Reconciling payments
Match incoming payments to invoices manually or via bank-feed import.
Reconciliation is the act of matching incoming payments to the invoices they’re paying. Lectern supports three reconciliation modes: auto-reconcile via SnapScan/EFT references, bank-feed import, and manual matching.
Auto-reconcile
When you issue invoices, each gets a unique reference (e.g. INV-04821). When a payment lands carrying that reference, Lectern matches and marks the invoice paid - no human in the loop.
Configure where your school’s payments come from under Admin → Finance → Settings → Payment sources. Common sources: SnapScan, EFT (via your bank’s feed), debit orders, and card-on-file via your gateway.
Bank-feed import
For schools using EFT-only or where your bank doesn’t offer a live feed, import a daily CSV from your bank.
Download from your bank
Most SA banks let you export the day’s transactions as CSV (Standard Bank, FNB, Nedbank, Capitec all do). Save it.
Upload to Lectern
Admin → Finance → Reconcile → Upload statement. Pick the bank format (the CSV header layouts differ - Lectern auto-detects the most common ones).
Review the matches
Lectern proposes matches based on amount + reference. Review and confirm. Anything ambiguous lands in the manual queue.
Manual matching
Some payments don’t auto-match: the parent paid without a reference, the amount didn’t match exactly, the payment was for a sibling. The manual queue lives at Admin → Finance → Reconcile → Pending.
Matching one payment to one invoice
- Click the unmatched payment.
- Search for the family by surname or invoice number. Lectern surfaces the family’s open invoices.
- Click the matching invoice. The status updates to
reconciledand the family is notified automatically.
Splitting one payment across multiple invoices
Common when a family pays for multiple children at once. Click the payment, then Split, then assign portions to each invoice. The total must match the payment amount.
Overpayments
If a family overpays, the difference becomes a credit on their ledger, automatically applied to the next invoice. Credits are visible to the family and to your bursar in the family’s statement.
Reconciliation reports
Run the daily/weekly/monthly reconciliation summary from Admin → Finance → Reports → Reconciliation. Shows what came in, what was matched, what’s outstanding, and the manual-queue size.
Most bursars run this at end-of-day. It’s also what your auditor will ask for.
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