What is a Balancing Transaction?
Our role is to make sure your data is accurate, and we don’t simply rely on the banks telling us it’s accurate, we check it. We do this by verifying all bank accounts before sharing them with you.
However, occasionally the data provided by Banks does not reconcile. When this happens ACSISS creates a Balancing Transaction, which is a clearly identifiable adjustment to tell you exactly when the bank data did not reconcile.
ACSISS inserts a balancing transaction to ensure that the running balances are accurate and consistent.
Let's see how this works
We receive the following data from a bank:
Bank Balance on Monday $1,325
Less: Purchase Computer ($550)
Bank Balance on Tuesday $907
In this scenario, this account does not reconcile. There is a difference of $132. ACSISS inserts a balancing transaction:
Bank Balance on Monday $1,325
Less: Purchase Computer ($550)
Add: ACSISS Balancing Transaction $132
Bank Balance on Tuesday $907
The addition of the ACSISS Balancing Transaction of $132 results in the account reconciling with the last verified balance and current balance provided by the bank.
The user has precise information about when the account did not reconcile and by how much.
How do I Identify a Balancing Transaction?
You can identify a Balancing Transaction by looking for "BALANCING TRANSACTION" in the transaction description.
How do I fix the Balancing Transaction?
If you do not want to see the balancing transaction, you can choose to remove it from your accounting system.
Primary Causes of Balancing Transactions
There are several reasons why balancing transactions occurs:
Post-dated Transactions
This is the most common cause. A transaction dated in the future has been included in the current balance.
Incorrect Balances Provided by Banks
Example: NAB Credit Cards report what you have left to spend as your balance but do not provide the credit limit. This omission makes it difficult to calculate the actual balance (which should be the current balance minus the credit limit).
Additional Causes
Beyond the primary causes, there are other complications that can affect the accuracy of balances:
Inclusion of Pending Transactions
Issue: Some banks include pending transactions in their reported balances, which can lead to discrepancies.
Banks: NAB, Westpac, and UBank
Balancing Transactions and Data Delays
When ACSISS checks the balance reported by a bank against the sum of individual transactions plus the last verified balance, it aims to ensure they reconcile.
If a discrepancy is found, we wait and attempt to recollect the data to provide accurate and reconciled information.
We will recollect the data for up to six hours before inserting a balancing transaction. This may result in a delay in your data and will only affect the account(s) that have a balance discrepancy on the first collection attempt.