For QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier and Enterprise
QuickBooks Desktop bank reconciliation software that finds the line for you
The Reconcile window asks you to tick every check and deposit and then tells you only that the difference is not zero. Upload the statement and a Desktop export and see which items cleared, which one is missing and which one was entered twice.
Works with the company file you have. No add-on, no bank login.
Try one month now. Files encrypted, demo files deleted after 24 hours.
Reconcile my Desktop account
The short answer
Bank reconciliation in QuickBooks Desktop happens in Banking, Reconcile, where you mark every cleared item by hand until the difference reaches 0.00. Desktop has no matching engine that tells you which line is wrong. Matching the statement against a Desktop export first gives you the cleared list and the exceptions, so the Reconcile window takes minutes.
Where a QuickBooks Desktop reconciliation eats the afternoon
Ticking 40 items is fine. Ticking 400, then hunting for a $1,284.50 difference with the statement on one screen and the Reconcile window on the other, is where Desktop users lose the day. The causes are almost always the same four.
Volume
Every item ticked by hand
Card deposits, ACH payments and transfers each need a click and a glance at the statement. Mark All is tempting and is how wrong items get cleared.
Undeposited Funds
One bank credit, many payments
Payments grouped in Make Deposits show as one deposit, but if they were deposited separately the totals never line up with the bank.
Doubles
Entered and downloaded
A check written in the register and added again from a bank feed or an import shows up twice, and only one of them will ever clear.
History
Beginning balance moved
Someone edited or deleted a cleared transaction from an earlier month, so this month starts off by that amount before you tick anything.
How to reconcile a QuickBooks Desktop bank account in four steps
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Export the bank account
Open Reports, Accountant and Taxes, Transaction Detail by Account. Filter it to the bank account and the statement month, include uncleared items from earlier months if you have them, and click Excel, Create New Worksheet. Keep the Debit and Credit columns. Skip the register print, which splits amounts into Payment and Deposit columns.
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Get the statement
The PDF from online banking is enough. A QBO or OFX download works too, and so do CSV, XLSX, MT940 and CAMT.053. See supported formats.
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Six matching passes run
Exact amount and date, then check number, then amount inside a date window, then grouped deposits that add up to the cent, then duplicates and near matches such as transposed digits. The ones that do not match are the reason your difference is not zero.
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Finish in the Reconcile window
Enter the fees and interest from the adjusting entries file in Begin Reconciliation, fix or delete the doubled item, mark the matched list cleared and click Reconcile Now at 0.00. Keep our PDF report with the one QuickBooks saves.
CHECKING, September
Statement vs Desktop
| Date | QuickBooks line | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09/04 | Deposit4 customer payments, one bank credit | 12,640.00 | Grouped |
| 09/09 | Check 10418Cleared 09/15 | -3,212.75 | Matched |
| 09/11 | Check 10419Entered twice in the register | -1,284.50 | Duplicate |
| 09/22 | Payroll ACHBank posted 09/23 | -18,906.31 | Matched |
| 09/30 | Service chargeNot in QuickBooks | -35.00 | Adjust |
What you get back for each Desktop bank account
Cleared list
What to tick, in statement order
Each statement line shows the QuickBooks entry it matched and the pass that matched it, so clearing items in the Reconcile window is copying, not searching.
Grouped deposits
Undeposited Funds sorted out
Combinations of up to six payments from the 14 nearest by date are tested for an exact sum, the same engine as matching bank deposits to invoices.
Missing in QuickBooks
Bank activity nobody entered
Service charges, interest, returned checks and card chargebacks that are on the statement and not in the company file.
Duplicates
The same check twice
Equal amounts within seven days of each other are flagged, which is exactly the shape of a bill payment entered by hand and again from a download.
Outstanding items
Checks still out
Uncleared checks carry to next month on their own and build the outstanding checks list your CPA asks for at year end.
Report
A file per account per month
A PDF and XLSX bank reconciliation report with statement balance, outstanding items and adjusted balance that does not change when someone edits an old transaction.
Works on every QuickBooks Desktop edition you still run
Pro and Premier on renewal
Intuit stopped selling new Pro Plus and Premier Plus subscriptions to new US customers on September 30, 2024, but existing subscribers renew and keep working. Nothing about your file has to change to reconcile faster.
Enterprise with several company files
Contractors, distributors and nonprofits on Enterprise often keep one file per entity. The Business plan covers five companies and 15 bank accounts, each in its own workspace with a status board for the close.
Hosted Desktop and accountant copies
Because the match runs on an exported report, it does not matter whether the file sits on an office server, a hosting provider or a client's laptop. Firms with many Desktop clients should read bank reconciliation for accountants.
Three ways to reconcile in QuickBooks Desktop
| Task | Reconcile window only | Bank feeds first | BankReconciler first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | None | A working bank connection for the company file | None, upload two files |
| Clearing items | Ticked one by one | Downloaded lines matched, still confirmed in the window | Matched list to copy, exceptions on top |
| Finding the difference | By eye | By eye | Missing, doubled and mistyped lines listed |
| Grouped deposits | Added up on a calculator | Depends on how Make Deposits was used | Exact subset sum across nearby payments |
| Report | Reconciliation report saved by QuickBooks | Same | PDF and XLSX report plus the QuickBooks one |
| Cost | Staff hours | Included with Desktop, staff hours | From $49 a month, see pricing |
If your account has a few dozen items a month and the bank feed works, the Reconcile window is enough and you do not need us. The case for matching first is the busy operating account, the client file that has not been reconciled since spring, or the month where the difference will not go away. For QuickBooks Online the workflow differs a little; see bank reconciliation QuickBooks and the QuickBooks reconciliation discrepancies guide. If you are months behind, start with catch up bank reconciliation.
QuickBooks Desktop bank reconciliation questions
How do I do a bank reconciliation in QuickBooks Desktop?
Go to Banking, then Reconcile. Pick the bank account, enter the statement date and ending balance, add any service charge and interest earned, and click Continue. Mark each check and deposit that appears on the statement until the difference shows 0.00, then click Reconcile Now and save the report. The step-by-step version with screenshots of each field is in our guide on how to reconcile in QuickBooks Desktop.
Read how to reconcile in QuickBooks Desktop for every field in the window.
Does QuickBooks Desktop have automatic bank reconciliation?
Not in the sense most people mean. Bank feeds can download transactions and match them to what you entered when the bank connection works, but the Reconcile window still needs you to confirm cleared items against the statement. When the difference is not zero, nothing in Desktop tells you which line is missing, doubled or mistyped. That is the part BankReconciler automates.
How do I find a reconciliation discrepancy in QuickBooks Desktop?
Click Locate Discrepancies in Begin Reconciliation and open the Discrepancy Report. It lists cleared transactions that were changed or deleted after an earlier reconciliation, which is why the beginning balance moved. If the problem is inside the current month instead, match the statement against a Desktop export and read the exceptions list: the missing, doubled or mistyped line is named directly.
How do I view previous reconciliations in QuickBooks Desktop?
Open Reports, then Banking, then Previous Reconciliation. Choose the account and the statement ending date. Pro shows the PDF that was saved when you reconciled; Premier and Enterprise can also show the report with changes made since. Many bookkeepers keep a separate PDF and XLSX report per month for the binder so later edits do not change the record.
Is QuickBooks Desktop being discontinued?
Not for current users. Intuit stopped selling new Pro Plus, Premier Plus and Mac Plus subscriptions to new US customers on September 30, 2024. Existing subscribers can still renew and receive updates, and QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is still sold. BankReconciler works with all of them because it reads an exported report rather than connecting to the company file.
Can I undo a bank reconciliation in QuickBooks Desktop?
Yes. Open Banking, Reconcile, pick the account and click Undo Last Reconciliation. It reverses only the most recent month, so to go further back you undo one month at a time, starting from the latest. Before you do, save the previous reconciliation reports, because undoing clears the checkmarks you will need to redo.
Get the difference to 0.00 without ticking every box
Upload last month's statement and a QuickBooks Desktop export. Clear the account from a finished list.