Opening balance and closing balance do not reconcile

Make the two snapshots comparable

Begin with the provider’s own opening and closing figures, retaining the report and the scope each figure describes. Record the account, settlement currency, period boundaries, and balance definition. A snapshot of one account or balance component cannot close a bridge that started with another. Do not combine currencies as if they were the same unit.

Stripe’s balance summary report reconciles a selected period in settlement currency and provides itemized transactions. Use that period report as the starting record. Retain the displayed date basis, time zone, and selected filters so another reader can identify the same population. A bank credit or a store sales total cannot substitute for either endpoint of this provider-balance bridge.

If the two endpoints have different scopes, resolve that mismatch before adding activity. Changing the arithmetic cannot fix an opening figure that includes funds excluded from the closing figure. Keep the original exports so a corrected scope remains distinguishable from a change to the underlying records.

Build the bridge from signed movements once

Use this arithmetic: calculated closing balance = recorded opening balance + sum of included signed net movements. Then calculate unexplained difference = recorded closing balance − calculated closing balance. A zero difference establishes arithmetic agreement for that selected population; it does not establish correct revenue or tax treatment.

Stripe’s activity summary separates gross, fee, and net. Choose a consistent level of detail. If the bridge uses a transaction’s net effect, do not subtract its included fee again. If you reconstruct net from components, follow the report’s field definitions and reconcile the result to the reported net. Separately recorded fee movements still need inclusion where they belong to the selected population.

Keep each actual balance-transaction reference once. A summary and the itemized rows supporting it are two views of the same activity, not two amounts to add. Retain negative signs when summing movements. If you instead present inflows and outflows as positive subtotals, add inflows and subtract outflows; do not subtract an already-negative subtotal.

Include non-sale activity without misclassifying it

Stripe’s balance-transaction type describes the movement, its source identifies the originating object, and Stripe recommends reporting_category for grouping. Read those fields together. A row with no store order can still be a documented movement; absence of an order is not a reason to omit it or label it a fee.

The documented types include payouts that remove funds for transfer to a bank, and payout failures or cancellations that return funds. A top-up adds bank funds, while topup_reversal reverses an initially successful credit. Keep both sides when both belong to the period; do not treat a returned payout or bank top-up as a new customer sale.

Currency-conversion movements and stripe_fx_fee are separate descriptions. Use the recorded amounts belonging to the currency being reconciled rather than inventing an exchange-rate adjustment. Stripe also distinguishes risk reserves, network reserves, and payout minimum balances. The reserve_hold and reserve_release entries are counterparts in the reserve balance to reserved_funds. Preserve the balance scope and avoid counting both sides as separate losses.

Include a movement because the provider record places it in the selected balance and period, not because a list on this page mentions its type. Do not assume every account has these events. Where a type or source is unclear, retain the signed amount in the arithmetic if its inclusion is established, and keep its business classification unresolved.

Investigate the remainder without creating a balancing entry

If the bridge does not close, compare the itemized total with the corresponding report summary. Check for repeated references, omitted pages or rows in the export, changed filters, boundary dates, mixed currencies, and fees counted both in net and separately. These are comparison checks, not assumed explanations. Record only the discrepancy the actual files reveal.

Keep the remaining difference with the report references and the rows that cannot yet be included or classified. An unclassified movement can be included in a closing arithmetic bridge without being called revenue, a fee, or a reserve. Conversely, an arithmetic gap remains open even if every known row has a familiar label. Ask the provider to explain the specific unmatched movement or report scope, without creating a fictional adjustment.

For a Prism processing consultation, summarize the balance period and the unresolved question. Confirm any reconciliation assistance, responsibilities, fees, and terms before work. Use the contact form for the website, research-only products, and question, leaving out bank statements, full account details, card data, passwords, and customer records. Follow-up is by email. Provider account terms and eligibility remain the provider’s decisions.

Balance movement bridge

Complete a separate bridge for each account, currency, and balance scope. Retain the underlying itemized references in your private working file. Use either signed net movements or positive inflow/outflow subtotals consistently; the unexplained difference is a finding, never an invented transaction.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.