The changing face of reconciliation
Reconciliation used to be simple—just match the numbers and move on. But in 2025, it’s the foundation of financial control, auditability and compliance.
Yet many businesses are still relying on partial fixes: spreadsheets, lightweight tools or bolt-on features from legacy platforms. The result? Delays, discrepancies and risk.
Here’s the irony: the reconciliation solution you actually need today isn’t just a matching engine; it’s a full data platform. One that helps you standardise, report, investigate and stay audit-ready all in the same place.
If your reconciliation stops at matching, you’re missing the real opportunity.
Reconciliation solution vs reconciliation tool: What’s the difference?
A reconciliation tool does one job: help you match transactions.
A reconciliation solution transforms your financial operations. It connects data sources, standardises inputs, matches across multiple relationships, flags errors, creates audit trails and generates reports—all in one workflow.
A tool is a wrench.
A solution is the full workshop, built to scale with your business.
If you’re still using spreadsheets or legacy software with bolt-on matching features, you’re running a tool, not a solution.
And the distinction does matter, because only an end-to-end solution can eliminate the patchwork processes that often hold teams back.
Why partial automation isn’t enough
Many businesses start with good intentions—automating parts of reconciliation like data ingestion or matching—but end up stuck in fragmented processes. We call this the half-automated trap.
They’ve automated parts of reconciliation (like ingestion or basic matching) but still rely on spreadsheets for formatting, manual uploads, variance checks and compiling reports.
Kani’s Reconciliation & Reporting Survey 2025 laid bare just how widespread and costly this is:
- 56% of respondents still rely on spreadsheets for reconciliation
- 47% say they only partially automate reconciliation
- 35% have experienced financial discrepancies directly caused by reconciliation errors
- 82% have missed at least one reporting deadline due to poor data preparation
- Pre-reconciliation data preparation takes 3 hours on average
These aren’t edge cases. They’re everyday inefficiencies that show how partial automation creates more friction than in solves.
The data paints a clear picture: fragmented processes break audit trails, delay reporting and increase your exposure to regulatory scrutiny.
What defines a true reconciliation solution?
If you want to futureproof your finance operations, your reconciliation solution must go far beyond basic transaction matching. It should be a flexible, scalable infrastructure for ingesting, interpreting and validating financial data across your entire payments stack. Here’s what that really means in practice:
✅Automated data ingestion at scale
A reconciliation solution should automatically ingest data from a wide range of structured and semi-structured sources—including processors, issuing/acquiring banks, scheme partners, core banking platforms and internal ledgers.
It should support formats (like CSV, XML, XLS and JSON) and convert disparate inputs into a common structure without manual mapping or scripting. This is critical when you’re dealing with high-frequency updates across multiple providers and need to minimise lag between data receipt and processing.
✅Robust data standardisation + integrity controls
Effective standardisation ensures data is made usable across reporting systems. Look for features like:
- Automatic parsing and separation of merged fields (e.g., timestamp and currency in the same column)
- Normalisation of values (e.g., currency rounding rules, localised timestamp conversion)
- Retention of unaltered raw files for auditability
- Locked fields to prevent retroactive edits
This ensures data can be reused confidently across reconciliations, reports, dashboards and audits without introducing version control risk.
✅Multi-layered matching logic + exception workflows
Transaction structures vary widely. A real solution must support complex relationship mapping, including:
- One-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many relationships
- Tolerances on amounts and dates
- Multi-stage or chained reconciliations (e.g., processor > ledger > bank)
- Time-based sequencing logic (e.g., pre-authorisation → settlement → chargeback)
When mismatches or breaks occur, they should be triaged automatically into exception queues with rule-based routing to assigned case managers, ensuring nothing gets lost in a spreadsheet tab. This level of exception handling speeds up resolution and gives teams full visibility into where, how and why breaks happen.
✅Regulatory reporting infrastructure
You shouldn’t need to manually compile regulatory or scheme-specific reports. A reconciliation solution should offer:
- Pre-formatted templates (e.g., Mastercard QMR, Visa GOC, FCA safeguarding reports)
- Automated generation and secure distribution
- Sign-off workflows, version tracking and time-stamped approvals
- Role-based access and view-only permissions for external auditors or regulators
When deadlines are tight and the stakes are high, repeatable accuracy matters more than presentation.
✅Data access, security and collaboration
You should never have to export sensitive data to a spreadsheet just to share it. A proper solution enables:
- Tiered access permissions by user role or data category
- Read-only, time-limited links for auditors and partners
- Built-in audit logs for all user actions and report changes
- Integration into secure cloud environments with SOC2-grade controls
Security and collaboration can—and should—coexist in a modern data stack.
What a reconciliation solution enables your team to do
It’s not just about “saving time.” A full-stack reconciliation solution transforms how finance and data teams operate:
✅Shift from reactive to proactive
When reconciliations run continuously, issues are flagged in near real-time, not discovered days later. Teams can focus on root-cause investigation rather than manual checking.
✅Support new business models without chaos
Launching new products, entering new markets or adding new providers doesn’t require rebuilding processes from scratch. With flexible ingestion and dynamic reconciliation rules, new workflows can be stood up rapidly and safely.
✅Gain complete data visibility
Challenges with payment reconciliation often stem from data issues: how it’s managed, how it’s obtained and how easy it is to compare across systems. With granular matching visibility, metadata tagging and historic snapshots, teams can explore every transaction lifecycle in context—from authorisation to settlement and refund.
✅Improve regulatory resilience
Audit prep becomes a non-event. When every reconciliation, report and data edit is logged and reproducible, regulators get instant access to what they need, when they need it.
✅Reduce fraud and operational risk
Automated break detection flags anomalies earlier, before they propagate through downstream systems. Time isn’t wasted reconciling known errors; attention goes to fixing them.
✅Enable finance teams to become data-driven
With less time spent on formatting and fixing data, analysts can focus on trend detection, revenue insights or root-cause variance analysis. This shift transforms finance into a strategic contributor.
This is the real power of a reconciliation solution over a tool: not just matching transactions, but enabling teams to extract value from the underlying data.
Final thoughts: It’s time to level up
Reconciliation is no longer a back-office chore. It’s a vital part of running a compliant, efficient and scalable fintech operation.
The right reconciliation solution isn’t just about automation—it’s about control. Full visibility across your transaction data, instant reporting, airtight audit trails and confidence that your numbers always add up.
If your current setup feels like a patchwork of tools and spreadsheets, it might be time to ask: Are we just ticking boxes… or building for the future?
Ready to see how Kani can transform your reconciliation process?
FAQs
What is the difference between a reconciliation tool and a reconciliation solution?
A reconciliation tool typically performs a single function, such as transaction matching or variance detection. A reconciliation solution supports the entire workflow end to end: from ingesting and standardising data, to matching across complex relationships, managing exceptions and generating audit-ready reports. It connects systems, ensures data integrity and enables compliance at scale—something a tool alone can’t achieve.
What does an end-to-end reconciliation solution include?
An end-to-end reconciliation solution covers every stage of the process: data ingestion, standardisation and validation; multi-layered matching with configurable logic and rules-based exception management; built-in audit logs and regulatory reporting tools. It provides a single platform for financial integrity, not just a patchwork of separate tools.
Why do businesses still rely on spreadsheets for reconciliation?
Many teams use spreadsheets because legacy systems weren’t built to support today’s data complexity, and lightweight tools often fall short. Spreadsheets offer flexibility but come at the cost of auditability, version control and scale. According to the Kani survey, 56% of firms still use spreadsheets in reconciliation—despite the risks and time costs involved
Why isn’t basic automation enough for reconciliation?
Basic automation—like ingesting files or running simple match rules—might speed up isolated steps, but it doesn’t solve systemic complexity. Most firms still rely on spreadsheets for formatting, reporting or exception handling. This “half-automated trap” creates fragmented workflows that introduce errors, delay reporting and break audit trails. True solutions unify the process from start to finish.
Can reconciliation solutions reduce compliance risk?
Yes. By standardising processes and automating critical checks, reconciliation solutions help firms meet regulatory expectations for timeliness, accuracy and transparency. Tools like automated exception workflows, version control and role-based access help prevent errors and unauthorised changes, reducing both operational and compliance risk.
How do reconciliation solutions handle complex transaction flows?
Modern payment flows are rarely one-to-one. A strong reconciliation solution supports one-to-many and many-to-many matching, chained reconciliation logic (e.g. PSP > processor > bank), and sequencing based on payment lifecycle stages like pre-authorisation, settlement and chargebacks. This layered logic is essential for high-volume, multi-channel operations.
What’s the ROI of upgrading from a reconciliation tool to a solution?
Switching to a true reconciliation solution reduces time spent on manual tasks like data prep, exception triage and report generation. It improves match rates, shortens audit cycles and reduces errors that could lead to financial discrepancies or regulatory fines. Perhaps most importantly, it frees teams to focus on insight and strategy—not firefighting
Does a reconciliation solution help with reporting?
Absolutely—reconciliation and reporting are two sides of the same coin. Accurate reporting depends on accurate reconciliation; and in turn, effective reconciliation depends on having reliable, standardised data as a foundation. A proper reconciliation solution ensures that data is consistent, validated and matched before it ever reaches the reporting stage.
