What this guide covers
This guide is designed for accountants and business owners who need to ensure their internal records match external bank statements. You will learn how to use FilePile to upload a bank CSV file and systematically match outgoing payments to your sorted vendor invoices. This process, often referred to as bank reconciliation invoices matching, helps verify that every bill marked as paid in your system corresponds to a real transaction in your bank account.
Before you begin
To use the features described in this guide, you must be on the Business plan. The Bank Reconciliation panel is located within the Business HQ and is not available on the Free or Pro plans. Ensure you have the following ready before starting:
- Bank Statement CSV: A recent export of your bank activity. The file must be in CSV format. It should contain columns for the transaction date, payment amount, payee name, and a unique reference or check number.
- Uploaded Invoices: You must have already uploaded your vendor bills as PDFs to the Dashboard. These invoices should be processed and visible in the Browse tab.
- Admin Access: You need permission to access the Business HQ section of the application.
Why FilePile
FilePile simplifies the financial close process by automating the most tedious part of reconciliation: data matching. Instead of manually cross-referencing line items in a spreadsheet with PDF files in a folder, FilePile brings everything into one interface. By using the Bank Reconciliation panel, you reduce human error and save hours of administrative work. The system automatically suggests matches based on dates and amounts, allowing you to focus only on exceptions.
Getting started with FilePile
If you do not yet have a FilePile account, you can get started immediately by visiting our registration page. We offer a straightforward onboarding process that gets you from sign-up to processing invoices in minutes. Sign up today to streamline your accounts payable workflow.
Step-by-step instructions
Follow these detailed steps to reconcile your bank payments with your uploaded invoices.
- Log in to your account at filepile.co/login.
- Open the Dashboard from the left dark sidebar.
- Click the Process tab at the top of the Dashboard.
- Drag and drop your vendor bill PDFs into the upload zone if you have not done so already. Wait for the processing queue to show a green success status for all files.
- Click the Browse tab on the Dashboard to view your sorted invoices.
- Locate the specific invoices you intend to reconcile. Click the checkbox located to the left of the vendor name or file name for each invoice you want to include in this reconciliation batch. You can select multiple invoices at once.
- Navigate to Business HQ from the left dark sidebar. The URL will be filepile.co/account/business.
- Scroll down the Business HQ page until you find the panel titled Bank Reconciliation. Note that this is a separate panel from the Vendor Payment Command Center located above it. Do not click into the Vendor Payment Command Center; stay on the main Business HQ view to access the Bank Reconciliation panel.
- Inside the Bank Reconciliation panel, click the Upload CSV button.
- Select your bank statement CSV file from your computer and click Open. The system will begin parsing the data.
- Once the CSV is uploaded, the Mapping Configuration interface will appear. You will see a table where the left column displays your CSV headers and the right column contains dropdown menus for FilePile fields. Use the dropdown menus to map your data correctly. Select Transaction Date for your date column, Payment Amount for the value column, and Payee Name for the description column. Ensure the Reference Number field is mapped if your CSV contains check numbers or transaction IDs.
- Click the Save Mapping button to confirm your settings.
- The system will display a list of unmatched bank transactions on the left side and a list of your selected open invoices on the right side.
- Review the Suggested Matches section. FilePile automatically links bank rows to invoices where the date and amount are identical.
- For any items that did not auto-match, manually link them by clicking a bank transaction row on the left to highlight it, then clicking the corresponding invoice row on the right. Click the Link Selected button to create the match.
- Once all transactions are matched, click the Confirm Reconciliation button at the bottom of the panel.
What you should see
After completing the steps above, you should see a success notification stating that the reconciliation has been recorded. In the Bank Reconciliation panel, the matched transactions will disappear from the active list. If you navigate back to the Dashboard and look at the Upcoming vendor payments card, the invoices you just reconciled should no longer appear in the open list. In the Business HQ, the Vendor Payment Command Center will update to reflect the reduced total amount due.
Tips and common issues
- CSV Date Formats: Ensure your CSV file uses a standard date format such as YYYY-MM-DD or MM/DD/YYYY. If the dates appear as text or non-standard formats, the mapping tool may not recognize them correctly, leading to failed auto-matches.
- Partial Payments: If a bank transaction represents a partial payment, the auto-match logic might not catch it because the amounts will differ. You must manually match these by selecting the transaction and the invoice, then editing the allocation amount if the interface supports it, or by noting the partial payment in the reference field.
- Duplicate Invoices: If you see the same invoice listed twice in the Browse tab, you may have uploaded the PDF twice. Delete the duplicate entry before attempting reconciliation to avoid confusion in the matching interface.
- Currency Mismatches: Ensure that the bank CSV and the uploaded invoices are in the same currency. The system will not automatically match a USD invoice to a EUR bank transaction without manual conversion.