Monthly bank reconciliation template in Excel: the month is not closed until this says Reconciled.
A three-sheet workbook: the reconciliation itself, an outstanding-items list that feeds it, and a 12-month sign-off checklist. Shaded cells are the only inputs. Free, no email required.
How do you do a monthly bank reconciliation in Excel?
Start from the closing balance on the bank statement, add deposits banked but not yet showing, subtract payments made but not yet presented. Then start from the ledger balance, add receipts on the statement not yet in the books, subtract fees and direct debits not yet entered, and adjust for any errors found. The two adjusted balances must match to the cent. This workbook does that arithmetic for you and flags any difference in red. Across 6,190 positive publicly posted reviews of NZ accounting and bookkeeping practices, accuracy is mentioned in only 8.9%: clients assume it rather than praise it, so the reconciliation is where that assumption is tested every month.
The job this document is doing.
- —The bank balance and the ledger are “close enough” and the month gets closed anyway
- —An item sits unexplained for three months because nobody owns the outstanding list
- —A duplicated supplier payment is found at year end, by the accountant, at the accountant’s rates
- —The reconciliation is done but nobody signs it, so nobody can say who checked
Open it and use it today.
- 01Reconciliation sheet: bank side and books side, adjusted balances, difference, and a Reconciled or Not reconciled result
- 02Outstanding items sheet with a type dropdown; uncleared totals feed the reconciliation automatically, and days outstanding turn amber at 30 and red at 60
- 03Monthly checklist for 12 months with reviewer and close date
- 04How to use, including the three most common causes of a difference
Free to use and adapt for your own business. Not legal advice: check contract terms against your own terms of trade and, where it matters, with a lawyer.
Why this document, and not another one.
| Measure (NZ accounting and bookkeeping) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Accuracy praised, positive reviews | 8.9% |
| Errors or mistakes mentioned, negative reviews | Under 1% |
| Clear explanation praised, positive reviews | 26.3% |
From 7,571 publicly posted customer reviews of 484 NZ accounting and bookkeeping practices, collected October 2026. Each review carries a single star rating: 4 or 5 stars counted as positive (n=6,190), 2 stars or fewer as negative (n=328, reported as rank order rather than precision, so negative-review figures are rounded). Praise and complaint traits were coded against a fixed taxonomy; no business is named. Full corpus, method and thresholds: the accounting & bookkeeping methodology page. Full findings: the accounting & bookkeeping research study.
Use it alongside
13-week cash flow forecast template (Excel)
A rolling 13-week forecast with six receipt lines, twelve payment lines, a minimum-balance threshold and an assumptions sheet.
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