Reconcile payments

Reconciling means saying what each statement line is: an invoice being paid, an expense being settled, charges, a transfer between your accounts. To Bill suggests an answer for most lines; you confirm it in one click, and the accounting entry is booked.

Before you start

• Import your bank’s statement. See Import a bank statement.
• You need the right to manage the accounting. Without it, you can view the lines but not handle them.

The list of lines

In Accounting › Bank, the Statement tab lists the lines of the chosen account. If you have several accounts, switch account by clicking its name at the top.

Tab	What it shows
To do	The lines waiting for your decision.
Safe matches	The payments To Bill has recognised beyond any doubt, to confirm in one go.
Reconciled	The lines handled: reconciled, booked or ignored.
All	All the account’s lines.

Each line shows To Bill’s suggestion, for example Invoice F-2609 — Dupont SA, and below it why it suggests it.

Reason shown	What it means
Same QR reference · Exact amount	The line carries the QR (or RF) reference of an open invoice, for its exact amount.
Same QR reference · Partial payment	The right invoice, but the client paid less.
Same QR reference · More than the open balance	The right invoice, but the client paid more.
Payment entered by hand · The line links to it	You had already recorded this payment: the line links to it, without counting it twice.
Only open invoice of this amount	No reference, but only one open invoice has this amount.
Same supplier payment reference	The debit of a supplier invoice paid by payment file.
Amount, date and supplier match	An expense of the same amount, a few days apart, from a supplier with a similar name.
As last time for this counterparty	The same account as the last line from this counterparty.
The text mentions bank fees / The text mentions interest	Suggested on financial expenses or financial income.
Payment to the Federal Tax Administration	A VAT payment, suggested on the VAT settlement account.
From one of your rules	One of your bank rules recognises the line.
AI suggestion	Suggested by the AI assistant, if it is turned on; never booked without you.

Accept a suggestion

1. Read the suggestion and its reason.
2. Click OK (1). Or, with the keyboard, select the line with J and K, then press Enter: To Bill moves on to the next line.
3. A message confirms the reconciliation. For a few seconds it offers Undo, in case you made a mistake.

The line moves to Reconciled, the invoice is marked paid (or partly paid) and the entry is booked.

Safe matches

A suggestion is safe when the QR reference is valid, the amount is exact and only one invoice is possible. In the Safe matches tab, click Confirm the N safe matches: To Bill checks each line again before confirming it; a line that is no longer safe stays to do. By default, these payments are even booked as soon as they are imported. See Bank rules and automations.

Handle a line

Click a line, or Handle, to open it. The right-hand panel shows the line in detail (account, reference, message, statement) and four choices: Proposed, Invoices (or Expenses for money going out), To an account and Ignore.

Under Proposed, click Reconcile (1) to accept the suggestion. The arrows at the top of the panel, or J and K, move to the next or previous line.

One payment for several invoices

A client pays two invoices with a single transfer:

1. Open the line, then the Invoices choice.

2. Tick each invoice paid. If needed, search for them by number, client or amount.

3. Under Spread the payment, To Bill spreads the amount in the order in which you ticked the invoices. Correct the amounts if needed, until it says Fully spread.

   

4. Click Reconcile with the 2 invoices.

If money is left over after the invoices, Book the rest to an account adds a booking line for that remainder.

A partial payment or a discount

When the client has paid slightly less than the invoice, open the Invoices choice and tick the invoice: under Spread the payment, To Bill asks what happens to the difference.

Choice	When to choose it
Leave it open	The client still owes the rest. The invoice stays partly paid; a reminder can claim the balance.
Discount granted	You granted a discount, for example 2% for early payment. The difference goes to sales deductions (3800) and the VAT payable is corrected.
Bank fees kept by the client	The client’s bank deducted charges. The difference goes to financial expenses (6900), without VAT.

These choices are only offered if the difference is no more than 10% of the open amount. Beyond that, issue a credit note instead. See Credit notes.

If the client paid too much, To Bill says so: the surplus remains in the client’s favour, to be refunded or deducted from their next invoice.

An expense payment

For money going out, the Expenses choice lists your expenses and supplier invoices not yet settled from the bank. Choose the right one, then click Reconcile with this expense. If you had already marked the expense as paid, the line links to that payment: it is not booked twice.

The To pay list

A supplier invoice reconciled here stays in Expenses › To pay until you mark it as paid. Mark it as paid: To Bill sees that the payment is already in your books and does not book it a second time. See Pay supplier invoices.

Book to an account

Charges, salaries, VAT, taxes, a transfer to your savings account: these lines have no invoice. Open the To an account choice.

1. Click one of the Shortcuts, or choose the Account from the list.
2. Check the Amount and, for an expense or income, the VAT included: To Bill separates the VAT at the rate in force on the line’s date.
3. To spread the line over several accounts, click Spread the rest (…) to another account.
4. Correct the Entry text if needed, then click Book.

Shortcut	Account
Bank fees	6900 Financial expenses, without VAT
Transfer between your accounts	1090 Internal transfers, created the first time it is used
VAT paid to the FTA	2201 VAT settlement account
Salaries	5000 Wages and salaries, for salaries that are not calculated in To Bill
Taxes	8900 Direct taxes
Interest received	6950 Financial income

Salaries calculated in To Bill

If your salaries are calculated in To Bill’s Payroll module, the month’s payroll has already booked their cost. Do not book their payment to 5000 Wages and salaries: the expense would be counted twice. See Pay salaries.

A transfer between your accounts

The transfer leaves one account and arrives in the other: book both lines, each in its own statement, with Transfer between your accounts. Account 1090 then comes back to zero. If it does not, one of the two lines is missing.

To Bill refuses to book a line to 1100 Accounts receivable or 2000 Accounts payable: these accounts follow your invoices and expenses, so reconcile the document instead. It also refuses the bank’s own account.

Ignore a line

A line duplicated in two statements, or a transaction already booked by hand: open the Ignore choice, choose the reason (Duplicate, Already booked another way, Not part of your books or Other reason, with details), then click Ignore the line.

Ignoring is not booking

An ignored line does not enter your books. If the money really moved, the difference between the statement and your books will show it. To take an ignored line back, open it in Reconciled, then click Put back to do.

What is written in your books

Line reconciled with	Debit	Credit
An invoice payment	the bank’s account (1020…)	1100 Accounts receivable
A discount granted	3800 Sales deductions and 2200 VAT payable	1100 Accounts receivable
Charges deducted by the client	6900 Financial expenses	1100 Accounts receivable
An expense payment	2000 Accounts payable	the bank’s account
An account, for money going out	the chosen account, excluding VAT, and the input VAT (1170 or 1171)	the bank’s account
An account, for money coming in	the bank’s account	the chosen account, excluding VAT, and the VAT payable (2200)

An invoice payment is dated on the day of the line on the statement. Without VAT registration, or with the net tax rate method, there is no VAT line: the whole amount goes to the chosen account, or to 3800 for a discount. In Expert mode, the panel shows the account numbers of each entry.

Undo a reconciliation

1. In the Reconciled tab, open the line. The panel shows the payments and What was written in your books.

   

2. Click Undo the reconciliation (1).

To Bill books a reversal entry for each entry of the line, removes the payments it had created and puts the line back To do. Nothing is erased: the original entry and its reversal stay in the journal. Undoing is refused if the financial year is closed.

Before closing

Lines still to do block the closing of the financial year: the whole statement must be reconciled, booked or ignored. See Close the financial year.

Legal basis

• Every transaction is recorded completely, truthfully and systematically, supported by a voucher and traceable: Art. 957a para. 2 CO. Expenses and income are not offset against each other: Art. 958c para. 1 no. 7 CO.
• An error is not erased: it is corrected by a reversal entry, so that the change remains visible: Art. 3 GeBüV, the Ordinance on the Keeping and Retention of Accounting Records (German version: fedlex has no English one).
• A discount reduces the consideration: the VAT payable is corrected when the discount is booked: Art. 41 para. 1 VAT Act.
• Payment and transfer charges are excluded from VAT, hence they are booked without VAT: Art. 21 para. 2 no. 19 let. c VAT Act.