MYOB Bookkeeping: Reconcile a Client File

MYOB bookkeeping turns your client’s source records into a period that agrees with their statements and is ready for review. Start with agreed opening balances, record each transaction once and reconcile the accounts before handing the file to the accountant.

Confirm the MYOB File and Version

Confirm the client’s entity, MYOB product and reporting period before entering anything. The screen routes below use Australian MYOB Business in a browser. AccountRight desktop uses command centres and different menus. An AccountRight file opened in a browser also has differences, including some account-management options.

MYOB calls chart-of-accounts entries categories in its browser interface. A bank account is still the real bank or card account you reconcile. Keep those meanings separate when following the instructions.

Before work begins, confirm the following with your practice’s reviewer:

• The client owns the correct file and has authorised the agreed bookkeeping work.
• Each staff member has named access with the permissions their tasks require.
• The reporting period, accounting basis and GST reporting basis are recorded separately.
• Prior completed reports, opening invoices and bills, bank statements and source documents are available.
• Someone is responsible for answering client questions and approving corrections.

Use the bookkeeping client onboarding checklist for acceptance and authority before this file work. If the client has not chosen a product, the bookkeeping software guide covers that decision.

1. Compare opening balances with the prior completed records. Match the trial balance, each bank’s last reconciliation and unpaid customer and supplier balances to the handover documents. Record any inherited difference with its amount, supporting record and reviewer. Agree its treatment before relying on the affected balance.

Do not alter an opening balance to hide an unexplained difference. A difference carried forward can make every later period appear wrong.

Record the Client’s Transactions

Record the underlying sale or purchase before treating the bank movement as another transaction. An invoice records what the customer owes. Its payment reduces that debt. Creating a second sale when the receipt arrives duplicates income.

2. Enter source transactions using the route that matches their purpose. Search the customer, supplier reference and amount first to find anything already recorded. Check the transaction date, GST-inclusive setting and account coding against the evidence before saving.

Transaction Entry Routes

Source record	MYOB Business browser route	Check after recording
Customer invoice	Sales, Invoices, Create invoice. Select the customer and enter the invoice details, income category and tax code.	The invoice total agrees to the authorised sale and appears against the right customer.
Supplier bill	Purchases, Create bill. Enter the supplier, supplier invoice reference, due date and purchase lines.	The bill total, expense or asset category and GST agree to the supplier document.
Receipt for an existing invoice	Open the invoice and use Record payment, or match its bank receipt to the invoice.	The amount received reduces that invoice’s unpaid balance.
Payment of an existing bill	Open the bill and use Record payment, or match the bank payment to the bill.	The correct supplier bill is reduced, using the actual payment account.
Money received without an invoice	Use Receive money for a receipt that does not settle an invoice.	The receipt’s source determines its category and GST treatment.
Purchase without a recorded bill	Use Spend money where the practice records the purchase directly.	The purchase is recorded once and supported by its document.
Transfer between the client’s bank accounts	Banking, Transfer money. Enter the amount, source account, destination account and transfer date.	Both bank movements refer to the same transfer, without creating income or an expense.

MYOB’s invoice field guidance explain the invoice fields. Its spending and receiving money guidance distinguishes direct receipts and payments from invoice and bill settlements.

An account’s default GST code is a starting setting. Read the source document and apply the practice’s approved treatment. Refer uncertain credits, private-use amounts and unusual transactions to the responsible agent before posting them.

Construction Client Example

Consider a fictional construction client with an approved progress invoice for $11,000, including $1,000 GST. The customer pays $9,900 and retains $1,100 under the contract. Assume the reviewer has approved recognition of the full invoice and the GST treatment for this example.

Enter the $11,000 invoice and apply the $9,900 receipt to it. The remaining $1,100 stays identifiable as unpaid. Keep the progress claim, payment advice and retention terms together so the reviewer can trace the difference. A retention is not automatically a discount or a bad debt.

A materials bill of $2,200, including $200 GST, goes through the supplier bill route. In this fictional case, the reviewer has approved it as a fully creditable job cost. Record its payment against that bill when paid. Do not create another materials expense from the bank line.

Where the file supports jobs, assign the construction job to the relevant invoice and bill lines. MYOB’s job instructions describe the Job column and splitting different jobs across separate lines. Keep a supporting job schedule where that feature is unavailable. Retention release and any reclassification follow the contract and the reviewer’s decision.

Reconcile the MYOB Accounts

Match bank activity to existing records before completing a separate bank reconciliation. A matched bank line alone does not establish that the statement balance agrees.

3. Review Banking, Bank transactions for the selected bank and period. Confirm feed coverage or the imported statement range against the statement. Investigate missing lines and any overlap between imports and feeds. Review automatic matches and category suggestions against the actual invoice, bill or receipt.

A bank line can match a recorded payment or settle an open invoice or bill. Categorising a new line creates a record. Before accepting that route, confirm there is no existing transaction to match. MYOB’s bank transaction guidance covers automatic and manual matching. Its page has different layouts during feature rollout, so follow the version shown in your file.

4. Reconcile every bank and card account to its statement. Under Banking, Reconcile accounts, select the account and statement end date. Enter or confirm the closing statement balance. Select only transactions that cleared on that statement, then investigate the difference before completing the reconciliation.

The calculated closing balance must equal the statement balance with no out-of-balance amount. Export the reconciliation report and retain the statement it supports. MYOB’s bank reconciliation instructions cover both connected and manually reconciled accounts.

5. Reconcile customer and supplier balances at the same cutoff. Compare unpaid invoices and bills, including opening items, with the linked receivables and payables balances. Investigate credits, prepayments and payments dated before their invoices. Where available, use Reporting, Exceptions dashboard to inspect receivables and payables exceptions.

Before continuing, each reconciled balance must agree to its supporting record. Give every remaining difference an amount, explanation and responsible person. Leave an unresolved bank reconciliation open instead of accepting a false agreement.

Resolve Differences Before Closing the Period

Find the cause of a difference before choosing its correction. First establish whether the transaction belongs to an open period, a completed review or a lodged BAS.

6. Correct open-period errors through the original transaction where the supported editing options permit it. Keep the original evidence and record what changed. If a payment is matched or a transaction is reconciled, inspect those links before changing it.

Difference Checks and Corrections

Symptom	Diagnostic check	Corrective route	Reviewer’s record
Expense appears in the wrong account	Open the bill or Spend money entry and compare its category with the document.	Correct the allocation category in the editable source transaction. Use an approved reversal and replacement when editing is unavailable.	Original reference, corrected category and reason.
GST report shows unexpected tax	Compare the transaction’s code and inclusive setting with the invoice and approved treatment.	Correct the open-period transaction’s tax code or amount as authorised, then rerun the GST report.	Document, original GST, corrected GST and agent decision where needed.
Two entries appear for one payment	Trace the bank line and both records to the same source reference.	Unmatch an incorrect match where needed. Remove or reverse only the confirmed duplicate through its supported transaction options.	Both record references, retained entry and affected reconciliation.
Reconciliation remains out of balance	Check statement account, cutoff and balance, then compare missing, duplicate and uncleared entries.	Correct the confirmed source error or matching error, then repeat the reconciliation.	Statement, difference calculation and correction reference.

MYOB’s record review guidance explains why direct postings to linked receivables or payables accounts create exceptions. Correct the source route instead of posting a journal simply to force those totals to agree.

For a completed or lodged period, stop before changing historical transactions or removing a lock date. Give the responsible agent the source record, affected period and proposed accounting and GST effects. The agent decides whether a revision or a permitted later-period correction is appropriate.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) distinguishes a GST error from an adjustment caused by a later event. Its GST correction rules set conditions for using a later BAS. Do not assume editing MYOB corrects a lodged statement. A separate BAS preparation checklist covers that engagement.

Review the Client File Before Handover

Compare the completed reports with the records behind them before asking the accountant to accept the period.

7. Run the trial balance, profit and loss and balance sheet for the agreed period and basis. Compare them with the previous completed period and reconciliation schedules. Investigate unexpected negative balances, large movements, old unpaid items and unexplained suspense balances. Send decisions about capital purchases, loans, retentions or doubtful debts to the accountant.

8. Give the reviewer a handover that identifies the file and reporting period. Include links to statements and source documents, completed reconciliation reports and the correction list. Show outstanding questions with an owner and required action. Record the preparer, the named reviewer and their acceptance or requested changes.

For the fictional construction file, the handover explains the $1,100 retention and links its contract terms. It also shows the $2,200 supplier bill and its payment status. The accountant can then distinguish a supported unpaid amount from a missing receipt or duplicate expense.

Finish when statements agree to the recorded bank balances, material exceptions are resolved or assigned and retained records are accessible. Review acceptance must be recorded. A balanced trial balance on its own does not establish that the client’s books are correct.

Support the Next Person Using MYOB

Assign the next period’s records and review responsibilities before the current preparer hands over. The client supplies statements and missing documents. The preparer records and reconciles them. The reviewer decides disputed treatment and accepts the completed work.

Use a MYOB bookkeeping course to build skills for those tasks. MYOB Academy has an accountants and bookkeepers learning route. Pair product learning with the official help for the edition staff actually use.

For a supervised fictional-file exercise, give the learner the construction documents above and a matching bank statement. Ask them to enter the invoice and bill, apply the receipt and reconcile the bank activity. The supervisor checks that income is recorded once, the retention remains explained and the handover supports every balance. Add one deliberate duplicate for the learner to identify before review acceptance.

Software training does not establish Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) registration. The TPB’s BAS service definition includes work about BAS liabilities and entitlements where the client relies on it. Confirm registration and the practice’s authorised supervision arrangements for the service being provided.

When responsibilities change, retain the client’s records and approved reports in the practice’s authorised storage. Have the authorised owner or administrator use Settings, Users and permissions to remove the departing person’s access. MYOB’s user access instructions explain the options and which user types can perform them. Confirm the required replacement access before removing the departing user.

Check the Client’s MYOB Chart

Inspect the MYOB chart of accounts before importing a replacement list or copying a template. In the browser, open Accounting, Categories (Chart of accounts). Check category types and codes, tax defaults and the linked accounts for receivables, payables and GST. Detail categories accept transactions. Header categories group them.

A MYOB chart of accounts template supplies file columns, not the client’s accounting decisions. Map each old account to the intended MYOB category and identify proposed additions separately. Keep linked accounts intact and obtain approval before changing account types or opening balances.

For MYOB Business in a browser, Settings, Import and export data provides the supported category import and export. Export the current categories first. Download MYOB’s sample categories template and preserve its initial brackets and column headings. Map the proposed entries into that file and inspect the prepared rows before importing.

MYOB’s category import instructions warn that an import cannot be undone. Inspect the duplicate-handling selection and leave deletion of unused accounts off for a routine addition. Reject duplicates when existing categories must stay unchanged. Use any preview or confirmation screen to inspect the selected file and options before proceeding.

Do not use this browser route as instructions for AccountRight desktop’s import assistant. Changing products is a separate MYOB to Xero migration task. After an approved chart change, compare the category list and trial balance with the saved export. Reconcile the affected balances again and retain the import result with the reviewer’s approval.