The best bank reconciliation software should allow you to compare your bank statement with your bookkeeping records for the same time period easily and provide an accurate method for tracking cash flow. It should also allow users to reconcile bank accounts with or without a bank feed connection for maximum flexibility and show all outstanding transactions in the reconciliation report. To help you find the right solution for your business, we’ve selected the five best bank reconciliation applications:
- QuickBooks Online: Best overall bank reconciliation software for local bookkeeping support
- Xero: Best for scalable bank reconciliation software
- ReconArt: Best standalone bank reconciliation with advanced reconciliation features
- Sage 50 Accounting: Best bank reconciliation software with automated workflows
- NCH Express Accounts: Best free bank reconciliation software
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Comparison of the Best Bank Account Reconciliation Software
QuickBooks Online: Best Overall Bank Reconciliation Software for Local Bookkeeping Support
Pros
- Transfers transactions from your bank automatically and marks them cleared on the reconciliation
- Has access to a vast network of QuickBooks ProAdvisors
- Can sort income and expenses into tax categories
Cons
- Has limited users with each plan
- Lacks advanced reconciliation features
QuickBooks Online has four plans to choose from, all of which offer the bank reconciliation feature:
- Simple Start: $30 per month for one user
- Essentials: $60 per month for up to three users
- Plus: $90 per month for up to five users
- Advanced: $200 per month for up to 25 users
You can try QuickBooks Online for 30 days or get 50% off for three months if you sign up right away.
We selected QuickBooks Online as the overall best bank reconciliation software because of its simple and intuitive user-friendly interface and bank integration capabilities, which allows for automatic updates of transactions and balances. It also automatically categorizes transactions, making it easier to reconcile your bank account, and the audit log gives you insight into any changes that have been made to your books.
Xero: Best for Scalable Bank Reconciliation
Pros
- Includes unlimited users for all plans
- Features a side-by-side layout for reconciling transactions allows for easier matching
- Has an easy-to-understand reconciliation interface
- Has bank statement extractions via Hubdoc
Cons
- Has no automatic matching
- Limits tracking categories
- Limits five bills and 20 invoices in the lowest plan
- Early: $15 per month for up to 20 invoices and five bills
- Growing: $42 per month for unlimited invoices and bills
- Established: $78 per month includes project tracking and multiple currencies
A 30-day free trial is available.
We selected Xero as the best bank reconciliation software with the ability to scale as your business grows because of unlimited users and features like bulk reconciliation of transactions, which are available with the Growing and Established plans. More recent updates include smarter matching algorithms, which are powered by artificial intelligence.
Wells Fargo and Chase clients can also use its data extraction feature using Hubdoc, which can extract data from PDF bank statements. You can also opt to be alerted if there are any unreconciled transactions in your account.
ReconArt: Best Standalone Bank Reconciliation With Advanced Reconciliation Features
Pros
- Can reconcile any account type, not just bank accounts
- Has seamless integration with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, internal systems, and platforms
- Can handle high-volume transaction matching
- Has end-to-end automation
Cons
- Is too expensive for many small businesses
- Is not intuitive for end users with no experience in accounting
- Has limited customer support
All ReconArt plans are web-based and work with any ERP solution, accounting system, and external data sources.
- Essentials: $1,700 per month for five users
- Certify: $1,700 per month for 10 users
- Plus: $3,400 per month for 10 users, includes the Essentials and Certify modules
- Close: $2,800 per month for 20 users, includes your choice of two or more of ReconArt’s financial close management modules: Certification, Task Management, Variance Analysis, and Journal Entries
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
ReconArt is next-level reconciliation software compared to our other picks—as its price reflects. The software is especially ideal for NetSuite users because it provides a comprehensive solution for larger small businesses.
We recommend it for SMBs with a large volume of transactions given its ability to support all reconciliation types. These include bank accounts, credit cards, accounts receivable (A/R), accounts payable (A/P), balance sheet, and general ledger (GL)/suspense accounts. Also, its powerful automation capabilities let you set up approval workflows to ensure that journal entries posted to the GL are correct.
Sage 50 Accounting: Best Bank Reconciliation Software With Automated Workflows
Pros
- Has automated workflows for processing transactions
- Easy to set up and use
- Has live support options available
- Has department, cost code, and project tracking
Cons
- Can’t view outstanding transactions after reconciling
- Requires an additional fee to use multiple currencies
- Has only has one bank feed connection in the starter plan
Sage 50 Accounting offers two affordable plans that differ in the features that are available and the number of users that it can accommodate:
- Accounting Start: $10 per month for one user
- Accounting: $25 per month for unlimited users
You can try the platform for free for 30 days.
We selected Sage 50 Accounting for its automated workflows. It has strong artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, which will learn from how you categorize transactions so that they will be categorized properly in the future. You can also automate workflows and set bank rules that will automatically be applied to your transactions. The platform’s audit trail features are also helpful in case of an audit.
NCH Express Accounts Software: Best Bank Reconciliation Software for Desktop
Pros
- Is free forever for companies with five or fewer employees
- Can perform basic accounting tasks
- Offers a one-time purchase fee for larger companies
- Comes with optional add-ons for inventory and other functions
- Has an intuitive dashboard that allows for easy navigation
Cons
- Can’t import bank transactions with a live connection to your bank
- Lacks a mobile app
- Is unable to capture and store receipt images
- Has very limited customer support
NCH Express Accounts Software offers a free desktop program for small businesses with five or fewer employees (not users). Software licenses can also be purchased for a one-time fee directly through the NCH Software online store:
- Express Accounts Basic: $139 for the standard edition
- Express Accounts Plus: $195 for a fully featured, single-installation license
- Express Accounts Plus Quarterly Plan: $7.72 per month for unlimited ongoing use of all professional version features and all upgrades, billed at $23.16 quarterly
NCH Express Accounts can perform basic accounting tasks and integrate with other NCH software. However, it is free only for companies with five or fewer employees; its paid versions can be purchased for a one-time fee or paid on a quarterly basis. It also has a capable bank reconciliation module that’s good for manual reconciliation, which you can use even in the free version of the desktop software.
How We Evaluated Bank Reconciliation Software
In our roundup of the best bank account reconciliation software, we evaluated platforms based on the following criteria:
10% of Overall Score
We considered the price in three levels: for one user, three users, and five users. As the number of users increases, we’d want to see a more affordable per-user rate if compared to a single user. Besides that, we also awarded points for free trials, monthly plans, and discounts for new customers.
40% of Overall Score
As the meat of our evaluation, bank reconciliation gets the highest weight in the overall score. The major features that we’re looking for are the ability to import bank transactions through feed, upload bank statements, and reconcile manually. The software should also show the outstanding checks and deposits in transit for tracking outstanding transactions. Besides that, the reconciliation report should show the details about why the book and bank balances differed during the reconciliation period.
20% of Overall Score
We looked at user review websites to gauge actual feedback from users. Our score is derived from the average user review ratings from these review websites.
20% of Overall Score
Our ease of use evaluation focused on the overall user experience in performing bank reconciliations. We subjectively rated the overall look of the reconciliation screen, the layout and presentation of the reconciliation report, and difficulty of using the bank reconciliation module.
10% of Overall Score
We considered customer support for customers who might need technical support in using the software. Customers must have access to different support channels for maximum flexibility. In our scoring, providers with multiple support channels receive more points.
A bank reconciliation is generally done once a month and ties the balance on your bank statement to the balance in your check register or general ledger account. More often than not, the major reason why bank and book balances don’t tie up is because of outstanding transactions. The two outstanding transactions that you should look out for are the following:
- Deposits in transit: Deposits recorded in your check register that aren’t yet on your bank statement
- Outstanding checks: Checks or electronic payments that are recorded in your check register but aren’t yet on your bank statement
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Some important features to look for include automatic transaction matching, the ability to import bank statements, user-defined rules for matching transactions, and the ability to generate reports and export data.
Bank account reconciliation software can save your business time and reduce errors by automating the process of reconciling bank statements with internal accounting records. It can also help identify and correct errors more quickly and provide an accurate picture of your company’s financial health.
Bank reconciliation software typically connects to a company’s bank accounts and imports transactions into the software. It then matches these transactions with the company’s internal accounting records, such as invoices and receipts, to identify any discrepancies. It can also typically flag transactions that need further investigation or review.
Bottom Line
While we chose QuickBooks Online as the best bank reconciliation software, NCH Express is a good free option for desktop, Wave is a good free option for cloud-based accounting, and Xero is an excellent scalable solution. If you’re looking for accounting software with an automated bank feed, Sage 50 Accounting is a good choice while ReconArt is ideal for businesses with many transactions.