A shop closes with SAR 18,400 in card payments, but the bank receives SAR 17,960. Has the business lost SAR 440? Not necessarily. A settlement can combine transactions from different shifts, leave a late transaction for the next batch, and deduct charges or a refund relating to an earlier sale. Before posting a difference, establish which transactions the transfer is supposed to contain.
Daily reconciliation connects three records: the sales application, the payment provider's accepted transactions, and the bank credit. Agreement between two does not replace the third. The bank receipt can be correct even though a cashier classified a card sale as cash. Collection is complete in that case, but the cash drawer and payment-method records still need investigation.
Following the missing SAR 440
Assume the provider's report shows that SAR 250 will be transferred in a later batch. It also identifies a SAR 120 refund for an earlier transaction and documented total charges of SAR 70. These are illustrative amounts, not a bank tariff or an assumption about a universal settlement deadline.
| Settlement movement | SAR | Supporting evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accepted payments being reconciled | 18,400 | Successful transaction details |
| Amount awaiting a later transfer | (250) | Transaction reference and provider status |
| Refund relating to an earlier payment | (120) | Refund reference linked to the original transaction |
| Deducted charges | (70) | Fee statement and supporting document |
| Expected bank credit | 17,960 | Settlement batch reference |
The arithmetic explains the difference, but it does not finish the work. Track the SAR 250 until a subsequent batch includes it, and confirm that the refund was not deducted twice. Analyse the charges using their supporting document; the net transfer alone does not establish any tax component. Do not reduce revenue a second time for a refund whose effect has already been recorded through the approved credit documentation.
Give each payment a searchable identity
A branch, date and amount are not always enough to identify a payment. Ten customers might spend the same amount within one hour. Keep the provider's transaction reference, terminal identifier, processing time and receipt or invoice number, then connect these to the settlement batch. A reconciliation file does not need full card details or security codes. Avoid collecting sensitive payment information that serves no reconciliation purpose.
A shift closing time may differ from the provider's settlement cutoff. A payment accepted at 11:55 pm can fall into a different business-day report under the provider's configuration. Distinguish the sale time, payment acceptance time and bank value date. When a terminal or acquiring bank changes, update the branch-to-terminal mapping so that one branch's transfers do not appear to belong to another.
Do not ask branch staff to change valid sales merely to match today's bank deposit. They can explain a receipt or payment classification; the settlement owner can investigate the provider's batch. This distinction makes the enquiry useful: missing sales evidence goes to the branch, while an overdue transfer goes to the person responsible for collections.
Three exceptions, three different enquiries
- A provider-accepted payment is missing from the sales report. Check the invoice and integration before creating another sale; the payment may already be recorded under the wrong tender type.
- A payment appears in sales but is not confirmed by the provider. Inspect declines, reversals and retries. A receipt for an attempted payment is not sufficient evidence of completed collection.
- A confirmed settlement has not reached the bank. Follow the agreed due date and transfer reference. Do not automatically classify the amount as an expense or a cash shortage.
An exception register needs a clear amount, a searchable reference, a working explanation, an owner and a follow-up date. Separate documented timing differences from unexplained differences. Combining them allows older errors to disappear behind current activity. Monitor the age and value of unresolved items rather than celebrating the number of rows marked closed.
The Saudi Central Bank publishes weekly POS statistics covering activity across business categories and cities. These aggregated figures can inform market analysis, but they are not your shop's settlement statement and cannot prove that a particular transfer is due. The workflow above is an original operational control suggestion, not a mandatory SAMA reconciliation form. Its value lies in tracing each amount from receipt to bank while leaving unresolved items visible until the evidence arrives.
Sources & further reading
Visit the original source to explore the concept and its wider context.
General educational content. Appropriate treatment depends on your business and accounting policies; consult your accounting professional when applying it to business records.
