Use every useful field in the bank export
Bank files can include posted date, amount, description, payer, ACH identifier, wire reference, memo, and transaction ID. These fields vary by institution, so the importer should preview mappings and preserve columns it does not recognize rather than discarding them.
A normalized copy helps comparison, but the original bank text should stay visible. Reviewers often need punctuation, spacing, or an identifier that a normalization step removed.
- Posted date and amount
- Bank transaction identifier
- Originator or payer text
- Memo, ACH, wire, and check references
Separate deposits from payment applications
One bank deposit can represent one payment, several checks in a batch, or a processor settlement net of fees. Do not assume each deposit maps to one invoice. First identify the payment source and whether grouping happened before the money reached the bank.
When the deposit is a lump sum, search for invoice combinations only within a sensible customer, currency, and date scope. An exact total across unrelated customers may still be coincidental.
Make unresolved cash explicit
If there is no responsible match, keep the deposit unmatched and record what information is missing. If only part of the amount can be explained, show both the applied and unapplied portions. This gives the reviewer a concrete follow-up list instead of a false sense of completion.
A later remittance email or corrected invoice reference can then resolve the exception without recreating the original import.