Bank Reconciliation Statement Example With Real UK Numbers

Here's a complete bank reconciliation statement example for one month, start to finish, with two uncleared cheques, a deposit in transit, bank charges, interest and a direct debit that never made it into the books. Every figure adds up, so you can copy the layout for your own business. If you only want the finished statement, skip to "The finished reconciliation statement".

Meet the business

Grace owns a small florist in York, trading as a limited company. She does the books herself on a Sunday evening and her accountant looks at them at year end. Her business current account is the only bank account she uses for the shop.

We're reconciling the month ending 30 Sep 2026.

She has two numbers in front of her:

• Bank statement closing balance, 30 Sep 2026: £12,640.75
• Cash book (her bank account in the books) closing balance, 30 Sep 2026: £11,978.20

The bank says she has £662.55 more than her books do. Let's find out why.

Step 1: Tick off everything that appears in both

Grace works down the statement and ticks each line that also appears in her books. Card takings, the shop rent, wholesaler payments, the van insurance, her own salary payment. All the routine stuff matches.

What's left over falls into two piles.

On the statement, not in the books:

In the books, not on the statement:

Step 2: Sort the leftovers into the right box

This is where people go wrong, so let's be deliberate about it.

The first pile is things Grace's books are missing. The bank has genuinely taken the fridge lease, charged its fees and paid interest. Those are real transactions. Her books need updating.

The second pile is timing. Grace wrote both cheques in late Sep 2026, but the recipients hadn't banked them by the 30th. The £820.00 client cheque was paid in on the last afternoon of the month and didn't clear until 2 Oct 2026. Her books are right about all three. The bank just hasn't caught up. Nothing to change.

Step 3: Adjust the bank side

Start with the statement balance and adjust it for the timing items.

• Add the deposit in transit, because the money is coming in.
• Subtract the uncleared cheques, because the money is going out.

The arithmetic: £12,640.75 + £820.00 = £13,460.75. Then £13,460.75 − £450.00 − £1,215.00 = £11,795.75.

Step 4: Adjust the books side

Now start with the cash book balance and adjust it for the items the bank knew about first.

The arithmetic: £11,978.20 − £18.40 = £11,959.80. Add £6.95 to get £11,966.75. Take off £171.00 and you're at £11,795.75.

The finished reconciliation statement

Both sides land on £11,795.75. Sep 2026 is reconciled.

Here's the whole thing on one page, the way we'd file it:

And the original £662.55 gap? It's the net of everything above. Timing items: +£820.00 − £1,665.00 = −£845.00 on the bank side. Book adjustments: −£182.45. The bank was ahead by £845.00 − £182.45 = £662.55. That's the full story.

Step 5: Post the entries that belong in the books

Three of those items need recording. In double-entry terms:

After posting them, Grace's cash book balance becomes £11,795.75. The only remaining difference from the bank is the three timing items, which she lists on her outstanding items schedule for Oct 2026.

If the fridge lease is a long-term finance arrangement rather than a simple rental, the accounting can be more involved. That's a sensible one to run past your accountant.

Step 6: Follow up next month

Reconciliation doesn't end when the numbers agree. Grace makes three notes for the Oct 2026 reconciliation:

• The £820.00 client cheque should appear on the statement in the first few days of Oct 2026. If it bounces, she needs to reverse the receipt and chase the client.
• Cheque 100241 for £450.00 should clear soon. The venue is local, so she'll ask if it hasn't.
• Cheque 100242 for £1,215.00 is a bigger one. If it's still out by the end of Oct 2026, she'll check the agent actually received it.

She also sets up the fridge lease as a regular expense so it doesn't go missing again.

What this example teaches

A few lessons that hold for nearly every business:

1. The raw difference rarely tells you much. £662.55 looked alarming. It was six ordinary items.
2. Keep timing and errors in separate piles. Grace changed nothing about the cheques, and that was correct.
3. The missing items are usually small and boring. Fees, interest and forgotten direct debits make up most "bank only" lines for small businesses.
4. Write the follow-ups down. An outstanding item you don't revisit becomes next quarter's mystery.

How HelloBooks helps

You'd do exactly the same thinking in HelloBooks, with less of the ticking. You connect your bank through Open Banking (most UK banks and cards work) or import a CSV statement, and transactions arrive in a review list where you confirm or change categories.

The reconcile screen lines the statement up against your ledger and suggests a match for each line, with a confidence score and the reason for the match. Grace's routine card takings and rent would be suggested for her, leaving the six exceptions to deal with. If a suggestion is wrong, unmatch it in one click.

At the end, the reconciliation report shows opening balance, cleared items, outstanding items and closing balance, and exports as PDF or CSV. Lock the period once it's signed off, and any reopening is logged. The bookkeeping features page has the wider picture, and there's a dedicated page on bank reconciliation.

FAQs

Why do uncleared cheques get subtracted from the bank balance?

Because the money has already left your books but not the bank. Once the cheque is cashed, the bank balance will drop by that amount, so you subtract it now to see the "true" position.

Do bank charges go on the bank side or the books side?

The books side. The bank already knows about its own charges. Your books don't until you record them.

What if the deposit in transit never arrives?

Find out why. If a customer's cheque bounces, reverse the receipt in your books so the customer owes you again, and chase them for payment.

Should interest received be recorded as sales?

No. Keep it separate as interest received or other income, so your sales figure reflects trading only.

Can I reconcile without a cash book?

Your accounting software's bank account ledger is your cash book. If you use a spreadsheet, the bank tab plays the same role.

Grab last month's statement and try this layout on your own numbers. Once you've done one by hand, the software version makes a lot more sense.

Start free, no card needed. Try HelloBooks Free