Question
Why your bank balance does not match your books
Your bank says one figure; your accounting system says another. It is one of the most common problems in small-business books, and almost always one of a handful of causes.
The usual causes
- Timing: a payment you recorded has not cleared yet, or the bank took a fee you have not recorded
- A transaction recorded twice, or not at all
- A deposit recorded as one amount that the bank received as several (or the other way round)
- A bank feed that stopped syncing for a few days
- An opening balance that was wrong from the start
How to find the difference
Start from a month where the two agreed. Compare the bank statement line by line with the account in your books for the month after. The difference is usually one item, and its amount often names it: a fee, a duplicated payment, a deposit split differently.
Why it matters
Every figure built on a wrong cash balance is wrong too: profit, cash cover, the forecast. This is why Big4CFO checks your books to the cent before it reports anything, and tells you exactly what does not tie.
Have it worked out on your own figures
Big4CFO checks your books to the cent and produces this every month, from your own records. One-time reports cost $49 (one month), $99 (three months) or $199 (twelve months). Monthly plans start at $349 a month (Foundational), with Growth at $599, Leverage at $899 and Capital Stack at $1,999.
Questions
- Is a small difference worth chasing?
- Yes. A small difference can hide two large errors that nearly cancel out. The only safe difference is zero.
See it on your own figures
One-time reports from $49, delivered within minutes. Monthly plans from $349. Every payment carries a 14-day money-back guarantee.