[Glossary](https://blnkfinance.com/glossary) Reconciliation # What is reconciliation? Reconciliation Reconciliation is matching your ledger to an external record, such as a bank file or a card statement. The point is to find the posts that are missing, duplicated, or wrong. Matching rules decide what counts as the same payment. ## How does reconciliation work? You import the external file. You compare each line to transactions in the ledger using keys you choose: amount, date, reference, last four. Matches close. Unmatched lines become work. The ledger is not updated by the file automatically unless you decide it should be. ## Matching rules A matching rule is the test for “these two rows are the same payment.” Amount plus date is a weak rule. Amount plus your reference is a strong one. Bad rules create false matches and hide real breaks. Write the rule for the rail you are matching, not for all rails at once. ## When is recon done? When every external line is explained and the omnibus equals the sum of the books you claim. A green dashboard that ignores inflight items is not done. Historical balances at the cutoff help you compare like with like. Blnk’s reconciliation engine matches ledger transactions to external records with rules you configure. Use it on ACH files, card statements, and instant-rail reports so one book stays true across partners. See [reconciliation](https://docs.blnkfinance.com/reconciliations/overview). Related terms - [Settlement](https://blnkfinance.com/glossary/settlement) - [Historical balance](https://blnkfinance.com/glossary/historical-balance) - [Ledger](https://blnkfinance.com/glossary/ledger) - [Transaction](https://blnkfinance.com/glossary/transaction)