Input, Output and Who Decides
Use a permitted supplier statement, payables extract and supporting documents in one currency at one cutoff. Produce a two-sided reconciliation and evidence questions. The payables owner investigates; a different reviewer checks the working. Their work does not authorize payment or posting.
Steps
- Record the statement date, ledger cutoff and currency. Investigate different periods before matching balances.
- List every statement reference, date and signed amount, including payments and credits.
- Match each to ledger references, dates and amounts; retain both original record locators.
- Classify unmatched lines as evidenced timing, missing entry, duplicate, credit or unclear. Similar amounts alone do not establish a match.
- Calculate the raw statement-minus-ledger gap.
- Show the adjustments separately on each side. Mark proposed entries and conditional amounts clearly.
- Give every open item an evidence question, named role and next review. Keep the original extract alongside the working.
This is OpenAid's sequence. Avoid inserting an unexplained adjustment to make totals meet.
Worked Fictional Case
Northfield's October 31 statement and ledger use invented USD:
| Reference | Statement | Ledger |
|---|---|---|
| INV-2201 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| INV-2207 | 2,400 | 2,400 |
| INV-2212 | 900 | 900 |
| Duplicate INV-2212 posting | 0 | 900 |
| PAY-0318 | -1,500 | -1,500 |
| CN-0045 | -200 | 0 |
| INV-2219 | 650 | 0 |
| PAY-0322 | 0 | -1,000 |
| Total | 3,750 | 3,200 |
P0322EXEC explicitly confirms execution of 1,000 on October 30; supplier record ALOC32 explicitly confirms it remained unallocated on October 31. A released instruction alone would not prove this timing explanation. The credit-note copy is supplied.
The raw gap is 550: timing +1,000, missing invoice +650, credit -200 and duplicate -900. After the evidenced timing adjustment, the statement side is 3,750 - 1,000 = 2,750.
The conditional ledger working is 3,200 - 900 + 650 - 200 = 2,750, only if INV-2219 is supported and its entry authorized. These are proposed corrections, not posted entries.
Exception: Missing Support
INV-2219 has no acceptance or receipt evidence. Leave 650 awaiting evidence. Without admitting it, the proposed ledger figure is 3,200 - 900 - 200 = 2,100, leaving 650 against the adjusted statement. Ask the contract or receiving owner for the actual evidence and applicable terms. Do not invent a receipt or assume all permitted contracts prohibit advance payments.
Human Boundary
The statement balance is not an instruction to pay. The authorized owner decides corrections and payment separately; the reviewer records checks and remaining questions. Use the outstanding-balance trace for one obligation's document chain.
Sources and Scope
HMRC's procure-to-pay controls (July 27, 2026, UK VAT) expressly cover statement reconciliation and adjustment reasons/audit trails. CC8 sections 2.7/6.1 (November 27, 2024, England and Wales), NHS Scotland's procurement-fraud guide (April 29, 2021), and ACNC's undated controls and records pages support separate checks, delegations and creditor records in their contexts. They do not prescribe this worksheet or prove fraud. Checked November 1, 2026; no tax deadlines or universal payment rule imported.