Items on one side only
Items that appear on the statement but not in your ledger (statement_only, not_open_maybe_paid, out_of_period) or in your ledger but not on the statement (ledger_only, ledger_out_of_period). Rule out timing before chasing.
An item on the statement but not in your ledger (statement_only) is a bill the supplier says you owe but that you have not recorded. Request the invoice and enter it in your system.
An item on the statement but not in your open-payables report (not_open_maybe_paid) may have already been paid. Your aged payables report only shows unpaid invoices — a paid invoice will not appear. Check your paid invoices list before chasing.
An item outside the period (out_of_period) is dated outside the date range your accounting report covers. It is not a discrepancy — it is just outside the scope of the data you provided.
An item in your ledger but not on the statement (ledger_only) is an open invoice the supplier did not list. It could be a timing difference (they prepared the statement before you entered it) or an omission on their side.
An item in your ledger but outside the period (ledger_out_of_period) is dated outside the report's range or after the statement's latest date. Not a discrepancy — just out of scope.
- Always check timing and report type before emailing the vendor.
- An aged-open payables report that omits a paid invoice does not mean 'missing from your system' — it means the invoice was paid and correctly excluded from an open-items view.
- What to do in your accounting system: for statement_only — request the invoice PDF, then enter the bill. For not_open_maybe_paid — check if it was already paid. For out_of_period — no action. For ledger_only — check timing, then query if needed. For ledger_out_of_period — no action.
- Do not pay from the statement alone — always get the actual invoice first.
Watch: see each category in the software
On their statement — missing from your ledger
Request the invoice from the supplier, then enter the bill
Quick check: On their statement, missing from your ledger
Answer every question, then check. Pass bar is shown after submit.
1. The supplier's statement lists an invoice that doesn't appear anywhere in your accounting system. What do you do?
Not open in your ledger — may already be paid
Check whether the invoice was already paid before chasing
Quick check: Not open in your ledger — may already be paid
Answer every question, then check. Pass bar is shown after submit.
1. An invoice on the statement doesn't appear in your open-payables report, which only lists unpaid invoices. What do you do?
Outside the period this report covers
No action — outside the scope of the report you provided
Quick check: Outside the period this report covers
Answer every question, then check. Pass bar is shown after submit.
1. A statement line is dated outside the date range covered by your accounting system report. What do you do?
In your ledger — missing from their statement
Check timing first, then query the omission with the supplier
Quick check: In your ledger, missing from their statement
Answer every question, then check. Pass bar is shown after submit.
1. You have an open invoice in your accounting system that doesn't appear on the supplier's statement. What do you do?
In your ledger — outside the period
No action — outside the reconciliation window
Quick check: In your ledger, outside the period
Answer every question, then check. Pass bar is shown after submit.
1. An open invoice in your accounting system is dated outside the period the report covers, or after the statement's latest date. What do you do?
Lab 3.1 — Missing hunt
Match what you can. Two statement lines are missing from AP. Two AP lines are extras — classify carefully (one may be timing).
The statement this lab is drawn from
Harbury & Blake Industrial Supplies Ltd
Unit 7, Pennington Trade Park
Foleshill Road, Coventry CV6 5RJ
VAT 412 8876 03 · Company 04871260
- Account no.
- HB-04182
- Statement date
- 31 July 2026
- Statement no.
- ST-2026-07-0413
- Currency
- GBP (£)
- Terms
- 30 days net
- Basis
- Open item
Statement of account
Account of Westmere Joinery Ltd · Accounts Payable, 14 Calder Way, Holbeck, Leeds LS11 8QP
| Date | Reference | Description | Debit | Credit | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Jul | — | Balance brought forward — 2 documents open at 30 June | $3,412.60 | ||
| 03 Jul | INV-20714 | Steel banding, 20 mm × 40 coils | $1,284.00 | $4,696.60 | |
| 09 Jul | INV-20776 | Hardwood dowel stock, 12 mm × 300 lengths | $2,145.80 | $6,842.40 | |
| 14 Jul | CRN-3391 | Credit note — 6 coils returned damaged, against INV-20714 | $192.60 | $6,649.80 | |
| 17 Jul | INV-20831 | Cabinet hinges, 100 mm brass, 12 boxes | $968.40 | $7,618.20 | |
| 22 Jul | ALL-8802 | Payment allocated in part to INV-20776 — balance remains open | $1,000.00 | $6,618.20 | |
| 28 Jul | INV-20907 | Abrasive belts, assorted grits, 15 packs | $1,376.25 | $7,994.45 | |
| 30 Jul | INV-20915 | Carriage, next-day pallet, against INV-20907 | $45.00 | $8,039.45 | |
| Totals for period | $5,819.45 | $1,192.60 | |||
| Balance carried forward at 31 July 2026 | $8,039.45 | ||||
Ageing of the closing balance
| Current | 31–60 | 61–90 | Over 90 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $4,626.85 | $2,128.60 | $1,284.00 | $0.00 | $8,039.45 |
Remittance advice
Please quote account HB-04182 and the individual document references on all payments. Where a payment settles part of a document only, please state which document it is against; unallocated cash is held on account and will show as a credit on next month's statement rather than clearing an invoice.
Queries on any line above should be raised within 14 days of the statement date.
Detach and return with payment — Account HB-04182 — Statement ST-2026-07-0413 — amount remitted £ ______________ — documents settled ______________________________
Click a statement line, then click an AP line to pair. Click a pair badge to unlink. Archetypes: S1 × L1.
Norwood Timber Supplies
8 Millwright St, Norwood SA 5067
Statement date: 2026-05-13
Vendor statement(S1 — open-item statement)
AP / ERP extract
Lab 3.2 — Story cards
Read each scenario, click it, then click the correct bucket. Watch for the aged-open false alarm.
Select a card, then click a bucket. Timing and report-flavour mistakes that look like “missing” are critical fails.
Lab 3.3 — Duplicate candidate clinic
Classify each scenario. duplicate_statement has two subtypes: caught before either entry is paid (freeze and void) vs. caught after both have been paid (recovery). Watch for lookalikes that are not actually duplicates.
Select a card, then click a bucket. Timing and report-flavour mistakes that look like “missing” are critical fails.
M3 — The invoice that isn't on your ledger
Rank ALL five actions from best (1) to worst (5). There is no single 'correct' answer to pick — every option must be weighed against the others, and the ranking is scored against an expert-consensus order, not a single best answer.
Consensus ranking: authored, provisional — not yet scored against a real multi-rater expert panel.
You're reconciling a vendor statement. One line on the statement — Invoice #INV-40218, $2,140.00 — has no matching line anywhere in the ledger export you pulled from the ERP. Before you do anything else, decide what order you'd tackle these five possible next actions in.
- 1.Check whether the ledger report you pulled is a paid-invoices-only view or the full transaction history (report flavour) before assuming the invoice is genuinely missing.
- 2.Mark the line statement_only in your workpaper with a note, and continue reconciling the rest of the statement.
- 3.Email the vendor right away asking them to resend a copy of the invoice.
- 4.Escalate to your manager before doing anything else on this line.
- 5.Assume the amount is a duplicate of an already-matched line and ignore it without checking further.
Statement Zen Academy Team — Built from Statement Zen's own vendor statement reconciliation engineering and casework — pending Michael's named byline commitment (spec.md section 7). · Last updated