Bank Reconciliation

Westpac account reconciliation process, clearing account cycle, and timing reconciliation.

Primary Bank Account

Westpac: Main operating account for Pride. Used for:

• Employee payroll (ABA file transfer)
• Supplier payments and invoices
• Square and TryBooking deposits
• Receipt of rent and grant payments
• Loan repayments and borrowing

Account structure: Single primary account; no subsidiary accounts identified.

Bank feed: Xero integrates with Westpac (or manual CSV imports) for transaction visibility.

Clearing Account Cycle

TryBooking deposits:

1. Customer purchases ticket via TryBooking
2. TryBooking batches deposits (daily or periodic)
3. Deposit sent to Westpac clearing account
4. 1–2 day settlement lag before funds available in primary account
5. Manual reconciliation in Xero matching deposit to TryBooking invoice/report

Timing impact: Revenue may be recorded in Xero at event date but bank settlement occurs later. Creates temporary discrepancy between Xero and bank balance.

Process weakness: Manual reconciliation is error-prone and creates month-end reconciliation friction.

Commonwealth Bank

Secondary bank account (cash deposits only). Minimal transaction volume; used for deposit of petty cash or large cash payments from events. No electronic integration; reconciliation manual.

Monthly Reconciliation Process

1. Xero balance: Sum of all transactions recorded in Xero (Square, TryBooking, manual sales, payroll, invoices)
2. Bank statement balance: Westpac statement end-of-month balance
3. Reconciling items: Identify timing differences (uncleared cheques, deposits in transit, pending transactions)
4. Adjustment: Record accruals or reversals in Xero to match bank balance
5. Sign-off: Reconciliation reviewed and approved by Mat or bookkeeper

Current state: Completed monthly; timing not verified. May lag by several weeks depending on bookkeeper capacity.

Square Balance Reconciliation — Permanent Process (Confirmed 10 Apr 2026)

Square Balance (Xero account 000-000-00000000) has no bank feed. Amaka creates bank transfer records (settlement transfers from Square Balance → CBA Pride Bar Trans Acc 2203) but these accumulate as unreconciled because there’s no matching bank statement import. Amaka confirmed there is no fix on their end — this is a known limitation of the integration.

Permanent fix: Use Xero’s “Mark as Reconciled” feature. This is designed for accounts where bank transaction data cannot be imported from the bank — exactly the Square Balance situation.

Monthly process (~2 minutes):

1. Go to Square Balance → Account Transactions tab
2. Select unreconciled bank transfer rows (Amaka settlement transfers)
3. Click More → Mark as Reconciled → confirm dialog
4. Done

Tested 10 Apr 2026: 2 new transfers from 9 Apr reconciled successfully. Result: 0 unreconciled, 200 reconciled. No CSV imports, scripts, or workarounds needed.

Historical backlog: ~$4.67M of unreconciled items accumulated before this fix was identified. Needs bulk reconciliation using the same method, likely in batches.

Reconciliation Challenges

1. TryBooking timing: Deposits arrive after event; if revenue recognised at event date, temporary mismatch creates false appearing receivables.

2. Square timing: Daily deposits may not arrive same-day, creating batch timing differences.

3. Manual entry errors: Invoices may be recorded in Xero with incorrect amounts or dates, creating mismatches that must be traced to actual bank transaction.

4. Outstanding items: Cheques written but not yet cleared, deposits pending, transfers in transit.

5. Bookkeeper gap: Departure November 2025; reconciliation backlog possible. Compliance status unknown.

Automation Opportunity

Automation Opportunities Priority 1-2:

• TryBooking API integration to auto-capture deposits with timing metadata
• Square reconciliation automation (Amaka already syncs transactions; could auto-match to bank deposits)
• Monthly reconciliation report template with timing differences flagged automatically

This would reduce manual reconciliation effort and improve month-end close timing.

Related Pages

• Clearing Account Cycle — detailed TryBooking settlement process
• Revenue Recognition — timing of revenue vs bank settlement
• Financial Reporting — monthly close and reporting
• Xero — accounting system where reconciliation recorded
• Automation Opportunities — bank reconciliation automation pathway
• Westpac — primary bank relationship (entity page, if created)