1. Give each report a specific job.
Keep the sales or order report, settlement statement and bank statement separate. The order report describes customer activity; the settlement statement explains movements within the platform; the bank statement confirms a transfer reaching your account. A total from one is not automatically comparable with a total from another.
Record the channel, account, currency, report period and settlement reference. Check the report’s own date definitions and time zone where available. A transaction date, settlement date and bank arrival date can refer to different stages of one payment.
2. Establish what is already in the books.
Before importing another file, find out how sales, fees and deposits currently reach your accounting system. An integration may already have recorded some of the activity. Adding a settlement total as a new sale without checking can count the same business activity twice.
Document the route for one complete example: customer order, platform record, settlement and bank transfer. Agree the accounting treatment with your accountant; the reconciliation working paper should explain the evidence and connections, rather than invent a new treatment to force a match.
3. Explain the movements within the settlement.
Use the categories and signs shown by the platform. Identify the opening unsettled amount, activity added, deductions, transfers and closing amount. Keep refunds, fees, disputes and other adjustments separate where the source distinguishes them. A reserve or amount on hold needs its own explanation, not an assumption that it is a fee.
A simplified illustrative check might be: £240 opening balance plus £5,000 receipts, less £200 refunds, £150 fees and £4,500 paid to the bank, leaving £390 unsettled. These are invented figures showing the relationship only. Real statements can contain additional movements, which must be included before applying the same check.
4. Match each transfer to the bank evidence.
Use the payout reference, currency and amount to identify the bank receipt. A payout initiated near the end of a reporting period may arrive in the next one. Retain the evidence connecting the two dates instead of changing the activity period to match the bank.
Where one payout is split, or several payouts arrive together, document the group of references and confirm the combined amount. If currencies differ, use the available conversion and fee records to explain the movement; do not conceal the remaining difference in a miscellaneous adjustment.
5. Investigate the difference in a consistent order.
Create a small exception log so an unresolved payout can be followed without restarting the search. Include the source links or filenames, amount, current explanation and next action. Work through common evidence gaps before changing the books.
- Check that all pages, accounts and settlement files are included.
- Check date ranges and whether a later report includes a correction.
- Look for duplicate imports, refunds or fees recorded through another route.
- Confirm transfers still in transit and amounts the platform continues to hold.
- Assign remaining questions to the person or provider able to supply the evidence.
6. Keep a clear closing position.
Finish with a schedule of matched transfers, the supported unsettled balance and unresolved exceptions. Keep the raw exports, working reconciliation and reviewed result separately identifiable. That gives your accountant a usable handover and makes the next period easier to check.
A recurring mismatch is also a process clue. Review the report selection, integration mapping or handover that produces it, then test any change against another complete settlement before relying on the revised routine.
Platform reporting examples
Stripe’s documentation shows the distinction between reconciling automatic payout batches and reconciling a payment account’s balance. The reports you need depend on your provider and payout settings.