Reconcile a supplier statement

Bring together the supplier statement and your own orders, delivery records and invoices for the account, so both sides of the ledger are in front of you.

De ce: You cannot reconcile what you cannot see side by side. Assembling both views first is what turns a vague sense that the account is wrong into a line-by-line comparison.

Match the statement lines against your ledger and flag everything that does not tie: an invoice they show and you do not, a credit you expected, a charge for a returned load.

De ce: The differences are the whole point. A statement that matches needs no work; it is the lines that do not tie that hold the overcharge or the missing credit worth chasing.

Work each difference to a conclusion with the supplier: chase the missing credit, dispute the wrong charge, raise the invoice you owe, until the account balances to an agreed figure.

De ce: An unresolved difference does not go away, it compounds into next month's statement. Clearing each one at source keeps the account clean and stops small errors becoming a tangled dispute.

Release payment for the reconciled balance, so you pay what you genuinely owe on time and neither overpay nor hold up a supplier over a figure that is now agreed.

De ce: Paying a clean, agreed balance protects your credit terms and your reputation with the supplier. It also closes the account so the next statement starts from a figure you both trust.