A Complete Guide on Payment Reconciliation for Businesses

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the steps, challenges, and best practices associated with payment reconciliation, giving a complete roadmap to businesses for standardizing the reconciliation process and enhancing financial process efficiency. 

What is Payment Reconciliation? 

Payment reconciliation is the process of verifying that the payments received or made by a business, as recorded, match the invoices or bills issued. This involves cross-referencing bank statements, invoices, accounting records etc, to ensure that the recorded and actual transactions match up accurately.

This process helps to identify discrepancies, missed payments, double payments, and errors in the recorded amounts. Accurate payment reconciliation is essential for maintaining the financial integrity of a business. It ensures that the financial statements reflect the true financial position of the company, helps in detecting fraud or errors, and facilitates smooth cash flow management. Without regular transaction reconciliation, businesses may face financial inaccuracies, which can lead to poor decision-making and potential financial losses.

How Does Payment Reconciliation Work?

Payment reconciliation ensures that a business’s financial records match with their bank statements and invoices. This means looking at the amounts, dates, and other details to see if they’re the same. The job also involves finding and looking into any differences, like payments that are missing or recording errors, and then adjusting the financial records as needed. The payment reconciliation process entails: 

1. Gather financial statements

Gather all appropriate papers that support financial statements, such as bank statements, payment processor reports, invoices, and internal accounting records.

2. Match payments to invoices

All the recorded payments received or made need to match with invoices and bank statements. Businesses should ensure that the date, transaction amount, and descriptions match. 

3. Identify discrepancies

Look for any discrepancies between the recorded amounts and the actual payments received. These discrepancies can result from missed payments, the wrong amount paid, timing issues, or manual data entry errors.

4. Discrepancy resolution

All discrepancies identified need to be documented. These then need to be investigated to identify the cause of any discrepancies. Once the cause has been identified, businesses then need to resolve the discrepancies by making corrections and adjusting journal entries.

5. Record updating

After identifying and resolving any differences or anomalies, all the adjustments that are made need to be documented. This step will include documenting all the inconsistencies and the adjustments made to balance the payment accounts. Documenting reconciliation is important because companies need these records in case of an audit or for future references. 

6. Review and verification

Verification, during the final review of the transaction reconciliation process, would ascertain that all records are complete and correct. Account teams need to get approval from the relevant stakeholders for all the adjustments made to balance the journal entries. The stakeholders will also review the changes for accuracy and to ensure all the adjustments needed are made. 

Different Types of Payment Reconciliation 

Payment reconciliation doesn’t have a standard approach; it changes depending on the transaction types and how a business operates. Each transaction reconciliation type has its own goal and needs a specific method to ensure all money-related activities show up in the company’s accounting books. Some of the most common forms of payment reconciliation include:

1. Bank reconciliation

This process entails checking whether the amount reflected in an organization’s bank statement matches the one posted in the book of accounts. Bank reconciliation aids in unearthing any variance in bank records and those recorded in the company’s cash account. For instance, this can include unrecorded deposits or payments, bank charges, or errors in recording the transactions. Continuous bank reconciliation plays a major role in maintaining an accurate level of cash balances and averting fraud.

2. Credit card reconciliation

This process ensures all expenditures or payments made by a credit card are matched with the accounting records. Credit card reconciliation ensures that all credit card transactions are recorded accurately, thereby decreasing the potential risks associated with unauthorized transactions and errors. It also helps in tracking business expenses and managing debt on the credit card so that credit card statements are correctly reflected in the financial records.

3. Accounts receivables reconciliation 

This process ensures that payments received from customers match the invoices issued to them. It ensures that any discrepancies in terms of overpayments and underpayments, missed payment of the invoice amount, or any other errors are identified. Accounts receivables reconciliation ensures that organizations maintain accurate and up-to-date records of accounts receivable, enabling effective management of cash flow and customer relationships.

4. Accounts payable reconciliation 

This process matches the payments made to the vendors with the bills or invoices provided to the company by the vendor. It also ensures that all payments to vendors are recorded properly to remove duplicate payments, missed payments, or misappropriation of expense amounts. This leads to financial integrity, which results in good vendor relationships, effective management of accounts payable, and, in the end, accurate financial reports.

5. Payroll reconciliation

Payroll reconciliation involves ensuring that the payroll records match the actual payments made to employees. This process includes verifying that the total amounts paid for salaries, wages, bonuses, and deductions such as taxes and benefits are accurately recorded and reflect the amounts reported in the payroll register. Payroll reconciliation is critical for ensuring that employees are paid correctly and that the company remains compliant with tax laws and labor regulations.

6. General ledger reconciliation 

General ledger reconciliation is the process of comparing the entries in the general ledger to the source documents and subsidiary ledgers to ensure that all financial transactions are accurately recorded. This involves verifying that the balances in the general ledger accounts match the supporting documentation, such as invoices, receipts, and bank statements. General ledger reconciliation is essential for maintaining the integrity of the financial statements and ensuring that the financial records are complete and accurate. 

Importance of Payment Reconciliation for Business

The importance of payment reconciliation or reconciliation of bills cannot be overstated for businesses aiming to maintain financial integrity and operational efficiency. Accurate reconciliation ensures that all transactions are correctly recorded, which is essential for producing reliable financial statements… By prioritizing payment reconciliation, businesses can achieve greater transparency and confidence in their financial health. Some of the benefits of payment reconciliation are:

1. Accurate financial reporting

Periodic reconciliation of payments ensures that the financial statements represent the actual financial structure of a business. Correct financial reporting is very important for the business in making the right decisions, attracting investors, and complying with the regulatory requirements.

2. Detects and prevents fraud

Regular reconciliation of payments makes it possible to trace any unauthorized transactions, discrepancies, or irregularities soon enough. This helps identify and prevent fraud and ensures the accuracy and integrity of financial records.

3. Better management of cash flows

Payment reconciliation ensures that every transaction is accurately recorded and reflected in the books of accounts. This provides an overall visibility of the cash position of a company which enables them to devise appropriate cash flow management strategies, ensuring enough liquidity for the business to meet its financial obligations.

4. Identifies discrepancies and errors

Regular reconciliations identify discrepancies and errors that may have occurred in financial records, such as omissions, duplicate entries for payment, or posting errors. As soon as these discrepancies have been identified, they can easily be resolved, ensuring that financial records are accurate and reliable.

5. Improved financial decision-making

Carrying the right information on financial records makes the business aware of its progress in relation to its financial goals and status. Provision of correct financial information enables businesses to make informed decisions.

6. Ensures legal compliance

Regular reconciliation of payments ensures financial records are accurate and comply with accounting standards and other regulatory and legal requirements. This helps them to minimize the risk of penalties or legal and reputational damage that may be tied to non-compliance.

How Often Should Businesses Perform Payment Reconciliations? 

The frequency of payment reconciliations and reconciliation of bills is a crucial consideration for businesses seeking to maintain up-to-date and accurate financial records. While the ideal frequency can vary depending on the size and nature of the business, many organizations benefit from performing reconciliations on a monthly basis. Some of the most commonly used payment reconciliation frequencies are as follows: 

1. Daily

For businesses with high transaction volumes, daily reconciliation is recommended. This ensures that all transactions are recorded clearly and on-time and any material differences are quickly identified and resolved. Daily reconciliation aids in maintaining accurate financial records, preventing fraud, and ensuring effective cash flow management.

2. Weekly

For medium sized businesses with an average number of transactions, the recommendation is to reconcile accounts on a weekly basis. This ensures that all discrepancies are proactively resolved, thereby leading to smooth financial operations.

3. Monthly 

This will be sufficient for small businesses or those having few transactions. Monthly reconciliation verifies that the transactions are accurately recorded and any identified discrepancies are resolved once in a month. 

Payment Reconciliation Best Practices 

Adopting best practices in payment reconciliation or reconciliation of bills can significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of this essential process. Businesses should implement a standardized reconciliation procedure, utilizing modern accounting software to automate and streamline tasks. Regular training for staff involved in reconciliation activities is vital to ensure they are well-versed in the latest techniques and tools. Some of the best practices to follow are:

1. Automate the reconciliation process

Utilize automated reconciliation software to make reconciliation smoother and cut down on manual errors. This allows you to streamline and improve your business’s account reconciliationprocesses.

2. Regular review

Reconciliation processes should be regularly reviewed to ensure that they are correctly identifying the errors and discrepancies. Doing this helps catch any mix-ups or errors that might have slipped through the cracks and keeps financial records trustworthy. 

3. Segregate tasks

Make sure that the team who is involved in handling payments are different from those who are involved in reconciliations. Segregation of tasks ensures the integrity of the reconciliation process, eliminates any biases and makes sure no one person controls all parts of money matters. With HighRadius Maker Checker Workflow, businesses can gain control of the reconciliation process and ensure segregation of duties.

4. Standardize reconciliation process

According to the R2R benchmarking report, 36% of professionals identify a lack of standardization as a reconciliation barrier. This issue is particularly pronounced in global organizations, where enforcing uniform processes via spreadsheets is challenging. Organizations should leverage solutions such as HighRadius Account Reconciliation Software that supports diverse accounting standards while integrating with ERP, financial systems, and other data sources to ensure consistency in data capture and processing, which streamlines and standardizes the reconciliation process. 

5. Document records

Keep thorough records of the reconciliation process and any differences discovered. These records help to track the reconciliation process, solve discrepancies, and show proof of following regulatory rules. This will also help during accounting audits.

6. Improve continuously

Always evaluate and refine the reconciliation process to boost productivity and precision. Check and revise reconciliation steps, put into action proven methods, and use technology to simplify the process and make sure financial records are accurate and trustworthy.

Importance of Automating Payment Reconciliation

In a survey among 200 companies’, 30% of finance and accounting professionals pointed to reconciliation as the primary challenge during the month-end close process. With large organizations often handling over 100,000 transactions monthly, each requiring verification against documents like invoices and bank statements, the probability of discrepancies increases manifold. Further, with companies typically having about 10 days to complete the financial close, there is an intense pressure on reconciliation to be quick and accurate. Therefore, automating the reconciliation process is imperative. 

Some of the benefits of automating the reconciliation process are as follows:

• Increased Accuracy: Reduces manual errors and ensures more precise matching of transactions.
• Time Savings: Speeds up the reconciliation process, allowing staff to focus on more strategic tasks.
• Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlines workflows, making the entire reconciliation process more efficient and consistent.
• Improved Fraud Detection: Quickly identifies discrepancies and unusual activities, helping to prevent and detect fraud.
• Better Compliance: Ensures adherence to regulatory requirements and audit trails with detailed, automated documentation.
• Real-time Reconciliation: Enables continuous reconciliation and up-to-date financial records.
• Scalability: Easily handles large volumes of transactions, making it suitable for growing businesses.
• Cost Reduction: Lowers operational costs by reducing the need for extensive manual labor.
• Greater Transparency: Provides clear and easily accessible reconciliation reports for management review.
• Enhanced Data Security: Protects sensitive financial information through secure, automated processes.

How HighRadius can help with Automated Payment Reconciliation

HighRadius’ comprehensive AI-powered Record to Report suite allows you to streamline and improve your business’s account reconciliationprocesses. By leveraging our Account Reconciliation Software, you can utilize out-of-the-box AI transaction matching rules you can automate the reconciliation process and achieve almost a 95% journal posting automation.

With real-time reconciliation capabilities, HighRadius ensures that your financial records are updated daily. This is particularly helpful to organizations where a large number of transactions take place every day. Its powerful matching algorithms quickly identify and resolve variances, increasing speed and accuracy.

It offers configurable matching rules and algorithms to identify and resolve variances in general ledger accounts and makes the financial data compliance and audit-ready.

• Transaction Matching:With HighRadius’ Transaction matching feature, you can automate GL data extraction from ERPs and achieve a 90% match rate.
You can automate your reconciliation process with accurate AI/ML-powered matching across data sources. 
• Reconciliation Control Tower: With this feature, you can achieve 80% reconciliation automation. HighRadius gives you a list of active GL accounts for reconciliation, with variances and certification status per task.
• Journal Entry Automation: HighRadius’s pre-built journal entry templates helps you automate 95% of journal entry tasks. You can automate your journal entry preparation for identified open items and clearing using customizable LiveCube apps and automate posting to the ERP of your choice.
• Reconciliation Progress Dashboard: You can improve productivity by 50% when it comes to account reconciliation with HighRadius’ Reconciliation Progress Dashboard. The feature helps you take proactive actions on potential delays to reduce days to reconcile.
• Anomaly Detection:HighRadius’ AI-based anomaly detection solution helps you achieve a 30% faster close rate and enhances your reconciliation process. The solution finds discrepancies automatically with AI-based alerts for potential anomalies and allows you to be compliance and audit-ready.

FAQs

1. Do cash payments affect bank reconciliation?

Cash payments do not directly affect bank reconciliation since they do not appear on bank statements. However, it’s crucial to accurately record cash transactions in the accounting system and ensure they are matched with corresponding receipts to maintain overall financial accuracy.

2. What is post-payment reconciliation?

Post-payment reconciliation is the process of verifying and ensuring that payments made to suppliers or vendors have been correctly recorded in the accounting system. This involves matching the payment entries with invoices and bank statements to confirm that all transactions are accurately reflected.

3. What is an example of payment reconciliation?

An example of payment reconciliation is comparing a customer’s payment received via bank transfer with the corresponding issued invoice. The accountant ensures the payment amount matches the invoice, and both are accurately recorded in the company’s accounting system, resolving any discrepancies.

4. What are the three types of reconciliation?

The three types of reconciliation are bank reconciliation, where bank statements are matched with internal records; customer reconciliation, ensuring payments from customers match issued invoices; and vendor reconciliation, verifying payments made to vendors match received bills or invoices.

5. How do you reconcile payments?

To reconcile payments, gather all relevant financial records, match payments received with issued invoices, identify and resolve any discrepancies, update the accounting records accordingly, and review the reconciliation process to ensure accuracy and consistency in the financial statements.

7. What is a payable reconciliation?

Payable reconciliation is the process of verifying that payments made to suppliers or vendors match the amounts recorded in the accounts payable ledger. This involves comparing purchase orders, invoices, and payment records to ensure all expenses are accurately documented and discrepancies are resolved.