Bank connection and reconciliation
Your bank delivers your transactions over EBICS every morning, or you import the statement as a file. Bilanzi suggests a match for every transaction and tells you why. The decision is yours.
Your bank delivers
With Autopilot, you connect Bilanzi to your bank over EBICS. EBICS is how Swiss banks exchange data with accounting software. You enter two numbers from your bank’s documents and send it a signed letter. Once the bank switches it on, your transactions arrive on their own every morning.
You send payment orders and the payroll payment file to your bank with one click. Nothing is executed until you approve it in your bank’s app. Bilanzi then shows you whether the bank accepted or rejected the order.
- Your transactions every morning, on their own
- Payments sent straight to the bank, approved in your banking app
- The same payment file never goes out twice
- PostFinance, UBS, Raiffeisen, many cantonal banks and other banks
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 recognises the transactions that are already there and does not take them over again. 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. If your bank is connected, you send it straight there. Otherwise you upload the pain.001 file to your e-banking. Once the payment has gone out, it shows up among your transactions, and you match it to the supplier invoice.
Anything else on your mind?
Which banks are supported?
Over EBICS you connect PostFinance, UBS, Raiffeisen, many cantonal banks and other banks. As a file, Bilanzi reads any statement your bank offers as CAMT.053 or CSV. From the IBAN, Bilanzi recognises the major Swiss banks and shows their name.
What is CAMT.053?
The electronic bank statement under the ISO 20022 standard. It is a file with all booked transactions of a period, including references and balances. In e-banking you usually find it with your account statements.
What happens to a transaction that matches nothing?
It stays open and visible in the list instead of being posted somewhere. You match it by hand or leave it until the right receipt turns up. If it does not belong in the books, you ignore it and give a reason.
Can I import the same statement twice?
Bilanzi does not accept the same file twice. If two statements overlap, Bilanzi does not take over the transactions that are already there a second time. This happens on its own, you have nothing to decide.
Does Bilanzi post the transactions by itself?
No. Bilanzi suggests and explains its suggestion. Nothing is posted until you confirm. That applies to the strongest suggestion too.
Can Bilanzi move money on its own?
No. Bilanzi sends the payment order to your bank, and it is only executed once you approve it in your bank’s app. The bank only gives Bilanzi the right to transmit files.
What it costs
This is part of the Free plan, so it costs nothing, and of every other plan too.
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
Many small Swiss businesses keep their own numbers. Bilanzi is Swiss accounting software built for exactly that, and the Free plan costs nothing.
Your business needs you. Start with Bilanzi.
Take the statement of a month you have already reconciled and see whether you get the same result. Bank reconciliation is part of the Free plan, and an account is quick to set up.
Free forever. No credit card.