SHORT ANSWER · STATEMENTS
Why doesn’t my converted bank statement add up?
A converted bank statement doesn’t add up when a line was missed, read twice, given the wrong sign or misread. The difference points to it: equal to one line means missing or doubled, twice a line means a flipped sign, divisible by 9 means swapped digits. ZeraBooks checks every statement against its printed balances and flags the difference.
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READ THE DIFFERENCE
What the size of the gap tells you
| The difference is… | Most likely | Look for |
|---|---|---|
| exactly one line’s amount | That line was missed, or read twice | A line of that amount on the PDF, and how many times it’s in the file |
| twice one line’s amount | That line has the wrong sign | A deposit read as a withdrawal, or the other way round |
| divisible by 9 | Two digits swapped | $1,520 read as $1,250: the gap, $270, is 9 × 30 |
| a round power of ten off | A decimal point misread | $312.48 read as $31,248 |
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A REAL EXAMPLE
A $125.00 gap, worked through
The screen above is a fictional August statement for Pine Coast Checking. The rows add to −$437.39. The statement prints −$312.39. So the rows say the account closed at $9,705.22, and the PDF says $9,830.22. The gap is $125.00.
$125.00 divided by 9 isn’t a whole number, so it isn’t swapped digits. That leaves a $125.00 withdrawal that shouldn’t be there, a $125.00 deposit that was missed, or a $62.50 line with its sign flipped. Three lines to look for on one page beats re-checking 40.
In ZeraBooks, AI verification does the looking. It re-reads the stored PDF against the rows and proposes only fixes that make the statement tie, each one quoting the line from the document. The bank statement converter runs the same proof on every statement before you download it.
IN ZERABOOKS
Flags first, then a re-read
Should a converted statement always match to the cent?
Yes. Opening balance plus every deposit less every withdrawal must equal the printed closing balance exactly. Anything else means a line is wrong. The CommBank worked example shows a statement that ties.
What if the statement adds up but the next one doesn’t start where it ended?
Then a whole statement is missing between them. See how to find a missing bank statement.
What if my statement has no opening or closing balance?
Some downloads, like transaction CSVs, don’t print one. Then there is nothing to prove against, which is why converting the PDF statement is safer than using an activity export.
Is this the same as a bank reconciliation?
No. This checks the statement against itself. A bank reconciliation checks the statement against your books.
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