Customer Payment Matching & Reconciliation
The payment has arrived. Which invoice does it belong to?
Match customer payments with invoice or receivable records under agreed rules, keeping unresolved items visible for finance review.
Inputs and Proposed Outputs
Inputs: permitted bank records, customer information, invoices or receivables, and matching rules.
Outputs: candidate or confirmed relationships, sources, amount differences, unidentified payments, and review items.
A Simple Example
| Condition | Proposed result | What needs attention |
|---|---|---|
| Payer, reference, and amount meet rules | Proposed match and sources | Required finance review |
| Reference is confirmed, amount differs | Preserve relationship and difference | Finance investigates the reason |
| Payer information is incomplete | Keep payment unidentified | Obtain information before confirmation |
When a Difference Remains
Give finance the payment, candidate record, matching basis, and difference. Record what is confirmed and what remains open.
Confirming a reference does not resolve an unexplained difference or clear a receivable. Continue after the required information or authorized decision.
Check the Result
Reconcile input and output records. Review proposed matches, confirmed matches, unresolved items, and exclusions separately.
Include exchange-rate, fee, deduction, or write-off rules only where explicitly agreed. Excluded and unresolved items do not count as successful matches.
Start with One Account
Choose a period and permitted samples. Agree the finance owner, access, rules, output, and acceptance before implementation.
Will a match clear the receivable?
No. Matching, posting, and clearing require separate scope, authorization, and system-result checks.
Can one payment cover several invoices?
Include those relationships only when data, rules, and handling are assessed and validated. Broader accounting work is confirmed separately.