A good account reconciliation contains evidence of timely review and approval, uses appropriate source documentation identifying unresolved or unexplained reconciling items, contains the status of prior- and current-month reconciling items and planned resolutions, ensures that source documentation is easy to follow for the reviewer and identifies the ending balance per support and how it reconciles to the general ledger balance, uses a standard reconciliation template, and contains evidence of fluctuation analysis and/or reasonableness of balance checks.

Organizations can utilize this guide to assess the validity, correctness and appropriateness of their account balances at a specific point in time.