How to Complete a Bank Reconciliation
Bank reconciliation helps ensure your internal PayHOA balances match your actual bank account. We recommend reconciling monthly to keep your financials accurate.
Before You Begin
Have your bank statement ready—you'll reference it throughout the reconciliation process.
Starting a Reconciliation
Go to Transactions → Actions → Bank Reconciliations.
Select the bank account you want to reconcile.
Enter the following details from your bank statement or upload a PDF statement to have an AI agent do it for you:
Starting date and ending date (the period covered on your statement)
Starting balance (opening balance)
Ending balance (closing balance)
Click Start Reconciliation.
Matching Transactions
The reconciliation screen displays all transactions within your selected date range as a checklist. Compare each transaction to your bank statement and check off items as they match.
As you select transactions, the balances at the top of the screen update in real time. Your goal is to reach a difference of $0—this confirms your records match the bank statement.
Once the difference reaches $0, the Finish Reconciliation button becomes active.
Handling Unreconciled Transactions
Sometimes transactions in the system won't appear on your bank statement. This is common with checks or bill pay items that haven't cleared yet. However, you should investigate any unreconciled transaction to confirm it doesn't need to be deleted or adjusted. This keeps your internal bank balance accurate. Marking transactions as reconciled ensures they are removed from the list of outstanding items without altering past financial statements. Deleting transactions, however, directly impacts your financial statements by adjusting your balance sheet and general ledger to align with your bank statements.
Finding Transactions Outside the Date Range
If a transaction was entered in a previous period but appears on your current bank statement (for example, an April bill pay item that cleared in May), toggle on All Transactions to view past transactions that haven't been reconciled yet.
Completing the Reconciliation
Once your difference is $0, click Finish Reconciliation and confirm. You can then return to your transaction ledger or view the reconciliation report.
Understanding the Reconciliation Report
The reconciliation report mirrors your bank statement and provides a record of the completed reconciliation. If any checks or deposits remain unreconciled for the selected period, they appear on the report for reference.
These reports are useful for maintaining transparency with your HOA—you can share them with board members, homeowners, or auditors as needed.
Troubleshooting Bank Reconciliation Issues
My ledger and bank balances are significantly off
First, check whether your starting balance is correct. Go to Transactions and click the circular icon on your bank account card to update the starting balance. Make sure the date and amount match the ending balance from your last completed reconciliation.
If your balances were correct in a prior month and are now off, check whether any previously reconciled transactions were deleted or modified. Deleting a reconciled transaction can throw off all subsequent reconciliations. Additionally, deleting reconciled transactions modifies your financial statements by altering the balance sheet and general ledger, which can lead to discrepancies if not carefully managed.
Duplicate reconciliation entries for the same month
If you see two reconciliation records for the same month (one completed, one in progress), this is a rare bug. Delete both reconciliations and start fresh for that month. To delete a reconciliation, click the three-dot menu (...) next to it and select Delete. Leaving a duplicate reconciliation in place will significantly complicate your balances.
Transactions are showing in "For Review" instead of approved
Transactions marked "For Review" are visible in the reconciliation screen but do not contribute to your ledger balance until they are approved. If a previously approved transaction was deleted and re-entered, or if certain system actions were performed, it may return to "For Review" status. Click Approve on any transaction that looks correct to move it into your ledger.
Bank-to-bank transfers are creating reconciliation discrepancies
If you transfer money between bank accounts (for example, from operating to reserves), these must be recorded as Transfers in PayHOA — not as individual income or expense transactions. Recording a transfer as a regular transaction will show it twice in your ledger (once as a deposit and once as a withdrawal on separate accounts), making both accounts appear off.
To convert an existing transaction to a transfer, contact support@payhoa.com for guidance, or schedule a call using the Support button in your PayHOA account.
Manual entry as an alternative to AI reconciliation
If the AI bank statement upload is not working correctly, you can enter your reconciliation manually. Scroll down below the "Drop Statement Here" upload box to access manual entry fields. In some cases, manual entry resolves issues that the AI upload cannot.
Still not balancing after trying the above?
Upload your bank statements to the Documents section of your PayHOA account so the accounting support team can review them. Then contact support@payhoa.com — the accounting team can look at your specific account and identify the root cause. If prior-year unreconciled transactions are affecting your current reports, perform a catch-up reconciliation. Create a reconciliation for the prior year, match outstanding transactions, verify balances, and finalize the reconciliation to ensure these items no longer appear in current-year reports.