The Private Accounting Reconciliation Process

Private Accounting uses the traditional reconciliation method of comparing external data to the accounting system data. Private Accounting supports manual reconciliation — checking transactions against a statement by hand — as well as the OFX-based comparison described below. It achieves this by treating reconciliation as a comparison process rather than as the data-entry process of "bank feed accounting." Private Accounting makes this traditional reconciliation process easier by:

1. Handling Open Financial Exchange (OFX) files containing bank, credit card, and other transactions, whether the file covers part of a period, a single period, or a span of multiple periods.
2. Highlighting differences between the accounting system data and the OFX data.
3. Allowing the user to rectify the differences.
4. Identifying potential missing transactions.
5. Using Accounts Receivable (AR) and Accounts Payable (AP) to corroborate the comparison, providing a deeper and more meaningful comparison than OFX-to-account transaction matching alone.

Private Accounting handles industry-standard OFX files while maintaining secure, offline operation for the user. It does not require, store, or use any bank or financial credentials. The process is as follows:

1. The user obtains (usually by download) the statement or transaction report in OFX format (.qbo, .aso, or .ofx file).
2. The user selects and loads the OFX file into the reconciliation window.
3. Private Accounting compares the OFX data to the accounting system data and indicates the matches, omissions, or errors it finds.
4. As the user makes corrections to transactions, Private Accounting updates its reporting upon the user returning to the reconciliation window.
5. Private Accounting unloads the OFX file when reconciliation is completed.

To make service charges and interest transactions visible rather than obscuring them through aggregation, Private Accounting shows these transactions individually in the unmatched section, allowing the user to review and apply them as desired.

Private Accounting reconciliation provides the increased convenience of precise OFX transaction matching, aided by a deeper view that includes AR and AP, while maintaining improved security. See Private Accounting Security for features.

You can see Private Accounting reconciliation in action by downloading the MyCo.db sample database and the MyCo.qbo OFX file (requires installation of Private Accounting). See "Getting Started with Private Accounting" for usage.