Your bookkeeper asks for statements because a bank feed only copies your transactions, and the statement is the bank's own record of your balance at the end of the statement period.
What a statement does that a feed can't
A bank feed is the connection that pulls transactions into your books each day. It's handy, and it saves a lot of typing. It also breaks without telling anyone. Feeds drop transactions, pull the same one in twice, or stop syncing after a password change.
The statement is different. It's the bank's official record for the month, with a starting balance, an ending balance, and every item in between. When we reconcile, we match your books to that statement line by line, and the ending balance has to agree to the penny. If you want the longer version, I wrote about what reconciled means. Without the statement, there's nothing to check the feed against, so nobody can say the books are right.
Why we need every account, not only the main one
The accounts that cause trouble are the ones nobody thinks about. A savings account you moved money into once. A credit card you use for supplies. A loan where each payment is part interest and part principal, and only the loan statement shows the split.
When money moves between two accounts and we can only see one side, a transfer can look like income or an expense. That's how a P&L ends up wrong without anyone noticing.
Your membership platform counts too. If you use Hint, deposits arrive net of fees, refunds and failed payments. Your membership platform's payout detail is what lets us record your full membership revenue and your fees as separate lines.
How to make this painless
Here's what I'd set up once so you aren't chasing paperwork every month:
- Turn on e-statements for every business bank account and credit card.
- Where your bank offers it, give your bookkeeper read-only access so they can download statements without bothering you.
- Keep one list of every account: checking, savings, cards, loans, lines of credit, payment processors and your membership platform.
- Tell your bookkeeper when you open or close an account.
- Send loan statements even when the payment runs on autopay.
- Download your membership platform's monthly payout report, or let your bookkeeper pull it.
Once that's in place, statements show up on their own and the monthly request turns into a quick check that nothing's missing.
What happens when one is missing
The month can't close. We can still categorize transactions, but we can't call the month reconciled, and I won't hand you a P&L built on numbers nobody has checked. When statements arrive on time, your monthly numbers land by the 15th. A late statement pushes everything behind it.
If a statement is lost, your bank can reissue it. Please don't ask us to estimate it. An estimate is a guess, and a guess in January becomes a puzzle in December.
Your CPA benefits too. Books reconciled to statements every month are books they can file from without cleanup.
What to do this week
Write down every account the practice has, including the ones you rarely use. Then ask your bookkeeper which ones they're receiving statements for. If the two lists don't match, that gap is where errors hide, and it's an easy one to close.
Common questions
Why isn't the bank feed enough?
The feed is a copy of your transactions, and copies break without warning. The statement is the bank's record, and it's what we reconcile to so your books match the bank.
Do you need statements for accounts I barely use?
Yes. A quiet account still sits on your Balance Sheet, and if money moves through it we need to see both sides of the transfer.
Do I have to share my bank login?
No, and I'd rather you didn't. Read-only access works where your bank offers it, and if it doesn't, a shared folder where you drop statements each month works fine.
Want books you can trust every month?
Our DPC Bookkeeping service reconciles every account to its statement each month, so the P&L and Balance Sheet you get by the 15th are numbers you can rely on. If that's what you want, apply to work with us.