Loading

Bank Accounts & Reconciliation

Set up bank accounts and their connections, import CSV, OFX and CAMT.053 statements, and reconcile each account to its statement.

Setting Up a Bank Account

A bank account in ActiveManage has two halves: an account on the company's chart that the money posts to, and a bank connection that brings the bank's own record in and proves the two agree. Set both up before the first statement is imported or the first receipt is banked.

Where to find it

Admin Panel → Finance:

  • Ledger & Finance — the Chart of accounts tab: the bank's ledger account
  • Bank Feeds & Reconciliation — the Connections tab: the bank connection and its settings

Architect Panel → ERP - Finance:

  • Bank Reconciliation — opens the same console on its Reconcile tab
  • Feed Connections — the connections as a datastore

Step 1: the ledger account

  1. Open Ledger & Finance, choose the company and the Chart of accounts tab.
  2. Use an existing bank account (the UK template has 1000 Bank current account, 1010 Bank deposit account and 1020 Petty cash), or press New account….
  3. Make it an asset with Control account for set to Bank control, and Cash-flow category set to Cash and cash equivalents. Bank control is what the month-end close, the dashboard's Cash figure and the revaluation recognise as a bank account.

Step 2: the bank connection

  1. Open Bank Feeds & Reconciliation, choose Connections and press New bank / feed connection (or Add a bank account on a new install).
  2. Give it a Name such as Barclays Current Account, and choose the Company.
  3. Choose the Provider: Bank statement files (CSV / OFX / CAMT.053) to import statements, or a live feed provider if one is switched on.
  4. Choose the Bank account in the ledger from step 1.
  5. Enter the Currency the bank keeps the account in and the Bank account number / IBAN. A statement for any other account is refused.
  6. Press Create connection.

Step 3: optional drop folder

Statements can be uploaded by hand on the Import statement tab, or read from a folder on the server. On the connection's Settings:

  • Statement drop folder: where statement files wait. Read by Sync now and by the scheduled sync.
  • Archive folder: where a file is moved once read, so it is never read twice.
  • Files to read: a pattern such as *.csv, *.ofx or *.xml.
  • CSV layout: the saved layout CSV files from this folder are read with, picked by name.

Folders name places on the server, so only an architect can set or change them, and they must be inside the server's ERP drop-folder root, which the hosting administrator creates. The Connections list then says what each bank reads, for example reads *.csv; CSV layout Barclays business CSV export, or no drop folder - upload on Import.

Lines that arrive are coded and posted on the Queue tab; see Accounting & Bank Feeds.

Foreign-currency bank accounts

A bank line is always in its bank's currency. Posting a line in another currency to an account whose connection names a currency is refused. A euro receipt into a sterling account is banked as the sterling received, and the euro invoice is settled by allocation. A transfer between accounts in different currencies goes through a transfer clearing account: one journal for the money that left, one for the money that arrived, with the exchange difference cleared to realised exchange.

What goes wrong

  • "Choose the bank account in the ledger - nothing can post without one": every bank connection needs its ledger account.
  • "Account … is not a postable account for that company": choose an account on this company's chart, not a heading.
  • A bank account missing from the close check: its ledger account is not set to Bank control.

Worked example

A company opens a euro account. The controller adds 1030 Bank euro account with Bank control, then a connection called HSBC EUR with the Bank statement files provider, currency EUR, the new account and its IBAN. The architect sets the drop folder and the CSV layout the bank's export uses. With the Accounting and Bank Feed Sync task switched on, each new statement is read within the hour, and the first reconciliation starts from the statement's opening balance.

Recommendations

  • One connection per bank account, each with its own ledger account.
  • Always enter the IBAN; it stops the wrong statement being imported.
  • Agree the drop folder with the hosting administrator before asking an architect to set it.
  • Set Bank control on every bank account, or the close checks cannot see it.

Importing Bank Statements

Bank statements can be imported in the three formats banks actually hand out: CSV, OFX (and QFX), and CAMT.053, the ISO 20022 XML statement. Every line goes into the feed queue to be coded and posted, and the statement's opening and closing balances are kept for the reconciliation. Importing works entirely offline, and importing the same file or an overlapping one twice adds nothing twice.

Where to find it

Admin Panel → Finance:

  • Bank Feeds & Reconciliation — the Import statement tab: upload a statement, map a CSV layout, see what was imported

Architect Panel → ERP - Finance:

  • Feed Queue — the same console for architects

Importing a statement

  1. Open Import statement and choose the Bank account. Only bank connections with a ledger account are listed.
  2. Leave Format on Detect from the file, or choose CSV, OFX / QFX, or CAMT.053 (ISO 20022 XML).
  3. Choose the Statement file (CSV, OFX, QFX or XML, up to 8 MB) or drop it on the box. A larger file should be split by month.
  4. OFX and CAMT.053 files are read straight away. The result shows the format, the period, the number of lines, how many were new, and the opening and closing balances.
  5. Press Code the new lines to go to the queue, or Reconcile this statement to start its reconciliation.

Mapping a CSV the first time

Every bank lays its CSV out differently, so the first file from a bank is mapped by hand and saved as a layout.

  1. Read First rows of the file, as the bank wrote them. The column guesses are filled in from the headings.
  2. Say which column is the Date and the Description (both required), and either Amount (signed) or the Money in and Money out pair.
  3. Optionally map Reference, Payee / payer, Transaction ID (recognises a line seen before), Running balance (gives the closing balance), Value date and Currency.
  4. Check the reading options: Delimiter, Lines to skip, First row is headings, Decimal comma (1.234,56), Money out is positive and Date format (d day, m month, Y year: d/m/Y reads 31/01/2026). Press Re-read with these settings after changing them.
  5. Enter a name under Save as a layout (optional), for example Barclays business CSV, and press Import statement.

Next month's file from that bank is read with its saved layout straight away. To set a bank up from a sample before month end, use Save the layout only: it keeps the mapping without importing a line. Saving under an existing name updates that layout.

What each format gives

  • OFX / QFX: the bank's transaction ID for each line and the closing balance.
  • CAMT.053: opening and closing balances, and booked entries only; a pending entry is not on the statement yet.
  • CSV: whatever the layout maps. Without a running balance, the closing balance is typed when reconciling.

Re-importing and overlaps

The same file is recognised and adds nothing (Already imported.). A statement that repeats the last days of the previous one is handled line by line: each line is recognised by the bank's transaction ID, or by its date, amount, narrative and reference. A line deleted from the queue is restored, not duplicated.

The list of statements

Under the form, Statements imported into the account lists each file with its period, lines, new lines, opening and closing balances, status (imported or reconciled) and who imported it when.

What goes wrong

  • A statement refused for another account: the file's account number or IBAN does not match the connection's.
  • "Say which column holds the amount": map Amount (signed), or both Money in and Money out.
  • Amounts the wrong way round: tick or untick Money out is positive and re-read.
  • Rows skipped: the result says how many; usually a summary or blank row the layout should skip.

Worked example

A company's bank exports CSV with separate Paid in and Paid out columns, dates as 31/01/2026 and a balance column. The bookkeeper maps Paid in to Money in, Paid out to Money out, Balance to Running balance and Date format d/m/Y, saves the layout as Barclays business CSV and imports January: 212 lines, all new. February's file imports in one click with the saved layout, and the three days it repeats from January are recognised and not added again.

Recommendations

  • Prefer OFX or CAMT.053 where the bank offers them; they carry transaction IDs and balances.
  • Map Transaction ID and Running balance on a CSV whenever the bank provides them.
  • Import whole months, so each statement reconciles to a month end.
  • Use a drop folder for banks that deliver files automatically; see the article on setting up a bank account.

Reconciling a Bank Account

A bank reconciliation proves that a bank account in the ledger agrees with the bank's own statement. You match statement lines to ledger lines (automatically, by hand, or by creating the missing journal for a fee or interest), and complete the reconciliation when the difference is 0.00 and no statement line is left unexplained. The month-end close checks for a completed reconciliation on every bank account.

Where to find it

Admin Panel → Finance:

  • Bank Feeds & Reconciliation — the Reconcile tab; its badge counts bank lines not yet reconciled

Architect Panel → ERP - Finance:

  • Bank Reconciliation — opens the same console on the Reconcile tab

Starting a reconciliation

  1. Open Reconcile and choose the Bank account.
  2. Under Start a reconciliation, choose an imported Statement, which fills in its date and closing balance, or choose type the balance from a paper/PDF statement and enter the Statement date and Closing balance.
  3. On an account's first reconciliation, also enter the Opening balance from the statement. Reconciliation starts at the earliest statement line, and the ledger before that must agree with this opening balance.
  4. Press Start. The screen shows Statement lines not yet matched beside Ledger lines not yet matched.

Matching

  1. Press Auto-match. It pairs lines by amount, date and reference within the Date tolerance (days) and Amount tolerance you set, and matches only what it is confident of.
  2. For the rest, tick lines on both sides and press Match selected. One statement line can match several ledger lines and the other way round; the ticked lines must balance.
  3. Where matched lines differ by a small exchange, fee or rounding amount, choose an account under Post a difference to. Only a small difference is accepted (at most 1.00 or 5% of the statement amount, whichever is larger); anything larger is a missing or wrong entry.
  4. For a statement line with nothing in the ledger, such as a bank charge or interest, press Create journal on it, choose the account, VAT and analysis, and press Post journal. It posts and matches in one step.
  5. Lines posted from the feed queue are already matched to their statement line.

Matched in this reconciliation lists every match with how it was made: auto, by hand, posted here, or journal created. Undo takes a match apart.

The proof and completing

The proof runs from the first statement the account was reconciled with: the bank balance then, plus the ledger movement since, less unpresented ledger lines, plus statement lines not in the ledger, gives the Expected statement balance. The Difference is the statement closing balance less that.

  1. When the difference is 0.00 and no statement line is unmatched, the screen says the ledger agrees with the statement.
  2. Add any Notes and press Complete reconciliation. The matched ledger lines are marked reconciled and the statement is locked.
  3. Press Report for the printable reconciliation: the proof, unpresented ledger items, statement lines not in the ledger, and every match.

Unpresented ledger lines, such as a cheque not yet cleared, are normal and carry forward. Discard abandons an unfinished reconciliation; journals already posted stay posted. The latest completed reconciliation can be reopened with Reopen; its lines stop being marked reconciled until it is completed again. Reconciliation history lists every reconciliation of the account.

Foreign-currency accounts

An account kept in the company's own currency is proved on its own-currency amounts; one kept in another currency is proved in the statement's currency. Revaluation journals are left out of a foreign account's proof, because they change its value, not its cash. Only the company's primary book is read.

What goes wrong

  • Complete is greyed out: hover over it to see why. Usually a statement line is still unmatched.
  • The opening balance does not follow on from the previous closing: a statement is missing between them.
  • A difference that will not clear: a statement line was posted twice. The queue's Already in the books? warning is there to prevent it; match the line to the existing entry instead.

Worked example

For September the bookkeeper chooses the imported statement closing at 48,210.55. Auto-match pairs 196 of 204 lines. Five receipts paid two invoices each, so they match them by hand. Two lines are a bank charge and loan interest: Create journal posts them. The last line is 1,000.00 against a ledger receipt of 1,003.00; they match both and post the 3.00 difference to bank charges. The difference reads 0.00, they complete the reconciliation and print the report for the month-end file.

Recommendations

  • Reconcile every account monthly, to a statement dated at or just before the month end.
  • Run Auto-match first, then work the exceptions.
  • Never post over a large difference: find the missing entry.
  • Keep the printed report with each month's close.