AR/AP Reconciliation & Clean-Up

What This Delivers

A clean set of books with documentation to match

At the end of this engagement, your receivable and payable balances will reflect what's actually outstanding — matched against supporting documentation, with discrepancies identified and resolved rather than left to accumulate.

You'll receive a reconciliation report and a set of practical recommendations for keeping things aligned going forward. Not a vague suggestion, but specific process improvements suited to how your business actually operates.

Balances reconciled to documentation

Outstanding AR and AP balances matched against invoices, remittances, and supporting records — not estimated from system totals.

Discrepancies resolved

Unmatched transactions, duplicate entries, and unexplained differences are investigated and corrected — not noted and deferred.

Subsidiary ledgers aligned

AR and AP subsidiary ledgers brought into agreement with the general ledger — the fundamental condition for accurate financial reporting.

Process improvements included

Recommendations to prevent the same mismatches recurring — so the clean-up work holds rather than needing to be repeated.

Understanding Your Situation

Ledger misalignment tends to appear at the worst moments

Before an audit

Auditors require subsidiary ledgers to match the general ledger. Finding gaps during fieldwork — rather than before — extends the engagement and creates avoidable pressure.

During system transitions

Migrating to new accounting software with unreconciled balances transfers the problem into the new system. Cleaning up before migration is substantially easier than after.

After a period of growth

Fast-growing businesses often find their AR and AP records didn't keep pace. Transactions accumulate, processes go undocumented, and the gap between the ledger and reality widens quietly over quarters.

In all of these situations, the work involved in a clean-up is proportional to how long the misalignment has been building. Addressing it directly — rather than working around it — is usually the more practical path.

Our Approach

Methodical, documented, and focused on resolution

We work through your outstanding AR and AP balances systematically — matching each item against its supporting documentation, identifying what doesn't reconcile, and working through those discrepancies until the subsidiary ledgers reflect what's genuinely outstanding.

Nothing is marked as resolved without a documented basis. Every adjustment traces back to source records. At the end of the engagement, you have a reconciliation report that explains what was found and what was done.

The engagement can be structured as a one-time clean-up or a periodic review, depending on what your situation requires.

Balance Review

We pull outstanding AR and AP balances from your system and begin matching them against invoices, remittance advice, and payment records. The scope is mapped before we start.

Discrepancy Identification

Unmatched transactions, duplicate postings, misapplied payments, and unexplained balances are flagged and documented — not glossed over to make the numbers appear to reconcile.

Resolution

Each discrepancy is investigated and resolved — correcting entries, applying unapplied cash, and adjusting coding errors — until subsidiary ledgers align with the general ledger.

Report & Recommendations

A reconciliation report summarising what was found and resolved, plus process improvement recommendations to prevent the same issues returning in future periods.

Working Together

What it's like to go through this process

A reconciliation engagement involves some back-and-forth — we'll need access to records, and occasionally we'll have questions about specific transactions. The workload on your side is lighter than you might expect.

Defined scope from the start

Before we begin, we establish what's being reconciled, what time periods are covered, and what the deliverables are. No ambiguity about what you're getting.

Regular progress updates

As we work through the balances, we keep you informed about what we're finding and how things are resolving — not a single final report with no visibility along the way.

Books you can use after

The result is books that reflect actual positions — usable for financial review, audit preparation, or system migration, without the mental overhead of knowing something doesn't add up.

Investment

$2,200

one-time engagement

Fixed-Price Project

What's included

Full reconciliation of outstanding AR and AP balances against supporting documentation
Identification and documentation of all discrepancies — unmatched transactions, duplicates, misapplied payments
Resolution of identified discrepancies with documented basis for each correction
Subsidiary ledger alignment with the general ledger — AR and AP in agreement with the trial balance
Reconciliation report — a written summary of what was found, what was resolved, and current clean balances
Process improvement recommendations — specific and practical steps to prevent recurrence

Available as a one-time engagement or structured as a periodic review. Scope confirmed before work begins — no scope creep without your agreement.

Get in Touch About This Service

What Good Looks Like

Clear deliverables and honest timelines

A reconciliation engagement has defined end states. Here's how we measure completion and what you can expect along the way.

Ledger agreement

The primary completion criterion: subsidiary AR and AP ledgers match the general ledger within agreed materiality thresholds. Not approximate agreement — documented alignment.

Written reconciliation report

Every engagement concludes with a written report — scope covered, discrepancies found, resolutions applied, and current balances confirmed. This document travels with your books.

Typical duration: 2–4 weeks

Most engagements complete within 2–4 weeks depending on the volume of transactions and availability of supporting documentation. Complex or multi-year backlogs may require longer — we'll scope accurately before starting.

Our Commitment

A straightforward promise

Scope confirmed before we start

We agree on what's being reconciled, which time periods are covered, and what the deliverables look like before any work begins. No surprises about what you're getting.

Every adjustment documented

No unexplained entries. Every correction made during the engagement traces back to a documented finding and a source record. The audit trail is part of the deliverable.

Initial conversation without obligation

We'll discuss your situation, scope the engagement honestly, and give you a clear picture of what's involved before you decide anything. If this isn't the right engagement, we'll say so.

Practical recommendations, not generic advice

The process improvements we recommend at the end of the engagement are specific to what we found in your books — not boilerplate suggestions that could apply to any business.

Getting Started

A clear path through the engagement

Getting started is straightforward — a conversation, a scoping session, and then we begin. Most of the work is on our side.

Reach out

Describe your situation briefly — what's misaligned, what triggered the need, and what's driving the timing.

Scope the engagement

We review the state of your books, confirm the time periods and balances to be reconciled, and establish what access we'll need.

Reconciliation work

We work through the balances, flag discrepancies as we find them, and resolve each one with a documented basis before moving to the next.

Report delivered

You receive the reconciliation report and process recommendations. Books are in order. The engagement is complete.

Ready to bring your books into alignment?

Get in touch and we'll have a conversation about what your current reconciliation situation looks like and what the engagement would involve. No commitment required to have that conversation.

Start the Conversation

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