Introduction to reconciliation
Learn what vendor statement reconciliation checks, which three documents you use, and how to read the open amount. The software assigns 21 categories; this module introduces the 20 that need an action or explanation.
Vendor statement reconciliation compares what a supplier says you owe with what your accounting system shows. You then explain each item that does not match.
You normally use three documents: the vendor statement, your accounting system report from the ERP, and a prior reconciliation when one is available.
The software compares each statement line with the invoices in your accounting system and assigns one of 21 categories. One category, reconciled_activity, needs no action and is not shown. This course covers the other 20 categories, what they mean, and what you need to do next.
The software reads data from your accounting system but does not write back to it. You make any corrections or updates in your accounting system.
- The open amount is the part of an invoice that remains unpaid. This is the amount compared with the statement. A fully paid invoice has an open amount of $0.00.
- Systems such as Xero and NetSuite may show both the original invoice amount and the remaining amount. Systems such as Vista and QuickBooks may show only the open amount.
- Check timing before you call an item missing. A payment that you sent but the supplier has not processed is a timing difference, not a missing invoice.
- This course does not teach Excel. It focuses on the judgment needed to explain differences and choose the next action.
- If you have done a bank reconciliation, the pattern will be familiar. Outstanding cheques and deposits-in-transit are similar to status_conflict_timing. Bank or book errors are similar to amount_variance or fuzzy_ref. The documents differ, but the review is much the same.
- Three-way match / GR-IR is a different process from vendor statement reconciliation. Three-way match checks that the purchase order, goods receipt, and vendor invoice agree before payment. Vendor statement reconciliation compares the vendor's statement with your AP ledger after transactions have been recorded.
- Regional terms differ. Aged Creditors in the UK and Australia is the same report as Aged Payables in the US. PLCA means Purchase Ledger Control Account in the UK and Australia; the related US term is AP subledger.
Why this matters
Statement Zen first clears straightforward matches, then lists the items that need review across the same 20 action categories. The arithmetic remains the check; do not describe the software as deciding whether a balance is correct.
Why statement reconciliation matters
For each situation, decide whether the new fact makes the proposed explanation much less likely, less likely, unchanged, more likely, or much more likely. Use the evidence given rather than looking for one absolute answer.
This exercise uses a provisional answer guide written for the course. It has not been validated by an independent group of reviewers.
1. A colleague says vendor statement reconciliation is useful because it catches problems.
Hypothesis: A main benefit of reconciliation is finding supplier invoices that were never entered in AP.
New fact: In your last three reconciliations, each genuine difference was a supplier invoice missing from AP and was found weeks before it became a dispute.
2. A colleague says a bank feed is the only document needed for statement reconciliation.
Hypothesis: You normally need the vendor statement, an AP report, and, when available, the prior reconciliation.
New fact: You receive only a bank feed and are told to reconcile the vendor statement from it.
3. A vendor statement shows an invoice as open, but you cannot find it in the AP report you were given.
Hypothesis: Before treating the invoice as missing, you should check whether the difference is caused by timing.
New fact: The invoice was paid four days ago, and the AP report lists only aged-open items, so paid invoices are excluded.
4. A learner asks whether the course focuses on Excel VLOOKUP techniques.
Hypothesis: The course mainly teaches spreadsheet formulas and VLOOKUP.
New fact: The exercises focus on pairing statement and AP lines and deciding how to handle differences. No spreadsheet screen is used.
5. An aged-open payables report does not show an invoice that the vendor says is still outstanding.
Hypothesis: The invoice must be missing from the ERP and should be chased immediately.
New fact: The invoice was paid last week, so it is no longer open and does not appear on the aged-open report.
Statement Zen Academy Team — Practical guidance based on Statement Zen's vendor statement reconciliation work. · Last updated