Corporate card reconciliation: receipts, credits, and payments

Confirm the opening balance, charges, credits, fees, payments, and closing balance for each card account. Match the statement period to the accounting cutoff and explain uncleared or timing items.

Separate employee cards within a shared account if that helps receipt collection, while keeping the total tied to the actual issuer statement. A collection of employee expense reports alone may omit fees or credits.

Retain receipt, business purpose, employee, project or department where relevant, and approval. Ask a specific question for unfamiliar activity instead of assigning a plausible category from the merchant name.

Use secure document handling for receipts that contain personal information. Do not expose full card credentials in the working file.

A payment to the card issuer settles the liability created by card charges. Recording both the charge and issuer payment as expense duplicates the cost.

For illustration, $4,000 of business charges paid through a $4,000 bank transfer represent one set of expenses and a liability settlement, not $8,000 of expense. Fees or credits need their own entries.

Match a vendor refund to the original charge and confirm its accounting treatment. A disputed charge or provisional issuer credit may need follow-up until the outcome is final.

Check whether an employee also requested reimbursement for a company-card purchase. A duplicate reimbursement creates a separate recovery and approval issue even if the card reconciliation balances.

List missing receipts, unapproved charges, unresolved disputes, and unusual credits with amounts and owners. Ask the reviewer which items affect releasing the period.

Use recurring exceptions to improve cardholder instructions and approval rules. Retain the reconciled statement, receipt trail, adjustments, and review. The company should be able to explain its card balance and expenses independently of who holds the physical cards.