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Why a bank statement that ties out can still be wrong
When a spreadsheet ties out, the opening balance plus every transaction lands on the closing balance. It’s a good check, and every spreadsheet built from bank statements should pass it. But it proves less than it seems. It proves the total. It doesn’t prove the rows.
What a balance check proves
It proves that the amounts in the spreadsheet add up to the same total as the amounts on the statement. If a row is missing, doubled or misread, and nothing else is wrong, the total is off and the check catches it. That’s why it’s the first check anyone should run.
Three ways a spreadsheet ties out and is still wrong
1. Two mistakes that cancel out
Say a $1,250 payment is read as $1,520, and elsewhere a $930 payment is read as $660. One is $270 too high and the other $270 too low. The total is right, and the balance ties to the cent. Both rows are wrong.
The same thing happens when a row is left out and another is added with the same amount, or when a made-up row is added to cover a misread one. That last case matters with AI: an AI told to make the balances match can add a row to do it.
What catches it: counting the rows on each page against the PDF, and checking that every amount in the spreadsheet can be found on the statement.
2. The right amount in the wrong category
A balance check doesn’t look at categories at all. A $400 hardware store purchase filed as fuel, or four ice cream shop payments filed as charity, still tie out perfectly. For taxes, a loan file or a budget, the category is often the part that matters most.
What catches it: making sure every business is identified before its payments are filed, and that the same business is filed the same way every time.
3. The right row in the wrong place
A row can be right in every way except where it sits: in the wrong month, the wrong year, or the wrong account. A December payment filed in January still ties out for the year. A transfer filed under the wrong account still ties out if both statements are in the same sheet.
What catches it: checking that each month opens where the last one closed, that dates near the turn of the year are in the right year, and that transfers show on both sides.
So what does “checked” need to mean?
A spreadsheet you can rely on passes the balance check and these as well:
- Every amount can be found on the statement it came from.
- The number of rows matches the statement, page by page.
- Every month joins the next, with none missing or doubled.
- Every business is identified, and filed the same way every time.
- Transfers, refunds and returned payments are matched to their other side.
Our guide How to check an AI-built bank statement spreadsheet goes through each of these step by step.