RECORD TO REPORT · RECONCILE
How are balances reconciled and open items cleared?
Reconciliation proves that ledger balances agree with their supporting populations. Clearing links related open items, while unresolved differences remain visible with an owner and next action.
GL ACCOUNTANT OUTCOME
Use this capability inside the complete close
Learn the business purpose, SAP record, controls, diagnostic evidence, and hand-offs for this capability. Complete all R2R 202 guides to form the role-level knowledge foundation; company policy, local procedures, system authorization, and supervised execution remain workplace requirements.
PROCESS ROLE
Reconciliation is evidence of agreement, not a zero-difference assertion
Customer, supplier, asset, inventory, bank, GR/IR, tax, intercompany, and clearing accounts each require an appropriate source population, timing rule, tolerance, preparer, reviewer, and retained explanation.
OPERATIONAL FLOW
What happens in SAP
Read the sequence as one connected business event, not as isolated transactions.
Define what should agree
Select the ledger balance, source detail, company, ledger, currency, key date, account scope, and exclusions.
Compare and clear
Reference, amount, currency, date, assignment, tolerance, and business rules identify related items and eligible clearing.
Explain differences
Timing, missing postings, wrong accounts, duplicates, unmatched bank items, old GR/IR, and intercompany mismatches are assigned and aged.
Review and retain evidence
The preparer, reviewer, conclusion, unresolved exposure, supporting files, and subsequent action establish the close evidence.
DESIGN & CONTROL
What shapes the result
These controls work together; a locally correct setting can still produce the wrong end-to-end outcome.
Population integrity
Ledger, company code, currency, key date, source extraction, account scope, and reconciliation-account restrictions prevent incomplete comparison.
Matching and clearing discipline
Open-item management, matching rules, tolerances, residual or partial items, reason codes, and authorization govern clearing.
Exception ownership
Materiality, ageing, owner, due date, escalation, reviewer, and carry-forward decision keep differences from disappearing between closes.
DIAGNOSTIC EVIDENCE
Show agreement and what remains unresolved
A reconciliation is complete only when the population, method, differences, ownership, and review can be reproduced.
Ledger balance, source total, reconciling items, adjusted balance, currency, key date, and extraction timestamp.
Matched and unmatched records, clearing document, reason code, tolerance, ageing, duplicate or timing explanation.
Preparer, reviewer, evidence links, conclusion, unresolved risk, action owner, due date, and subsequent resolution.
CLOSE MOMENT
The supplier control account agrees, but GR/IR does not
The AP subledger agrees to its reconciliation account. A separate GR/IR analysis identifies an old receipt without invoice, assigns it to Purchasing, and preserves it as a visible close exception rather than forcing a clearing entry.
- Populations are complete
- Difference is understood
- No unsupported clearing
- Owner and due date are recorded
See how continuous accounting, operational cut-off, parallel subledger workstreams, GL close, reporting, group hand-off, and period control connect.