Reconciliation

What is Bank Reconciliation?

What reconciliation is, in everyday terms Reconciliation is the act of comparing two records of the same thing and checking they agree. Your wallet provider (Blink, your bank, Coinbase, etc.) keeps its own record of your transactions. BitBooks keeps a separate record. Reconciliation is when you sit down with both and verify that what BitBooks says happened actually happened, in the right amount, on the right date. Think of it like checking your credit card receipts against the statement at the end of the month. You go line by line. Each charge: yes that was me at Starbucks, yes that was me at the grocery store, yes that was the gym. Anything that doesn't match (a charge you don't recognize, a receipt that's missing) gets investigated. That's reconciliation. Why it matters Reconciliation does three things: 1. Catches errors. A duplicate import, a typo, a missed transaction, a fraudulent charge. Reconciliation finds them before they accumulate. 2. Verifies the numbers you trust. Your reports are only as good as the data underneath. Reconciliation is how you know the data is right. 3. Marks transactions as real. Once you've matched a transaction in BitBooks to its counterpart at your wallet provider, you mark it Reconciled. Your books and your wallet provider now formally agree. For tax filings, audits, and anything else that requires reliable financial records, reconciliation is what makes those records reliable. The three states a transaction can be in Every transaction in BitBooks has a Cleared status with three possible values: | Status | What it means | |---|---| | Not Cleared | Recorded in BitBooks. Hasn't been confirmed as real by checking against the provider. | | Cleared | Confirmed as real (the transaction has settled at the wallet provider). | | Reconciled | Cleared and you've matched it during a formal reconciliation session. | Most transactions start as Not Cleared, become Cleared automatically once the wallet syncs (or when you manually mark them), and become Reconciled when you do a reconciliation. Reconciled is the final state. Once a transaction is Reconciled, it usually shouldn't change, ever. When to reconcile Most businesses reconcile each wallet monthly. The standard cadence: - First few days of the new month, your wallet provider produces last month's statement - You open BitBooks and reconcile your wallet against that statement - Once reconciled, you can safely close the month (see Period Close) - Repeat next month Why monthly? Because: - It's a natural break point (matches calendar reporting) - Errors are easier to investigate when fresh - Tax filings are calendar-based - Most accounting workflows assume month-by-month rhythm Some businesses reconcile more frequently (weekly or even daily for high-volume Lightning operations). Some go quarterly. Pick what works, and stick with it. What to compare against For Bitcoin wallets: - Blink, Strike, Coinbase, etc.: the wallet provider's transaction history. Most providers let you export this as CSV. - Hardware wallets, self-custodial wallets: the wallet's own log, or the on-chain history if you can identify your addresses. - Cold storage: typically reconciled less frequently (quarterly or annually) since transactions are rare. For fiat accounts: - Bank checking/savings: the monthly statement - Credit card: the monthly statement - PayPal/Stripe/etc.: the platform's transaction export The reconciliation process in BitBooks Open the wallet you want to reconcile (Wallets → click wallet name). Look for the Statement or Reconcile action. Wallet detail page with Statement/Reconcile action highlighted in the toolbar You'll see: - All transactions in BitBooks for this wallet during the period you pick - The wallet's beginning balance (what was in it at the start) - The expected ending balance (start + net activity) Now compare this against the provider's actual ending balance. Three possibilities: A) The two ending balances match You're done. Tick all the transactions, mark them Reconciled, save. The wallet is now reconciled through that date. B) BitBooks balance is higher than the provider's Possible causes: - A transaction in BitBooks that didn't actually happen (e.g., you typed it in by hand and got the amount wrong) - A duplicate (the auto-sync imported a transaction that you'd already entered manually) - A reversal you entered but the provider doesn't show Find and fix. C) BitBooks balance is lower than the provider's Possible causes: - A transaction at the provider that didn't import (sync didn't catch it) - An incorrect amount on a BitBooks entry (entered too small) - An opening balance set wrong Find and fix. Doing the comparison The slower-but-thorough method: 1. Sort transactions in both views by date 2. Go top to bottom, ticking each pair (BitBooks transaction matches provider transaction) 3. Anything left unticked at the end is the discrepancy The faster method (when most transactions auto-imported): 1. Filter to "Not Cleared" transactions only 2. Skim through, tick the ones you can see in the statement 3. Investigate the few that don't match For a Bitcoin wallet that auto-syncs, you'll usually find that 95% of transactions match without any work, and you spend most of your time on the few that don't. What "Reconciled" gets you Once a transaction is marked Reconciled: - It can't be deleted (preserves the audit trail) - It can't be edited in ways that would invalidate the reconciliation (amount, date, account, wallet are locked) - The wallet's reconciled balance updates so you can see where you reconciled to If you absolutely need to change a Reconciled transaction (e.g., you reconciled wrong), you'll need to first un-reconcile it. This breaks the reconciliation chain after that point and means you'll need to re-do the reconciliation from there forward. Don't do this casually. Common questions "What if a transaction is Pending at my provider but I already see it in BitBooks?" Mark it as Cleared (not Reconciled) for now. When the provider settles it, the status at the provider matches BitBooks, and you can include it in the next month's reconciliation. "My provider has a transaction BitBooks doesn't. What do I do?" Run a manual sync first (Wallets → wallet → Sync Now). If it still doesn't appear, the auto-sync may have a bug or skipped a record. You can either: - Wait and try a sync again later (most issues are transient) - Add the transaction manually in BitBooks if you need to close out the month If transactions keep going missing, contact support. Sync should be reliable. "Can I reconcile partway through a month?" Yes. Reconciliation isn't tied to month boundaries. It's any date range. But matching to a calendar month is conventional because it lines up with statements and reports. "What about wallets I created manually (no auto-sync)?" Same process. You compare BitBooks transactions against whatever record the provider gives you (or your own log of what happened, for cash). The mechanics are identical, just no auto-sync to lean on. A real example Maria runs a Bitcoin coffee shop. On February 3rd, she sits down to reconcile her January Blink wallet. - January 1 starting balance: 0.05 BTC (matches Blink) - January transactions in BitBooks: 124 entries totaling 1.85 BTC in, 0.43 BTC out - January 31 ending balance per BitBooks: 1.47 BTC - January 31 ending balance per Blink: 1.45 BTC - Difference: 0.02 BTC She investigates. She finds: - One transaction for 0.02 BTC that her staff member typed in by hand on January 18 - Looking at Blink, that exact transaction is also there (auto-imported) So this is a duplicate. She deletes the manual entry. New BitBooks balance: 1.45 BTC. Matches Blink. She ticks all 124 transactions, marks them Reconciled, saves. January is now reconciled. She can close the period. The whole process took 25 minutes. Without reconciliation, she'd have a 0.02 BTC error in her books that would propagate forward forever and never get caught. Where to go next - Cleared, Uncleared, and Reconciled Transactions for the deeper status explanation - Reconciling a Bitcoin Wallet for the step-by-step Bitcoin specifics - Reconciling a Fiat Bank Account for traditional bank account specifics - Finding and Fixing Discrepancies for troubleshooting - Period Close for what to do once your wallets are reconciled

Cleared, Uncleared, and Reconciled Transactions

What "Cleared status" is Every transaction in BitBooks has two statuses: - Status (Complete, Incomplete, Pending, Failed, Reversed): the lifecycle of the transaction itself - Cleared status (Not Cleared, Cleared, Reconciled): how confirmed and verified it is at the wallet/bank level This article is about cleared status. It tracks how "real" a transaction is from the perspective of the wallet provider. The three values Not cleared The transaction is recorded in BitBooks, but hasn't been confirmed as settled at the wallet provider yet. Common cases: - An on-chain Bitcoin transaction that's still waiting for confirmations - A check you wrote that hasn't been cashed yet - A pending wire that hasn't arrived - A Lightning payment that's in-flight (rare, usually settles in seconds) The transaction shows up in your books and counts toward balances. It just hasn't been "cleared" by the wallet provider yet. Cleared Confirmed by the wallet provider as settled. The money has actually arrived or actually left. Common cases: - An on-chain Bitcoin transaction with sufficient confirmations - A check that has been cashed - A wire that has settled - An exchange trade that has executed Cleared transactions are real. Your books and the wallet's records agree on this transaction's existence. Reconciled Cleared AND you've gone through a formal reconciliation pass and matched this transaction against the wallet's statement. This is the gold standard. A reconciled transaction has been: - Verified to exist - Verified for amount accuracy - Verified for date accuracy - Matched against the wallet provider's record - Locked from casual editing Most transactions become Reconciled at month-end during the reconciliation workflow. How status changes happen From Not Cleared to Cleared For auto-synced wallets, this happens automatically when the wallet provider confirms the transaction. The auto-sync picks up the new state and updates the cleared status. For manually-tracked wallets, you change it yourself. Open the transaction, change Cleared status from Not Cleared to Cleared, save. From Cleared to Reconciled Through the reconciliation workflow. Open the wallet's reconcile screen, tick transactions to mark them as reconciled, save. See Reconciling a Bitcoin Wallet and Reconciling a Fiat Bank Account. Going backwards Reconciled to Cleared, or Cleared to Not Cleared, requires explicit action. Don't do this casually; if you un-reconcile transactions, you're breaking the chain of verification and will need to re-reconcile. If you reconciled a transaction by mistake (and it shouldn't have been), un-reconcile is allowed but flagged in the audit log. What reports do with each status - Reports default to including all Posted transactions regardless of cleared status. Your P&L includes Not Cleared, Cleared, and Reconciled. - Some specialized views (Reconciliation reports, etc.) filter by cleared status. The Bank Reconciliation report, for example, shows only the cleared/reconciled balance. - The Insights page shows total balances (which include Not Cleared). This matches what your wallet provider's "balance" usually shows, including pending stuff. How status interacts with editing | Status | Can edit amount? | Can edit date? | Can edit accounts? | |---|---|---|---| | Not cleared | If Draft, yes. If Posted, no. | Same | Same | | Cleared | Same as Posted (mostly locked) | Same | Same | | Reconciled | No, even if you'd otherwise have edit rights | No | No | Reconciled transactions are extra-locked. The reconciliation chain is meaningful; changing a reconciled entry would break the wallet's verified balance at that point. If you absolutely need to change a reconciled entry, you must un-reconcile first (which warns you and logs it), then make the change, then re-reconcile. Confirmation status for Bitcoin Bitcoin transactions have a granular confirmation count beyond just "cleared": - 0 confirmations: broadcast but not yet in a block. Risky; could theoretically be replaced. - 1 confirmation: in the next block. Generally accepted for small amounts. - 2-5 confirmations: progressively more secure - 6+ confirmations: considered final by most exchanges and standards BitBooks treats anything with at least 1 confirmation as Cleared by default. You can adjust at the org level if you want a stricter standard (require 6+ confirmations before Cleared). For Lightning, settlement is binary: either the payment settled (Cleared) or it's still in-flight (Not Cleared). There's no confirmation count. A worked example A coffee customer pays you 5,000 sats via Lightning. The payment settles in 2 seconds. - BitBooks records the transaction - Auto-sync picks it up almost immediately - It lands as a Posted transaction with cleared status Cleared A different customer pays you 0.05 BTC on-chain. - The transaction is broadcast but pending - Auto-sync sees it and creates a Draft with status Pending, cleared status Not Cleared - 30 minutes later, after 3 confirmations, auto-sync updates it to Cleared At month-end, you reconcile both: - You match the 5,000-sat Lightning sale against your Blink statement: ticked, Reconciled - You match the 0.05 BTC on-chain receive against the blockchain: ticked, Reconciled Now both are part of your verified history. Common questions "How long does it take a wallet to mark a transaction Cleared?" Lightning: seconds. On-chain: ~10 minutes per confirmation, default to 1-3 confirmations for most BitBooks setups. Bank wires: hours to a day. Checks: until cashed. "What if my wallet provider never marks a transaction Cleared?" If a transaction has been pending for an unreasonable time (an on-chain transaction stuck for days, a wire that didn't show up), investigate at the provider. If the provider says it failed, mark the transaction as Failed (or reverse). Don't just leave it as Not Cleared forever; that pollutes your reconciliation. "Can I have a reconciled transaction with cleared status Not Cleared?" No. Reconciled implies Cleared. The reconciliation workflow won't let you mark Not Cleared transactions as Reconciled. Where to go next - What is Bank Reconciliation? for the broader concept - Reconciling a Bitcoin Wallet for the Bitcoin reconciliation walkthrough - Reconciling a Fiat Bank Account for the bank version - Finding and Fixing Discrepancies for troubleshooting reconciliation issues

Reconciling a Bitcoin Wallet

What you're doing You sit down at month-end. You have a Bitcoin wallet (Blink, an exchange wallet, a hardware wallet). You want to confirm that your books match the wallet's actual record, and mark every transaction as verified. That's reconciliation. For a connected wallet, most of the work is already done by auto-sync. Reconciliation just verifies and locks in. For a manual wallet, you do more matching by hand. Before you start Have these ready: - Your books up to date. All Drafts for this wallet should be reviewed and posted (or deleted if not real). - Your wallet provider's transaction history for the period. Open the wallet provider in another tab, go to the transactions/history page. - Your wallet provider's ending balance for the period. The "balance as of [last day of period]" number. - A quiet 20-30 minutes for a typical month with 50-200 transactions. How to start a reconciliation in BitBooks 1. Click Wallets in the sidebar 2. Click the wallet you want to reconcile 3. Click Reconcile (or Statement depending on the UI version) 4. Pick the period (e.g., last calendar month) 5. The reconciliation screen opens Wallet detail page showing the Reconcile button highlighted in the toolbar The screen shows: - Beginning balance (what was in the wallet at the start of the period) - All transactions in the period for this wallet - Calculated ending balance (start + net activity) You'll compare the calculated ending balance against the actual ending balance at the wallet provider. The matching workflow For each transaction, you check against the provider's record. Three cases: Match found, exact The transaction in BitBooks corresponds to a transaction at the provider. Same date, same amount, same direction. Tick it as reconciled. Match found, close but not exact Date is right, amount is slightly off (e.g., a fee miscount). Investigate the difference. Usually one of two things: - BitBooks recorded the gross, the provider recorded the net (or vice versa) - A fee that BitBooks didn't capture as a separate line Reconcile only after the difference is explained. If it's a real difference (like a fee you forgot to record), add the missing entry first. No match The transaction in BitBooks doesn't exist at the provider, or vice versa. Don't reconcile. Investigate the discrepancy. If a transaction exists in BitBooks but not at the provider: probably a duplicate, a wrong-wallet entry, or a manual entry that was already auto-synced. Delete or reverse the BitBooks entry. If a transaction exists at the provider but not in BitBooks: probably a sync gap. Trigger a sync, or enter the missing transaction manually. Reconciliation screen showing transactions with checkboxes, some ticked as reconciled, some not Auto-syncs make this easier For a wallet connected via Bitcoin Connections: 1. Make sure auto-sync is current (last synced today) 2. Most transactions will be Cleared already 3. Reconciliation is mostly: tick all the Cleared transactions for the period, save The auto-sync did the heavy lifting. Reconciliation is the verification step. For a wallet you track manually, expect more work. You'll be ticking each one against the provider's history. Verifying the ending balance The most important check at the end: BitBooks ending balance: 1.45 BTC Provider ending balance: 1.45 BTC Difference: 0.00 BTC ✓ If they match: reconcile and move on. If they don't match, investigate before reconciling. The difference is your puzzle. Common sources: - A transaction in BitBooks that shouldn't be there (duplicate, manual entry that's also in auto-sync) - A transaction missing from BitBooks (sync gap) - A wrong amount on a BitBooks entry (typo, fee miscount) - An incorrect opening balance (was wrong from the start of the period) See Finding and Fixing Discrepancies for the full diagnostic flow. Saving the reconciliation After matching everything: 1. Confirm the calculated ending balance matches the provider's 2. Tick all the transactions you've matched 3. Click Save Reconciliation (or similar) Each ticked transaction's cleared status changes to Reconciled. The wallet records the reconciliation event with the date, the user, and the period covered. The reconciled period and balance are recorded so future reconciliations start from this verified point. Common scenarios Reconciling Blink for the past month Most efficient case. Blink auto-syncs to BitBooks. By month-end, all Lightning sales and any on-chain moves are already in BitBooks as Cleared. Reconciliation is: 1. Open the wallet, click Reconcile 2. Confirm the ending balance matches 3. Tick all, save Should take 5-10 minutes for a typical Blink wallet. Reconciling cold storage (manual) You don't auto-sync cold storage. Reconciliation here means: 1. Open the wallet in BitBooks 2. Open your hardware wallet (or the on-chain explorer with your xpub) in another tab 3. Compare transaction by transaction 4. Verify the ending balance matches 5. Tick and save For cold storage that's rarely touched, this might be a quick check (one transaction or none for the month). Otherwise it's careful matching. Reconciling a high-volume Lightning operation If you have 1,000+ Lightning transactions in a month: spot-check rather than tick every one. 1. Verify the ending balance matches 2. Spot-check 10-20 random transactions 3. Reconcile the period as a block ("All transactions in this period are Reconciled") This is acceptable for high-volume tracking where individual matching is impractical. After reconciling The reconciled transactions are now extra-locked (can't be edited even by Admin). The wallet shows a "reconciled through [date]" indicator. If anyone tries to edit a reconciled transaction, BitBooks blocks it and explains why. If you discover later that a reconciliation was wrong, you can un-reconcile. It's logged in the audit trail. Then fix and re-reconcile. Common questions "Do I have to reconcile every month?" No, but most accountants strongly recommend it. The longer you wait, the harder the diff is to investigate. "What if I missed reconciling for several months?" Reconcile each month in order, oldest first. Some discrepancies are easier to spot in the month they happened. "Can I reconcile two wallets at once?" Each wallet is reconciled separately. The "all wallets" reconciliation pattern doesn't exist; each wallet has its own statement and its own match. Where to go next - What is Bank Reconciliation? for the broader concept - Reconciling a Fiat Bank Account for fiat-side reconciliation - Cleared, Uncleared, and Reconciled Transactions for status details - Finding and Fixing Discrepancies for troubleshooting - Period Close for what to do once reconciled

Reconciling a Fiat Bank Account

What this is Same as reconciling a Bitcoin wallet, applied to a traditional bank account or credit card. You compare your bank's monthly statement against the transactions in BitBooks, match them up, and lock in. For the broader concept, see What is Bank Reconciliation?. Before you start Have these ready: - Your bank statement for the period (PDF or downloadable CSV/OFX from the bank's website) - The bank's ending balance for the statement date - All BitBooks transactions for this account up to date (no Drafts pending review) For a credit card: same idea, but instead of bank statement use the card's monthly statement. Open the reconciliation screen 1. Click Wallets in the sidebar 2. Click the bank account or credit card wallet 3. Click Reconcile (or Statement) 4. Pick the statement period (e.g., last calendar month) The screen shows BitBooks' beginning balance, every transaction in the period, and the calculated ending balance. The matching workflow Same as Bitcoin wallets. For each transaction: - Find it on the bank statement. Same date, same amount, same direction. - Match. Tick it as reconciled. - Investigate if it doesn't match. Bank reconciliation screen showing a list of transactions with checkboxes and a running difference indicator at the bottom The bank statement and BitBooks should agree on: - The number of transactions in the period - The total of debits (money out) - The total of credits (money in) - The ending balance If all four agree, you're aligned. Common bank-specific issues A few things that show up specifically with bank accounts: Bank fees not in BitBooks Most banks deduct service fees, ATM fees, foreign transaction fees, etc. directly from your account. If you didn't enter them in BitBooks, your books will be off by the fee amount. Add them as expense transactions: wallet = the bank account, direction = money out, category = "Bank Fees" (under General & Administrative), amount = the fee. Many businesses add these in bulk after seeing the bank statement, since the statement is when you first see them. Interest credited Banks credit interest periodically. Same idea as fees, but money in. Category = "Interest Income" (under Other Income). Returned items / NSF If a customer's check bounced or a deposit was reversed, the bank shows it as a debit. Record this in BitBooks too: a money-out transaction that mirrors the original (or use the Reverse function on the original deposit if appropriate). Pending vs posted at the bank Most banks have a "pending" tier (transactions in flight). Pending transactions might appear on the bank's online view but not on the official monthly statement. Reconcile against the official statement, not the live online view. In BitBooks: pending transactions you've already entered should be marked Cleared status = Not Cleared until they show as posted at the bank. Credit cards specifically A credit card "wallet" tracks money you owe, not money you have. The balance is a liability, not an asset. Reconciliation works the same way: - Match each charge against the credit card statement - Confirm the ending balance matches - Reconcile The credit card balance grows when you charge (a debit on the card account in BitBooks's books). It shrinks when you pay (a credit, when the payment goes through). For the monthly card payment itself: that's a separate transaction (transfer from your bank to the credit card wallet, reducing the balance). Importing the bank statement to speed up reconciliation Most banks let you download statements as CSV or OFX. BitBooks can ingest these: 1. Go to the wallet's detail page 2. Click Import Transactions 3. Upload the file (CSV, OFX, or QFX) 4. Map the columns if needed 5. The transactions land as Drafts, ready to review and post If you've already entered most transactions manually, the import will create duplicates. The cleanest path: - Don't double-enter. If you import, don't also enter manually - Or dedupe: after import, delete the manual duplicates After importing, do a final reconciliation pass to lock in the imported transactions as Reconciled. See Importing Bank Statements (CSV) for the import-specific walkthrough. A worked example Your business checking account at Chase. February 2026. Beginning balance per BitBooks (Feb 1): $12,500 Ending balance per BitBooks (Feb 28): $14,800 Ending balance per Chase statement (Feb 28): $14,775 Difference: $25. You scroll through the statement looking for unmatched items. You find: - An ACH credit on Feb 12 for $25 that BitBooks doesn't have You investigate. It's an interest credit from Chase ("0.00% APY interest"). You missed it because Chase auto-credits interest without a notification. You record it in BitBooks: money-in $25, category "Interest Income," date Feb 12. Save and post. New BitBooks ending balance: $14,800 + $25 = $14,825. Wait, that's MORE off than before. Something's wrong. Let me redo. If your initial BitBooks said $14,800 and the bank says $14,775, BitBooks is HIGHER than the bank by $25. That means you're claiming $25 you don't actually have. Likely cause: a transaction in BitBooks that didn't actually happen at the bank. Look for a deposit you entered manually that the bank doesn't show. Or a fee you missed. Or: the bank charged you a $25 fee you didn't enter. Money out at the bank that BitBooks doesn't have. Add the fee. New BitBooks balance: $14,800 - $25 = $14,775. Matches. This is the kind of detective work reconciliation involves. Most months are simpler. After reconciling Same as Bitcoin wallet reconciliation: ticked transactions become Reconciled, the wallet records the period as reconciled, future activity starts from the verified balance. For the next month, the beginning balance for reconciliation is exactly what was in the wallet at the end of the previous reconciliation. They chain. Common questions "My business has 5 bank accounts. Do I reconcile all of them every month?" Yes. Each account is separate. Set aside an hour at month-end to do all five. "My bank only sends statements quarterly. Should I reconcile quarterly?" Better to reconcile monthly anyway, using your online statement view as the source of truth. Quarterly statements catch bigger errors slower; monthly is the standard. "What if my bank's CSV uses different column names than BitBooks expects?" The import flow lets you map columns at upload time. BitBooks tries to guess; you can override. Where to go next - What is Bank Reconciliation? for the broader concept - Reconciling a Bitcoin Wallet for the Bitcoin version - Importing Bank Statements (CSV) for bulk import flow - Finding and Fixing Discrepancies for troubleshooting

Finding and Fixing Discrepancies

What to do when reconciliation doesn't balance You're reconciling. The provider's ending balance is $14,775. BitBooks says $14,800. Difference: $25. Don't panic. Don't reconcile anyway just to make it go away. Don't reconcile and adjust. Find the cause first. This article walks through the diagnostic process. Step 1: confirm the magnitude of the difference Sometimes "the balance is off" is a misread. Re-check both numbers. Make sure: - You're looking at the same period on both sides (same start and end dates) - The provider's ending balance is the period-ending balance, not the live current balance - The currency is the same (no accidental USD vs CAD confusion) If the difference disappears: you're good. Reconcile. If the difference is real: continue. Step 2: identify the direction Is BitBooks higher or lower than the provider? - BitBooks is higher. You're claiming money you don't actually have. Either you have an extra transaction in BitBooks that didn't happen, or you're missing an expense (money out) that did happen. - BitBooks is lower. You're missing money the provider says you have. Either you didn't record an income transaction that came in, or you have an extra expense in BitBooks that didn't happen. Direction narrows the search by half. Step 3: find the difference, by likely cause The most common causes, ordered by frequency: Bank/wallet fees not entered Banks deduct fees automatically. If you didn't enter them, BitBooks shows higher than the bank. Look at the provider's statement for any fee lines. Add them to BitBooks as expense transactions. Re-check the balance. For Bitcoin wallets, look for network fees on on-chain transactions or routing fees on Lightning. Interest credited Banks credit interest. If you missed it, BitBooks is lower than the bank. Add it as an Interest Income transaction. Pending transactions at the provider If the provider counts pending in their balance and BitBooks doesn't (or vice versa), you'll see a difference equal to the sum of pending transactions. Check the provider's pending list. Reconcile based on the official period statement, not the live view that includes pending. Duplicates from manual + auto You entered a transaction by hand. Then auto-sync also imported it. Now you have two entries for one event. BitBooks shows higher than the provider by the duplicated amount. Find the duplicate (same date, same amount, same direction). Delete or reverse the manual one (the auto-synced one will keep coming back if you delete it). Wrong amount on a BitBooks entry A typo. Someone entered $1,500 instead of $1,000. BitBooks is off by $500. Drill into your largest transactions. The bigger the typo, the more likely you'll spot it in a list of amounts. Missing transaction A transaction at the provider that BitBooks doesn't have. Sync glitch, manual entry skipped, lost in the shuffle. Run a sync first (for connected wallets). If still missing, enter it manually. Wrong-wallet entries A transaction was recorded against the wrong wallet. The wallet you're reconciling is missing it; another wallet has an extra entry. Look at recent activity on related wallets. If you find a transaction that's in the wrong place, edit (if Draft) or reverse + re-enter on the right wallet. Opening balance error The wallet's opening balance was wrong from the start. Every running balance has been off ever since. Verify the opening balance against the wallet's actual balance on its start date. If it's wrong, the fix is delicate; talk to support. Period close mid-period If the period was closed and someone reopened to make changes, the changes may have shifted the balance you're reconciling against. Check the Activity Log for any changes during the period. Step 4: a hidden trick the divisible-by-9 hint If the difference is divisible by 9, you may have a transposition error. Examples: - $54 difference: maybe a $36 was entered as $63 (digits swapped) - $90 difference: maybe a $50 was entered as $140 (zero added/lost) This isn't always the cause, but it's a useful first guess for small differences with that pattern. Step 5: the Activity Log If you can't find the cause, run the Activity Log report (Reports → Activity Log) for the period and the wallet. Every change, every entry, every reversal is listed. Filter by: - Wallet (or related Chart of Accounts entry) - Date range matching the reconciliation period Look for: - Recent edits to old entries (someone changed something post-reconciliation?) - Reversals (any entries reversed during the period?) - Bulk operations (was a bulk-post or bulk-reverse run that affected this wallet?) The Activity Log often surfaces the cause when the transaction list doesn't. Step 6: contact support If you've worked through Steps 1-5 and still can't identify the cause, contact support. Send: - The wallet name - The period being reconciled - The exact discrepancy amount - Whatever you've already checked We'll dig in. Some discrepancies are bugs (rare but possible) and we want to know about them. What NOT to do Don't post a "plug entry" The wrong move: see a $25 difference, post an entry titled "Reconciliation adjustment $25" to make it balance. This buries the actual cause and makes the books harder to audit later. If you genuinely cannot find the cause and need to move forward, post a properly-named entry to a "Suspense" or "Reconciliation Discrepancy" account, with a memo explaining what you tried. This is honest about the situation. Always treat plug entries as temporary. Investigate the cause when you have time. Don't reconcile and "adjust the difference" Don't tick everything as reconciled and tell yourself you'll figure out the difference later. Once reconciled, the wallet's verified balance is locked in at the wrong number. Future reconciliations inherit the error. Find the cause first, fix it, then reconcile cleanly. Don't ignore the difference A small difference today is a $5 problem. The same difference compounded over a year as you reconcile around it is a $60 problem and several hours of investigation. Always investigate when small. A worked example Reconciling Chase Business Checking for March 2026. Beginning balance: $25,000. BitBooks ending: $32,400. Bank ending: $32,381. Difference: BitBooks higher by $19. Step 1-2: difference is real, BitBooks is higher. Step 3: scan for likely causes. - Bank fees? Look at the statement. Yes, a $19 wire fee on March 14 the bank charged. BitBooks doesn't have it. - Add transaction: Chase Business Checking, money out, $19, March 14, category "Bank Fees," memo "Outgoing wire fee per statement." - Save and post. Re-check: BitBooks ending now $32,381. Matches bank. Reconcile. Total time: 5 minutes. Where to go next - What is Bank Reconciliation? for the broader concept - Reconciling a Bitcoin Wallet for Bitcoin-side specifics - Reconciling a Fiat Bank Account for fiat-side specifics - Activity Log for the audit trail - My Wallet Balance Doesn't Match for a different angle on the same problem