# How do I make a journal entry to adjust a bank account's balance in my accounting software?

Applies to: United States · Updated 2026-09-27

First know what the difference is: an unrecorded bank transaction or a wrong recorded amount. Debit the bank account to raise its recorded balance, credit it to lower it, and put the other line in the account that names what happened, never a suspense or equity plug. If a customer or vendor is involved, use the payment transaction instead. Date it when it occurred, explain it in the memo, attach the statement and clear it at reconciliation.

## Is a journal entry the right step yet?

An adjusting entry fixes a cause you have already named. Before you open the form, place what you found in one of three cases:

| What you have found | What to do |
|---|---|
| The bank processed something your books never recorded, such as a service charge or an interest credit | Record it, with the other side in the account that describes it, such as bank service charges or interest income. |
| A transaction is in your books at the wrong amount, such as a debit-card purchase of 125.00 keyed as 152.00 | Correct it, either by fixing the original or by posting the 27.00 difference against the account the original used. |
| The books and the statement disagree and you cannot yet say why | Whether to post anything before the difference breaks down into named items is a judgment call to take to your accountant. |

Only the first two cases have a definite account for the other side. The third is not yet an entry problem, and treating it as one is how differences get buried: posting an unexplained gap to a suspense, uncategorized or equity account makes the books agree with the bank while the error stays inside them, and nothing afterwards prompts anyone to look for it. In the second case, whether to edit, void or reverse the original transaction is a choice of its own; an entry for the difference is one of the options.

## Which side raises the balance, and what goes on the other side?

A bank account is an asset, and OpenStax's Principles of Accounting states the governing rule: cash increases on the debit side and decreases on the credit side. That gives two directions:

- To raise the recorded balance, debit the bank account. Typical causes are an interest credit you never recorded or a purchase recorded above its actual amount.
- To lower the recorded balance, credit the bank account. Typical causes are an unrecorded fee or a deposit recorded above its actual amount.

The other line is the real decision. It has to be the account the event belongs to: for an unrecorded transaction, the account you would have used had you recorded it on time; for a wrong amount, the account the original transaction used, so the correction lands where the error did. An account chosen only because it makes the entry balance fixes nothing. It moves the error out of the bank account into that account, where it misstates profit or the balance sheet instead. Intuit's article on creating journal entries in QuickBooks Online says that if you are unsure which accounts to debit or credit, you should consult your accountant to avoid errors in your financial records.

Once posted, the entry changes both accounts in the general ledger, which OpenStax describes as a record of each account and its balance, and its bank line appears in the bank account's register.

## Should it be a journal entry or a regular transaction?

Most activity in accounting software goes through purpose-built forms. Intuit's article on creating journal entries describes a journal entry as a manual transaction that adjusts balances without standard forms like invoices or bills. The balance effect can be identical; what differs is the detail each keeps, and these criteria decide:

| If the adjustment is | Use |
|---|---|
| A bank fee, service charge or interest item with no customer, vendor or item to track | Either. A journal entry loses nothing that matters; an expense or deposit form records it as a bank transaction with the bank as payee. |
| Money received from a customer or paid to a vendor for an invoice or bill already in the books | The payment form, applied to that invoice or bill. |
| A purchase or sale you track by payee, item or class | The expense, check, sales receipt or deposit form that carries those fields. |
| Money moved between two of your own accounts | A transfer, which has its own procedure. |

Intuit's help on fixing issues at the end of a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online tells you to enter statement transactions that are missing from QuickBooks as new sales receipts or expenses. Intuit's article on adjusting journal entries in QuickBooks Online Accountant lists entering bank or credit card fees among the common uses of those entries, which is why the first row can go either way.

A journal line can still name a customer or vendor: Intuit's article on entering a missed opening balance has you pick one in the Name field of a QuickBooks Online journal entry, and Zoho's Manual Journals help has you select a Contact. A journal entry does not create the invoice, bill, item or payee records that customer, vendor and item reports are built from.

### What if the amount came from a customer or vendor transaction?

Check before you post: look up the customer's or vendor's open balance and find the invoice or bill the money relates to. If that document is still open, that customer's or vendor's balance is involved. A journal entry that debits the bank and credits income leaves the invoice open in accounts receivable and counts the income a second time, so the customer still shows as owing an invoice they have paid and income is overstated by the same amount; a bill paid by journal entry likewise stays open in payables while the expense is counted twice. Record the payment against the invoice or bill instead, and if a payment is already recorded at the wrong amount, correct that payment.

## What date should the entry carry?

OpenStax's journal entry chapter says an entry includes the date the transaction occurred. For an unrecorded bank item, that is the date on the statement line; for a wrong amount, it is the original transaction's date. Set the date deliberately rather than accepting whatever the form shows, because it decides which period the entry lands in:

| Where the entry belongs | What to do |
|---|---|
| The current open period | Post it on the date it occurred. |
| An earlier period that is still open | Post it on the date it occurred, then check whether that month is already reconciled (covered below). |
| A period that is closed, locked or already reported | Stop before posting. Whether to correct that period or the current one is a separate decision, and the software may refuse the date. |

Software controls differ. Zoho's help on transaction locking in Zoho Books says that once transactions are locked, they cannot be added, modified or deleted if recorded before the lock date, and it lists journals among the transactions its Accounts module locks. The same page describes unlocking a specific period instead of everything, and an unlock asks you for a reason. In QuickBooks Online or any other software, look up what it does with a date on or before its closing or lock date before you try to post there, and do not lift a lock someone else set without asking them.

## How do you create the entry in the software?

In QuickBooks Online, Intuit's article on creating journal entries starts the entry from + Create, then Journal entry, and has you pick an account on the first line, then select the other account involved on the next line and enter the same amount in the opposite column. For a bank adjustment, work in this order:

1. Open a new journal entry and set its date to the date the event occurred.
2. On the first line, choose the bank account and enter the amount as a debit to raise its balance or a credit to lower it.
3. On the second line, choose the offsetting account and enter the same amount in the other column.
4. Write the reason in the memo and in each line's description.
5. Confirm the debit and credit totals are equal, then save.

Intuit's article on creating journal entries marks the memo step as optional and says it is for describing the reason for the entry; treat it as required.

In Zoho Books, Zoho's Manual Journals help says a journal saved in Draft status leaves the accounts unchanged: the amounts will not get reflected in the respective accounts. Choose Save and Publish, or click Publish on a draft's details page, so the entry reaches the bank account. The same Manual Journals page describes attaching files from the journal's details page.

## What memo and support will stand up later?

OpenStax says a short description is written after each journal entry, and that description is what a reviewer reads first. AS 2401, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's fraud standard for auditors, lists entries made at period end or after closing with little or no explanation among the characteristics that may mark an inappropriate entry. A memo that will stand up covers three things:

- **What happened.** Name the event in plain words, such as the bank's June maintenance fee, rather than "adjustment".
- **Where the evidence is.** Give the statement's closing date and the line, or the bank notice that shows it.
- **What it corrects.** For a wrong amount, identify the original transaction by date and reference, with the recorded and the correct amounts.

Attach the evidence to the entry itself where the software allows it: the statement page showing the fee, or the receipt showing the correct amount. The IRS says in Publication 583 that it is important to keep supporting documents because they support the entries in your books and on your tax return.

## How will the entry show in the register and the reconciliation?

In QuickBooks Online, a journal entry to a bank account comes up in the next reconciliation as an item to check off unless it is already marked reconciled. Intuit's article on entering a missed opening balance has you mark that one journal entry reconciled precisely because this prevents it from showing up on a future reconciliation. For an adjustment, leave it uncleared and check it off in the reconciliation against the statement line it matches. Do not mark it reconciled directly in the register: Intuit's article on fixing beginning balance issues lists a transaction dated before the last reconciliation's ending date and reconciled manually, outside a reconciliation, among the causes of a beginning balance that no longer matches. If the account is connected to online banking, the same article has you match and categorize all downloaded transactions before reconciling; if the unrecorded item is already in the feed, categorize it there instead of making a journal entry.

In Zoho Books, Zoho's Manual Journals help says a journal to a bank account appears under that account as a manually added transaction, listed as either a withdrawal or a deposit, and that you can then match it with an uncategorized transaction. The same page lists the journal among the best matches when its date and amount are the same as the uncategorized transaction's, so give it that transaction's date.

On either platform, if the feed also brings in an item you already recorded by journal entry, do not categorize it as a new transaction, or the amount is counted twice.

### What if the account is already reconciled through the entry's date?

A new, uncleared entry does not change the completed reconciliation. Intuit's article on fixing beginning balance issues says the beginning balance should match the ending balance of your last reconciliation, and it lists, among the most common causes of a beginning balance that no longer matches, a reconciled transaction that was edited, deleted, voided, moved or unreconciled; a new entry you leave uncleared is none of these. If the item you are adjusting appeared on a statement you have already reconciled, that reconciliation balanced without your entry. Something else in it, such as a reconciliation adjustment for the same amount, now duplicates the entry, and the entry will reach your next reconciliation with no line on the new statement to match. Find how that reconciliation absorbed the amount before posting; whether to reopen that month or correct it in the current one is a separate decision. After posting, confirm that the next reconciliation's beginning balance still equals the last statement's ending balance.

## What does one adjustment look like from start to finish?

The June statement for a business checking account ends at 12,735.00. The register shows 12,380.00 at June 30, and one check for 400.00, written June 29, has not cleared. With everything that appears on both checked off, the reconciliation is 45.00 out, and the cause is named: the statement shows a 45.00 monthly maintenance fee on June 30 that the books do not have.

The decisions run in this order:

1. **What it is.** It is a real transaction the books never recorded, the first case in the opening table.
2. **Which instrument.** It is a bank fee with no customer, vendor or item to track, so a journal entry is fine, and an expense form would work too.
3. **Which direction.** The fee lowers the balance, so the bank account is credited.
4. **Which offset.** The fee belongs in Bank service charges, so that account is debited.
5. **Which date.** The entry is dated June 30, the date on the statement line, and June is open and not yet reconciled.
6. **Which memo.** The memo reads "June monthly maintenance fee per statement ending June 30; not previously recorded."
7. **Which support.** The statement page showing the fee is attached to the entry.

The entry looks like this:

| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank service charges | 45.00 | | June monthly maintenance fee |
| Business checking | | 45.00 | June monthly maintenance fee |

The account looks like this before and after:

| Item | Before the entry | After the entry |
|---|---|---|
| Register balance at June 30 | 12,380.00 | 12,335.00 |
| Uncleared check written June 29 | 400.00 | 400.00 |
| Cleared balance in the reconciliation | 12,780.00 | 12,735.00 |
| Statement ending balance | 12,735.00 | 12,735.00 |
| Difference, cleared balance less statement | 45.00 | 0.00 |

The new 45.00 line appears in the June reconciliation, is checked off against the fee on the statement, and the difference reaches zero. The register now differs from the statement only by the check that has not cleared: 12,335.00 plus 400.00 is 12,735.00.

## What will the entry not do?

It changes your books, not the bank's records, so it cannot recover a charge the bank should not have made; that needs the bank's correction. It also explains nothing by itself: without a named cause, it is the buried difference from the first section. Intuit's help on entering an adjusting entry for a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online says the Add adjusting entry link creates an expense or income transaction that forces the account to balance, and presents it as an option when you cannot find the source of a small discrepancy. Whether to use it, or a journal entry, before the difference has been broken into named items is a judgment call to take to your accountant.

## Sources

1. OpenStax, Rice University — *Principles of Accounting, Volume 1: Financial Accounting — 3.5 Use Journal Entries to Record Transactions and Post to T-Accounts*, published Apr 11, 2019. https://openstax.org/books/principles-financial-accounting/pages/3-5-use-journal-entries-to-record-transactions-and-post-to-t-accounts
2. Intuit Inc. — *Create journal entries in QuickBooks Online and Intuit Enterprise Suite*, last updated 8/24/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/accounting-bookkeeping/create-journal-entry-quickbooks-online/L6Bzy9mT9_US_en_US
3. Intuit Inc. — *Fix issues at the end of a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online*, last updated 8/25/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/statement-reconciliation/fix-issues-end-reconciliation-quickbooks-online/L3mZimyAb_US_en_US
4. Intuit Inc. — *Make adjusting journal entries in QuickBooks Online Accountant*, last updated 8/3/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/accountant-reports/make-adjusting-journal-entries-quickbooks-online/L1IvjNses_US_en_US
5. Zoho Corporation — *Transaction Locking | Help | Zoho Books*, undated. https://www.zoho.com/us/books/help/accountant/transaction-lock.html
6. Intuit Inc. — *What to do if you didn't enter an opening balance in QuickBooks Online*, last updated 8/25/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/journal-entries/enter-opening-balance-quickbooks-online/L4l3NZSMR_US_en_US
7. Zoho Corporation — *Manual Journals | Help | Zoho Books*, undated. https://www.zoho.com/us/books/help/accountant/manual-journal.html
8. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board — *AS 2401: Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit*, undated. https://pcaobus.org/oversight/standards/auditing-standards/details/AS2401
9. Internal Revenue Service — *Publication 583 (12/2024), Starting a Business and Keeping Records*, Rev. December 2024. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p583
10. Intuit Inc. — *Fix beginning balance issues when reconciling in QuickBooks Online*, last updated 9/1/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/statement-reconciliation/fix-issues-accounts-reconciled-past-quickbooks/L8lx6PQQ5_US_en_US
11. Intuit Inc. — *Enter an adjusting entry for a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online*, last updated 8/5/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/statement-reconciliation/enter-adjusting-entry-reconciliation-quickbooks/L2m1jHhBS_US_en_US

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