Reconciliation is the process of comparing records to identify any discrepancies between them and check that your firm's records are correct. When there are no unexplained differences, the record is reconciled. Reconciliation is a key part of preventing fraud and maintaining regulatory compliance, and should be performed on a regular basis depending on your jurisdiction. Reconciling your bank accounts is a critical part of compliance that all firms need to do. If your firm maintains and uses trust accounts, trust account reconciliation is equally, if not more so, important.
This feature is just one component of Clio Accounting. Learn more about the other features by reading the articles listed below. We recommend starting with "Clio Accounting: Basics and Guidelines to Get Started" and routinely reviewing the recommended guidelines list to stay on top of your accounting and bookkeeping.
Operating account reconciliation
In Clio Accounting, operating accounts undergo two-way reconciliation, where you compare bank records to corresponding ledger accounts (client transactions grouped by each client). When there are no unexplained differences, the record is reconciled. Once reconciled, you can view summary reports or void reconciliations.
Note: You should reconcile your operating accounts after doing bank feed matching and ensuring that all transactions on your bank statement have corresponding records in Clio Accounting.
Tip: Reconciling your accounts monthly is recommended. Depending on your jurisdiction, you may need to reconcile accounts monthly or quarterly, but checking more often is recommended—this way, you have less transactions to check at one time, making it easier to spot errors. Doing regular bank reconciliations can also help you catch fraud and errors early on and within enough time for recourse.
Reconcile operating account
- Go to Banking and click the 3 dots next to the Account you would like to reconcile. Select Reconcile.
- Complete the details depending on whether this is your first reconciliation in Clio Accounting or a subsequent reconciliation.
- First reconciliation: The Starting date and Starting balance are the amounts you set when you set up Clio Accounting in the setup wizard. The Ending date is the last day of this reconciliation period, and the Ending balance is the balance on the ending date. Both the Ending date and Ending balance come from your bank statement.
- Subsequent reconciliation: The Starting date is the day after your last reconciliation and the Starting balance is the ending balance from the last reconciliation. The Ending date is the last day of this reconciliation period, and the Ending balance is the balance on the ending date. Both the Ending date and Ending balance come from your bank statement.
- Review the three sections at the top and the table at the bottom to check if your accounts balance.
- Bank records: This shows records from your bank. The account is reconciled when the Bank ending balance matches the Clio ending balance in the Clio Accounting records section.
- Clio Accounting records: This shows the records in Clio Accounting. The account is reconciled when the Clio ending balance matches the Bank ending balance in the Bank records section.
- Difference: This section will show the difference between the ending balances for your bank records and Clio Accounting records. The ending balances will need to be $0 to reconcile the account.
- Clio Accounting records table: This table shows records that you can include or exclude in the selected reconciliation period to match your bank records and accounting records.
- Under the Clio Accounting records table, check or uncheck transactions that you do or do not want to include in the reconciliation period. Keep checking and/or unchecking transactions until the difference is $0.
- You would want to exclude (uncheck) transactions that do not have a corresponding entry in your bank account statement.
- As you check and/or uncheck transactions, the amount for the difference will update accordingly.
- When the difference is $0, click Finish.
- Optional: You can click Choose files in this section to upload a copy of the relevant bank statements.
This will generate a reconciliation report that shows a summary of balances, cleared transactions, and uncleared transactions.Note: If there are any uncleared transactions that you did not include in your reconciliation, a modal with a list of these transactions will appear.
The list of uncleared transactions should include only those transactions that have been recorded in Clio Accounting but but that have not yet cleared through the bank (e.g. a check deposited on October 31 may not appear on the October bank statement since it can take a few of days for the deposit to be processed). Any other transactions, for example transactions that appear in linked bank accounts for which an entry has not been recorded in Clio Accounting (e.g. bank interest or bank charges) should be handled before finishing the reconciliation. If there are no items on this list that should not appear, click Finish.
This will generate a reconciliation report that shows a summary of ledger and account balances, cleared transactions and uncleared transactions, and bank charges and bank interest.
- Cleared transactions: This section shows some of the individual funds in and funds out transactions in Clio Accounting that also appeared and matched on the bank statement.
- Uncleared transactions: This section shows a some of the details of individual funds in and funds out transactions recorded in Clio Accounting that have not yet cleared through the bank. If you have uncleared transactions in this reconciliation period, you would want to review them in the next period.
- Optional: Click the Details tab to see a comprehensive list of every transaction included in the reconciliation Print to PDF.
- Optional: If you need to save a digital copy of the reconciliation summary or details on your computer, click Print to PDF from the relevant tab. If you need a physical copy, you can print the downloaded PDF.
- Optional: If you need to make any changes to the reconciliation, click Void. Voiding will delete the reconciliation, which means you will need to start from the beginning again.
Void reconciliation
- Go to Reports and select Reconciliation.
- For the reconciliation that you want to void, click the More Actions dropdown and select Void.
View reconciliation report
- Go to Reports and select Reconciliation.
- For the reconciliation that you want to view, click the More Actions dropdown and select View report.
Trust account reconciliation
In Clio Accounting, trust accounts undergo three-way reconciliation, where you three financial records and ensure they correspond with one another. These three records are the trust account's bank records, the client trust ledger containing all transaction entries related to a specific client, and the firm's trust ledger containing all trust transactions. When all three records align and there are no unexplained differences, the account is reconciled. In Clio Accounting, you can view summary reports of previous reconciliations or void reconciliations, if necessary.
Note: You should reconcile your trust accounts after doing bank feed matching and ensuring that all transactions on your bank statement have corresponding records in Clio Accounting.
Tip: Reconciling your accounts monthly is recommended. Depending on your jurisdiction, you may need to reconcile accounts monthly or quarterly, but checking more often is recommended—this way, you have less transactions to check at one time, making it easier to spot errors. Doing regular bank reconciliations can also help you catch fraud and errors early on and within enough time for recourse.
Reconcile trust account
- Go to Banking and click the 3 dots next to the Trust Account. Select Reconcile.
- Complete the details depending on whether this is your first reconciliation in Clio Accounting or a subsequent reconciliation.
- First reconciliation: The Starting date and Starting balance are the amounts you set when you set up Clio Accounting in the setup wizard. The Ending date is the last day of this reconciliation period, and the Ending balance is the balance on the ending date. Both the Ending date and Ending balance come from your bank statement.
- Subsequent reconciliation: The Starting date is the day after your last reconciliation and the Starting balance is the ending balance from the last reconciliation. The Ending date is the last day of this reconciliation period, and the Ending balance is the balance on the ending date. Both the Ending date and Ending balance come from your bank statement.
- Review the three sections at the top and the table at the bottom to check if your accounts balance.
- Bank records: This shows records from your bank. The account is reconciled when the Bank ending balance matches the Clio ending balance in the Clio Accounting records section.
- Clio Accounting records: This shows the records in Clio Accounting. The account is reconciled when the Clio ending balance matches the Bank ending balance in the Bank records section.
- Difference: This section will show the difference between the ending balances for your bank records and Clio Accounting records. The ending balances will need to be $0 to reconcile the account.
- Clio Accounting records table: This table shows records that you can include or exclude in the selected reconciliation period to match your bank records and accounting records.
- Under the Clio Accounting records table, check or uncheck transactions that you do or do not want to include in the reconciliation period. Keep checking and/or unchecking transactions until the difference is $0.
- Clio Accounting will automatically check transactions that you previously matched.
- You would want to exclude (uncheck) transactions that do not have a corresponding entry in your bank account statement.
- As you check and/or uncheck transactions, the difference will be live-tallied.
- When the difference is $0, click Finish.
- Clio Accounting will show any uncleared transactions that will not be included in this reconciliation period. Click Return back to reconciliation to go back to the table screen to include them, or click Finish to exclude them from this period and finish the reconciliation once the difference is zero. Finishing will generate a reconciliation report that shows a summary of balances, cleared transactions, and uncleared transactions.
- Summary: This section shows a summary of transaction amounts and balances, including any uncleared transactions.
- Cleared transactions: This section shows a detailed view of transactions in Clio Accounting that also appeared and matched on the bank statement.
- Uncleared transactions: This section shows a detailed view of transactions recorded in Clio Accounting that have not yet cleared through the bank. For example, a check deposited on October 31 may not appear on the October bank statement since it can take a couple of days for the deposit to be processed. If you have uncleared transactions in this reconciliation period, you would want to review them in the next period.
- Click the Details subtab to view a more detailed view of the transactions that were included in the reconciliation period.
- Here, you can click invoice numbers to double-check details in Clio Manage. You can also view a summary of cleared and uncleared balances for client ledgers included in the reconciliation period for compliance purposes.
- This view is helpful if your firm is audited and you need to provide details that trace back the source of the transactions.
- Optional: If you need a physical copy of if you need to save a digital copy on your computer, click Print to PDF.
- Optional: If you need to make any changes to the reconciliation, click Void. Voiding will delete the reconciliation, which means you will need to start from the beginning again.
Void reconciliation
- Go to Reports and select Reconciliation.
- For the reconciliation that you want to void, click the More Actions dropdown and select Void.
View reconciliation report
- Go to Reports and select Reconciliation.
- For the reconciliation that you want to view, click the More Actions dropdown and select View report.