Prove that a bank import contains the full statement period

Record the account, currency, date range and transaction status included in the export. Compare that scope with the period already present in the accounting system. A file can be internally complete while overlapping an earlier import or excluding the first days of the statement. Keep the bank's selection settings with the file.

Confirm whether pending items, balance rows, fees and reversals are included. Remove headers and summary rows from transaction counts without deleting actual activity. Intuit's manual-upload guidance emphasizes account selection and checking for existing transactions before importing. Establish those boundaries before deciding that the file is ready to post.

Count the transaction rows and total money in and money out separately. Calculate the net movement and compare it with the change between the relevant opening and closing bank balances, allowing for the bank's stated balance definitions. Keep a worksheet showing the calculation and any exclusions.

A net match alone can conceal one missing receipt and one missing payment of the same amount. Gross totals and row counts provide additional checks, although they also do not prove every line is correct. Use the controls together, then inspect transactions near the first and last dates and any unusual amounts.

For an illustrative period with 90 credits and 140 debits, a file containing 229 transaction rows needs explanation even if its net total matches. A duplicate and an omission can also offset the count. The control result directs investigation; it should not be treated as a substitute for the reconciliation.

Compare the bank statement and imported record by date or smaller batches until the balances diverge. Then examine the transactions in that interval. Xero's balance-comparison guidance uses this approach and identifies missing, duplicate, deleted or manually created statement lines as possible causes.

Check overlapping downloads, changed file filters and transactions added after an earlier export. A later bank adjustment may require an update rather than a duplicate import of the whole period. Preserve the original file and document which records are new or corrected.

If the file is too large for the target system, split it into clearly defined ranges and keep a manifest of all parts. Verify that the ranges neither overlap nor leave gaps. Each part should retain its own count and totals, with a combined check against the complete statement period.

Save the source file, target account, mapping, accepted count, rejected count and import date. Record excluded rows with reasons. If the system supplies an import identifier or acknowledgment, keep it with the reconciliation evidence. Another reviewer should be able to establish which file created the transactions.

After import, compare the resulting population with the accepted totals and inspect any rejected lines. Do not assume that a success message means every row was included. Resolve partial imports before sending another file for the same dates. Keep any retry file limited to the verified rejected population and link it to the original acceptance record.

Only then proceed with matching and classification. At the final bank reconciliation, revisit the control record if a difference remains. This separates a missing-data problem from an accounting-classification problem and avoids spending hours categorizing a period that was incomplete from the start.