Different books of reality
An order system records what a customer intended to buy. Processing records describe payment events. A bank statement describes cash movement. Reconciliation connects these views without assuming their timestamps, identifiers or totals will line up automatically at the end of every day.
Define a matching contract
Choose stable identifiers, amount, currency and event type before matching. Specify how to handle batches, partial captures, refunds and fees. A match on amount alone is weak when thousands of customers buy the same product at the same price during a promotion.
A small cash difference
In a fictional batch, captured sales total €1,000, refunds total €100 and known fees total €20. An €880 payout is explainable by those movements. An €875 payout leaves €5 to investigate; calling the whole batch “approximately matched” would conceal the unresolved item.
Make exceptions actionable
Classify breaks as missing records, timing differences, amount differences or unknown deductions. Assign an owner and ageing threshold rather than repeatedly exporting a spreadsheet. A late file can explain a difference temporarily, but the team still needs evidence that the expected record subsequently arrived.