It’s the moment every business owner dreads: looking at your bank statement and realizing it doesn’t match your general ledger. Before you panic, remember that most “ledger breaks” are caused by simple, trackable errors.

The 5-Step Emergency Checklist:

1. Check for Transposition Errors: Did you type $68 instead of $86? A quick trick: if the difference between your two totals is divisible by 9, you likely flipped two digits.

2. Identify Deposits in Transit: Did you record a sale on Friday that the bank didn’t process until Monday? Timing gaps are the #1 cause of “false” ledger breaks.

3. Scan for Duplicate Entries: Software glitches often “double-post” a single transaction. Look for identical amounts appearing twice in the same month.

4. Look for Hidden Bank Fees: Small service charges or wire fees often don’t appear in your accounting software automatically, creating a nagging discrepancy.

5. Review Manual Journal Entries: If a human entered a “correction” last month, it might have broken the link between your sub-ledger and your main book.

When to Call an Expert? If you’ve gone through this list and the numbers are still off, you may have a “structural” break in your data flow. Correcting it now prevents a massive headache during tax season.