Why bank reconciliation takes days, and how SureMonth handles it
Month-end reconciliation is slow for firms that keep the books of many clients. Here is where the time goes and how SureMonth works through it, one client at a time.
If your firm keeps the books for dozens of companies, month-end is a queue. Every client has its own bank accounts, its own ledger and its own habits, and each one has to be reconciled before anyone can call the month closed.
We built SureMonth for that queue. This post explains where we think the days go and what SureMonth does about each part.
Where the days go
Reconciliation is rarely hard. It is slow because the same small steps repeat for every client:
- Getting the bank lines. Some banks offer an API. Many clients still send PDF or Excel statements.
- Matching. Each line has to be tied to an invoice, a bill or a payment. Most lines are obvious; the rest need someone to look.
- The leftovers. Bank fees, transfers between accounts and payments without a reference need a journal entry, and someone has to write it.
- Chasing the client. One missing receipt can hold up a close.
- Keeping track. With many clients in progress at once, it is easy to lose sight of who is waiting on what.
None of these steps is difficult on its own. Repeated for every client, every month, they add up to days.
How SureMonth works
SureMonth connects to each client company's own ledger. Odoo and Zoho Books work today, and more ledgers are planned for 2027. Then it follows the same steps for every client:
- Bank lines come in through a bank API where open banking is live, or from statement files everywhere else.
- Each line gets a suggested match to an invoice, bill or payment, with a confidence score and the reasons for the suggestion.
- Lines with no match get a draft journal entry.
- An accountant reviews and approves. Nothing posts to the ledger before that. Rules learn from these approvals, so similar lines are matched the same way next month.
- The close checklist and the partner's sign-off produce a close pack for the file.
The firm dashboard lists every client with its progress, unmatched lines, status, owner and close day, so the whole queue is in one place. When a receipt is missing, you send the client a link to ask for it.
Bank data depends on the country
How bank lines reach SureMonth depends on where the client banks:
| Where the client banks | How lines arrive |
|---|---|
| UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UK, EU/EEA | Bank API (open banking) |
| USA and Canada | Bank aggregators |
| Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and elsewhere | PDF, Excel or CSV statements |
Every account can fall back to statement files.
Try it on a real month
New firms start with a 60-day pilot. Connect a few client companies, run a real month-end close and see whether it fits the way your firm works. If it doesn't, cancel during the pilot and you pay nothing.
Start a pilot, or book a demo if you would rather see it first.