Bank Reconciliation Agent

Automated bank-to-GL reconciliation with discrepancy detection, adjusting entry suggestions, and audit-ready output.

What It Does

• Match bank statement transactions to GL entries by date, amount, and reference
• Flag unmatched items on either side (bank not in GL, GL not in bank)
• Identify common issues: duplicates, reversed transactions, timing differences, bank errors
• Suggest adjusting journal entries for unrecorded bank items (NSF fees, interest, service charges)
• Produce a formatted reconciliation worksheet (balance reconciliation + item detail)
• Export results as structured data (CSV/JSON) or formatted text report

Trigger Phrases

• "reconcile the bank statement"
• "match transactions for [account] in [month]"
• "find the difference between bank and GL"
• "I have a $X discrepancy in my checking account"
• "run month-end bank rec for [entity]"
• "upload bank CSV and reconcile"

Required Inputs

Bank Statement Data (any of):

• CSV export from bank portal
• OFX/QFX file
• Pasted tabular data (date, description, amount)
• PDF statement (agent will extract tabular data)

GL / Book Data (any of):

• QBO transaction export (CSV)
• Journal entry list from accounting software
• Excel/Sheets ledger extract

Account Info:

• Bank account name and number (last 4 digits)
• Entity/company name
• Reconciliation period (month/year)
• Beginning balance (statement) and ending balance (statement)
• Book balance as of period end

Reconciliation Workflow

Step 1 — Parse & Normalize

Parse bank statement → normalize to: {date, description, amount, type}
Parse GL data → normalize to: {date, memo, debit, credit, account}
Convert debits/credits to signed amounts for matching

Step 2 — Match Transactions

Matching priority (in order):

1. Exact match: date + amount + description keyword overlap
2. Fuzzy date (±3 days) + exact amount (common for ACH timing)
3. Amount-only match within date window (flag for manual review)
4. Partial matches flagged as "possible match — confirm"

Match confidence levels:

• ✅ Confirmed: exact date + amount
• 🟡 Probable: fuzzy date or partial description
• 🔴 Unmatched: no candidate found

Step 3 — Reconciliation Calculation

Bank Statement Ending Balance:           $XX,XXX.XX
+ Deposits in Transit (GL not on stmt):  +$X,XXX.XX
- Outstanding Checks (GL not on stmt):   -$X,XXX.XX
= Adjusted Bank Balance:                 $XX,XXX.XX

Book Balance per GL:                     $XX,XXX.XX
+ Add: Bank items not in books:          +$XXX.XX
  (interest income, credits)
- Less: Bank items not in books:         -$XXX.XX
  (NSF fees, service charges, errors)
= Adjusted Book Balance:                 $XX,XXX.XX

Difference: $0.00 ← Target

Step 4 — Discrepancy Analysis

If difference ≠ $0, the agent performs:

• Transposition check: look for amounts where digits are swapped (e.g., $1,872 vs $1,782)
• Duplicate detection: same amount hitting both sides twice
• Missing transaction scan: amounts that sum to the difference
• Rounding error check: differences of $0.01–$0.10 often rounding
• Date boundary check: items crossing month-end

Step 5 — Output

Reconciliation Worksheet:

BANK RECONCILIATION
Entity: [Company Name]
Account: [Bank Name] – Checking (...1234)
Period: [Month Year]
Prepared by: [Agent] | Date: [Today]

BANK BALANCE RECONCILIATION
  Statement Ending Balance:      $50,000.00
  Add: Deposits in Transit
    03/28 ACH Deposit – Client A   $5,200.00
  Less: Outstanding Checks
    Ck #1042 – Vendor B           ($1,800.00)
    Ck #1047 – Vendor C             ($450.00)
  Adjusted Bank Balance:         $52,950.00

BOOK BALANCE RECONCILIATION
  GL Ending Balance:             $52,875.00
  Add: Bank Interest Income          $75.00
  Less: NSF Fee – Check #891           $0.00
  Adjusted Book Balance:         $52,950.00

DIFFERENCE:                           $0.00 ✅

UNMATCHED ITEMS (require action):
[See detail tab]

Adjusting Journal Entry Templates

For each unrecorded bank item, the agent generates:

Bank Service Charge:

DR  Bank Charges Expense   $XX.XX
  CR  Checking Account         $XX.XX
Memo: Bank service charge per [Month] statement

Interest Income:

DR  Checking Account       $XX.XX
  CR  Interest Income           $XX.XX
Memo: Bank interest per [Month] statement

NSF Check Returned:

DR  Accounts Receivable    $XX.XX
  CR  Checking Account         $XX.XX
Memo: NSF – [Customer] check #[XXX] returned [date]

Multi-Account Reconciliation

For entities with multiple bank accounts:

Reconcile [Checking – BoA ...1234] ✅
Reconcile [Savings – BoA ...5678] ✅
Reconcile [Payroll – Chase ...9012] 🔴 $234 discrepancy
  → Likely: ADP fee not recorded (check Jan statement)

Run as batch:

"Reconcile all three accounts for February. Bank CSVs are attached, QBO export is in the second file."

QBO Integration

When GL data comes from QuickBooks Online:

1. Export from QBO: Reports → Custom Reports → Transaction Detail → filter by account + date range → export CSV
2. Feed to agent: "Here's the QBO export and the bank statement for March. Reconcile them."
3. Agent maps: QBO columns (Date, Transaction Type, Num, Name, Memo, Amount) → standard format
4. Output: Reconciliation worksheet + list of entries to record in QBO

Common Discrepancy Patterns

Negative Boundaries (When NOT to Use)

• Real-time bank feed matching → Use QBO bank rules (automated), not this skill
• Payroll account reconciliation with ADP/Gusto → Requires payroll register data; use payroll-specific reconciliation
• Investment/brokerage accounts → Use crypto-tax-agent or a dedicated securities reconciliation tool
• Intercompany eliminations → This is GL-to-bank only; intercompany requires consolidation logic
• Tax return preparation → Reconciliation ≠ tax basis; use tax-specific workflows
• Real-time dispute resolution with banks → This is an analysis tool, not a bank portal interface
• Accounts payable/receivable sub-ledger recon → This skill handles bank-to-GL only; AP/AR aging has its own workflow

Output Formats

Text Report (default): Formatted reconciliation worksheet + adjusting entry list CSV Export: date, description, amount, match_status, match_confidence, action_required JSON: Full structured result for pipeline consumption Excel Template: Pre-formatted reconciliation workbook with formulas (describe desired layout)

Example Prompts

"Here's March bank statement [CSV] and QBO export. Reconcile and list any adjusting entries needed."

"I have a $1,247 difference in my Chase checking for February. Here are both files — find it."

"Run bank rec for all three accounts. Files attached. Flag anything over $500 that's unmatched."

"Bank statement shows $89,340 ending balance. Our books show $87,100. Statement and GL export attached."

"Reconcile this and give me the adjusting JEs I need to post in QBO."

Error Handling

• Mismatched date formats → Agent normalizes MM/DD/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, DD-Mon-YY automatically
• Negative/positive sign conventions → Detects and normalizes (debits as positive vs negative)
• Missing beginning balance → Warns; can still match transactions but reconciliation formula incomplete
• Duplicate rows in input → Flags and deduplicates before matching
• Partial period data → Warns if bank/GL date ranges don't align

Audit Trail

Every reconciliation produces:

• Preparer: Sam Ledger / PrecisionLedger AI
• Timestamp: ISO 8601
• Input checksums (row counts, file names)
• Match statistics (% matched, # unmatched each side)
• Adjusting entries count
• Final difference (must be $0.00 for clean close)