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Free bank reconciliation template for Excel
A free Excel template that matches your bank statement to your own records, with a worked example and a second sheet that checks the statement itself adds up.
Short answer
A bank reconciliation checks that your own records and your bank statement agree on how much money is in the account. This free Excel template does the arithmetic: type the two closing balances, list what one side has and the other doesn’t yet, and it shows the difference, which should be 0.00. It comes with a filled-in example and a sheet that checks the statement itself adds up.
- File
- Excel (.xlsx), 47 KB
- Works in
- Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers
- Sheets
- Blank, example, statement check
- Cost
- Free, no sign-up
Download the template
One Excel file, bank-reconciliation-template.xlsx, with four sheets. Nothing to sign up for, no macros, and it opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers and LibreOffice.
| Sheet | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reconciliation | The blank form. Shaded cells are for you; everything else is worked out, down to a status line that says RECONCILED. |
| Example | The worked example from this page, filled in, so you can see what goes where. |
| Statement check | Paste a statement’s rows; every row is checked against the running balance and any that don’t add up are marked. |
| How to use | The steps below, in short. |
What reconciling a bank account means
You and your bank each keep a record of the same account. Yours is your accounting software, a spreadsheet, a check register or a cashbook. The bank’s is the statement. Reconciling means comparing the two at the same date and explaining every difference, until both arrive at the same figure.
It catches real problems: a payment you forgot to record, a fee you didn’t know about, a check that bounced, a charge you don’t recognise, or a typing mistake. Most businesses do it monthly, when the statement arrives.
Why the two balances are rarely the same
The differences fall into three groups, and the template has a place for each.
Timing: you know about it, the bank doesn’t yet
- Deposits in transit. Money you recorded coming in that reached the bank after the statement date. Add these to the bank’s side.
- Outstanding checks and payments. Checks you wrote, or payments you sent, that hadn’t left the account by the statement date. Take these off the bank’s side.
The bank knows about it, you don’t yet
- Bank fees and charges, and interest the bank paid you.
- Bounced checks: a check you deposited that the payer’s bank refused, so the money was taken back out.
- Money paid straight to the bank that you haven’t recorded, such as a customer’s transfer.
These go on your side, and you add them to your books afterwards.
Mistakes
A wrong amount, a transaction entered twice, or money in recorded as money out. These are usually yours, sometimes the bank’s. The template has a line for each side.
A worked example
Say the statement for a small studio’s checking account closes on 14 September at 18,425.50, and the studio’s own books show 18,994.40 on the same day. Going through both, they find four differences:
- A client paid invoice 2294 on 14 September, but the money arrived after the statement was made: 1,200.00 in transit.
- Check 1044 for repairs went out on 13 September and hasn’t been cashed yet: 640.00 outstanding.
- The bank paid 3.10 interest the studio hadn’t recorded.
- The bank charged a 12.00 account fee the studio hadn’t recorded.
| Closing balance on the statement | 18,425.50 |
|---|---|
| + Deposits in transit | 1,200.00 |
| − Outstanding checks | −640.00 |
| = Adjusted bank balance | 18,985.50 |
| Balance in the studio’s books | 18,994.40 |
| + Interest paid by the bank | 3.10 |
| − Bank fee | −12.00 |
| = Adjusted book balance | 18,985.50 |
| Difference | 0.00 |
Both sides come to 18,985.50, so the account is reconciled. The studio then records the interest and the fee in its books, and next month checks that the 1,200.00 deposit and check 1044 show up on the statement. This is the Example sheet in the template.
How to use the template
- Have the month’s bank statement and your own records for the same month side by side.
- On the Reconciliation sheet, type the statement’s closing balance and your books’ balance on the same date.
- Go down your records and tick off each transaction that also appears on the statement. Ticking against a spreadsheet of the statement is much faster than against a PDF.
- Recorded money in that isn’t on the statement yet goes in list A, deposits in transit.
- Recorded checks and payments that haven’t left the account go in list B, outstanding.
- Items on the statement that aren’t in your books (fees, interest, bounced checks, transfers in) go in section 2.
- Read the status line. RECONCILED means you are done; record the section 2 items in your books.
If it won’t reach zero
Look for a transaction equal to the difference: it is probably missing from one side. If the difference is twice a transaction, that one was entered the wrong way round. If it divides evenly by 9, look for two swapped digits, like 54 typed as 45.
Need the statement as a spreadsheet to tick against? Our bank statement to Excel converter turns the PDF into one in your browser, or see four ways to do it.
Before you reconcile: check the statement adds up
A reconciliation assumes the statement in front of you is complete and correct. That is nearly always true of the bank’s own PDF. It is less certain of a spreadsheet someone typed up, an export with rows cut off, or a table that ChatGPT or a PDF tool made from the statement.
The Statement check sheet tests it. Paste the transactions in (date, description, reference, money out, money in, balance), type the opening and closing balances, and every row is checked: the balance before it, plus money in, minus money out, must equal its own balance. A row that doesn’t is shaded and marked CHECK, and the sheet counts them.
This is the same test our converter runs on every PDF before you download, which is why its Excel file pastes straight into this sheet in the right column order.
Two different checks
Checking that a statement adds up is not a bank reconciliation. One compares the statement with itself; the other compares the bank’s record with yours. You want both, in that order.
Questions
Does this template work in Google Sheets?
Yes. In Google Sheets choose File, Import, Upload and pick the downloaded file, or open it from Google Drive. The formulas and the colour marks work the same way. It also opens in Apple Numbers and LibreOffice.
How often should I reconcile my bank account?
Once a month, when the statement arrives, is the usual habit for a small business. Busy accounts are easier to reconcile weekly, because there are fewer transactions to tick off at a time.
What if the difference won’t go to zero?
Look for a transaction equal to the difference: it is usually missing from one side. A difference equal to twice a transaction means it was entered the wrong way round, money in as money out. A difference divisible by 9 often means two digits were swapped, such as 54 typed as 45.
Do I need this if I use QuickBooks or Xero?
Not usually. Both have reconciliation built in: you tick off transactions against the statement on screen. This template is for when you keep your books in a spreadsheet, a check register or a paper cashbook, or when you want to check a reconciliation by hand.
Is a bank reconciliation the same as checking that a statement adds up?
No. A reconciliation compares the bank’s record with yours. Checking that a statement adds up compares the statement with itself: each balance should equal the one before plus money in minus money out. The template’s Statement check sheet does the second; our converter does it automatically when it reads a PDF.
Is the template really free?
Yes. No sign-up and no email. Use it, change it and share it as you like.
Sources
Read on 6 October 2026. Software changes its menus often; if a step here no longer matches what you see, please tell us at hello@safebankstatementconverter.com and we will fix it.
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