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How do you match payments to invoices automatically?

How do you automatically match payments to the invoices you issue and receive?

Quick answer (5 steps)

  1. Import the bank statement or connect your bank account directly.
  2. The system automatically suggests invoice-to-payment matches, based on amounts, dates and payment references.
  3. Confirm the correct matches and flag exceptions for manual review.
  4. Generate the full reconciliation report.
  5. Accounting entries are created automatically from each confirmed match.

What the law says (in brief)

  • Monthly reconciliation is mandatory at every period close (Accounting Law 82/1991).
  • Bank statements are primary accounting documents and must be archived for 10 years.
  • Exchange-rate differences on foreign-currency payments are recorded separately, under OMFP 1802/2014.
  • Unresolved discrepancies can lead to tax corrections and penalties during an ANAF audit.

Practical examples

  • Matching a payment order to an IT services invoice — same amount, same day; 100% automatic match.
  • Partial payment — a single payment partly covers one invoice or covers several invoices; the system proposes the allocation.
  • EUR payment for a RON invoice — an exception appears for the exchange-rate difference; you record it manually as an exchange-rate difference.
  • Bank fees — they appear on the statement as separate transactions; you flag them as banking expenses and do not match them to invoices.

Common mistakes

  • Wrongly matching two payments with similar amounts by hand, but for different customers.
  • Failing to record exchange-rate differences on foreign-currency payments.
  • Leaving unmatched payments until the end of the quarter.
  • Omitting bank fees from the reconciliation — this creates unexplained differences.
  • Importing statements in the wrong format — check the accepted format (MT940, CSV, OFX).

How 4conta helps

  • Automatic matching based on amounts, calendar dates and bank references.
  • Fuzzy matching for payments whose reference differs slightly from the invoice number.
  • Exceptions are flagged automatically and listed separately for review.
  • The reconciliation report is generated instantly, ready for your accountant.
  • Accounting entries are created straight from the reconciliation — no manual data entry.

See also:

Match payments to invoices automatically (reconciliation)