Bank reconciliation

The statement as a file

You download the statement from your bank’s e-banking and import it into Bilanzi. Before anything is taken over, you see what was recognised and can cancel. If the opening and closing balances do not add up with the transactions, Bilanzi tells you.

The file itself is kept as the original. Bilanzi does not accept the same file twice. If two statements overlap, Bilanzi marks the transactions that are already there as possible duplicates. Two identical payments on the same day still stay two lines.

CAMT.053, CAMT.054 and CSV

CAMT.053 is the electronic bank statement under the ISO 20022 standard. It holds every booked transaction with amount, date, counterparty, IBAN and reference, plus the opening and closing balance. Most Swiss banks offer it as a download in e-banking. CAMT.054 is the credit or debit notification, for example the breakdown of a collective credit.

If your bank only offers CSV, you map the columns once: date, amount, text and, if you like, counterparty, IBAN and reference. You confirm the mapping before anything is taken over.

• CAMT.053 and CAMT.054 in versions 04 and 08
• CSV with a column mapping you confirm
• Preview and balance check before anything is taken over
• Several bank accounts per company

Every match comes with a reason

For each transaction, Bilanzi looks for the open item that fits: a customer invoice, a supplier invoice or an outstanding payment. Only hard evidence counts. If the reference and amount match exactly, and the date and the counterparty’s IBAN fit, the suggestion is strong. If only the amount and date match, it is weak, and Bilanzi says so.

If two invoices could fit, Bilanzi picks neither. If the amount differs, for example because of a partial payment or deducted fees, Bilanzi does not guess but shows the difference. Nothing is final until you have confirmed it.

Receipts find their place too. If you photograph a receipt that has already been debited from the account, Bilanzi suggests attaching it to that transaction. That way the expense does not appear twice in your books.

An example

You sent a customer a QR-bill for CHF 1’250 with a QR reference. Two weeks later the statement shows a credit for the same amount with the same reference. Bilanzi suggests the invoice and gives the reason: the reference and amount match exactly. You confirm, and the invoice is paid.

If the customer only paid CHF 1’240, Bilanzi shows the difference of ten francs. You decide how to handle the rest. If the invoice was in euros and the payment reached your franc account, you enter both amounts, and the exchange difference goes to the exchange rate account.

And the other way round

You enter supplier invoices, approve them and bundle them into a payment order. Bilanzi turns it into a file in pain.001 format that you upload to your bank’s e-banking. Once the payment has gone out, it shows up on the next statement, and you match it to the supplier invoice.

What does not work yet

There is no direct connection to your bank. Statements come in as files, payment orders go out as files. This limit is deliberate. A connection nobody has approved would be access to your account that nobody vouches for.

Bilanzi reads statements for accounts in Swiss francs. It does not read MT940, Excel files or PDF statements. The files follow the Swiss guidelines for ISO 20022, but no particular bank has formally approved them. So try your first payment order with a small amount.

Frequently asked questions

Related topics

• Invoices with a QR payment part

  You create the QR-bill straight from your books. It becomes an open receivable the moment you issue it, and bank reconciliation later ties the payment back to it.

• Accounting for businesses that keep their own books

  Most small Swiss businesses keep their own numbers and hand them to their fiduciary once a year. Bilanzi is Swiss accounting software built for exactly that, and the Free plan costs nothing.