor does not post it a second time.
• If a journal entry that affects an earlier period is later edited or reversed, financial reports can change according to that ledger correction, while posted reconciliation history continues to show the values recorded for that statement period.
• Use Resolve common reconciliation exceptions when the opening balance looks wrong.

What happens next

The reconciliation workflow is initialized with statement dates and balances for the selected account.

• The page loads confirmed transactions for the selected account and preselects those that fall inside the statement window.
• Eligible unreconciled confirmed rows can still appear for manual selection even when their transaction date is after the statement ending date. Use statement evidence to decide whether a later-dated row belongs on the current statement.
• Both first-reconciliation choices establish reconciliation history for later periods.

If something looks wrong

Practice and examples

Use the practice file and screenshots to review selected statement rows, a zero difference, and posting the reconciliation.

• Practice file: reconciliation-statement-items.csv

Selected statement rows can tie to the entered ending balance. Posting the reconciliation creates history for later report review.

Related

• Choose bank and credit card accounts
• Finish a reconciliation
• Reconcile general ledger accounts
• Match and unmatch transactions
• View and print bank reconciliation reports
• Resolve common reconciliation exceptions
• Create a starting balance
• Use the Preferences tab