Choosing software
Excel vs reconciliation software: which is better for your business?
Excel is good enough for bank reconciliation when you have one or two accounts, a few hundred lines a month and a separate reviewer. Once you add more banks, POS terminals, payment processors or an auditor asking who reviewed what, reconciliation software saves time and gives you a record a spreadsheet can't.
Most Nigerian finance teams start in Excel: statement and cash book side by side, VLOOKUP, matches coloured green. Then two banks become five, one POS terminal becomes thirty, and the workbook that took an afternoon takes a week.
When Excel is the right tool
Excel is a sensible choice when:
- you have one or two bank accounts with a few hundred lines a month;
- one person prepares the reconciliation and another reviews it;
- you have no POS terminals, processors or wallets to settle;
- your auditor accepts a printed reconciliation with a signed cover sheet.
A clean, protected workbook is a professional answer at that size.
Where Excel starts to break
Volume. APQC benchmarks reported by CFO.com in May 2026 put the median time to reconcile one bank account at about 4 hours, and 5 hours or more for bottom performers (checked November 2026). Multiply that by every account, every month.
Version control. "Bank rec Oct FINAL v3 (2).xlsx": when two people work on copies, nobody knows which file is real.
No audit trail. A spreadsheet doesn't record who changed a cell, when or why. A match can be deleted or an amount typed over, and the file looks the same.
Key-person risk. If the workbook's author leaves or goes on leave in December, month-end stops.
Open items nobody owns. Unmatched lines sit in an "Outstanding" tab and roll from month to month. Some quietly become write-offs.
Nigerian detail. Excel doesn't know a NIP session ID is the best key for a transfer, and won't check processor fees or explain stamp duty unless you build it.
For the full cost of the manual approach, see the truth about manual reconciliation.
Brillrec vs Excel vs your accounting software
Your accounting software already reconciles. Zoho Books, for example, imports statements, suggests matches and produces reconciliation reports, according to its banking page (checked November 2026). Brillrec works alongside it rather than replacing it.
| Brillrec | Excel | Built-in (e.g. Zoho Books, QuickBooks) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | From ₦75,000 a month plus VAT | Already paid for | Included in your plan |
| Statements | PDF, Excel or CSV in the bank's own layout; Mono bank feeds and statements by email on Essential and above | Copy and paste | Bank feeds and file import |
| Statement check | Running balance checked line by line | Only if you build it | Not described on their banking pages |
| Matching | Reference, NIP session ID, amount and date; split and grouped payments; your own rules | VLOOKUP and by eye | Suggested matches and bank rules |
| POS and processors | Settlements checked: gross less fees, VAT and deductions equals what reached the bank; fees recomputed for Paystack, Flutterwave, Monnify and Squad, and at any agreed rate you enter | Build it yourself | Not described on their banking pages |
| Open items | Carried forward; aged in the Exceptions report; explanation required as they age | A tab that rolls forward | Unmatched transactions |
| Review | Preparer, optional approver, reviewer; sign-off locks the reconciliation | Initials on a printout | Not described on their banking pages |
| Evidence | PDF sign-off pack and tamper-evident audit log | None | Reconciliation reports |
| Controls and close | Internal Control Automation and Financial Close Management included | Separate files | Not positioned for this |
Signs it's time to move
If three or more are true, Excel is costing you more than it saves:
- You reconcile more than three bank accounts, or any POS terminals or processors.
- Month-end reconciliations take more than a few days.
- You've found a difference that was hidden for more than a month.
- Only one person can explain the workbook.
- Open items are over 90 days old and nobody owns them.
- Your auditor has asked who reviewed a reconciliation, and when.
How to move without disrupting the close
- Start with your worst account, usually the busiest POS or collection account.
- Load last month's statement and ledger and compare the result with your Excel reconciliation.
- Run both for one month, then retire the workbook for that account.
- Add the rest, account by account, then switch on sign-off and the close checklist.
For the method, whichever tool you use, see bank reconciliation in Nigeria, step by step.
How Brillrec helps
Brillrec is the finance operations platform for Nigerian businesses, made by accountants in Lagos. Its three products, Reconciliation, Internal Control Automation and Financial Close Management, share one record, so a signed-off reconciliation also completes its close task and shows its control as operating.
- Reconciliation reads statements from any Nigerian bank in the layout the bank sends, remembers the layout, and checks the running balance line by line. Exact matches are automatic, and every automatic match is listed in the sign-off pack.
- Bank charges, stamp duty and NIP charges are found and explained in one step and sent to the journal export.
- Sign-off runs from preparer to reviewer, with an optional approver. Sign-off can require a reviewer who is not the preparer, and segregation of duties is checked. Reopening needs a reason and is logged, and the PDF sign-off pack holds the statement, explanations and source files.
- No cash book yet? Brillrec drafts one from the bank statement, with a suggested account for each line, for you to check and post in your own books.
- The Exceptions report replaces the "Outstanding" tab: it ages every open item across all accounts in your own age bands, filters by account, owner, kind or amount, downloads to Excel and can be emailed weekly.
- Internal Control Automation and Financial Close Management come on every plan: a controls register whose status comes from the work, and a month-end checklist with owners and due dates.
- Your ledger stays. QuickBooks Online, Zoho Books, Sage Accounting, Xero and Business Central connect directly. See integrations.
With AI on, Brillrec can investigate one open line, draft the commentary and sign-off memo for a person to edit, and suggest the columns of an unfamiliar file; each also works without AI. AI is optional: an admin can switch it off, it never signs off or approves, and every use is logged.
Reported by clients: 99% of clients' bank and ledger lines matched automatically in a month, 70% less month-end close time, 50% less audit preparation time and 2.5x finance team productivity. Results depend on your records and how your team works. See client results.
Frequently asked questions
Is Excel good enough for bank reconciliation?
Yes, for one or two accounts with low volume and a separate reviewer. It struggles once you have several banks, POS terminals or processors, or an auditor asking for a review trail.
Can I bring my Excel reconciliations into Brillrec?
Load the statement and ledger files you use today, in Excel, CSV or PDF, and compare Brillrec's result with your Excel reconciliation.
Is reconciliation software expensive for a small business?
Brillrec's Essential plan is ₦75,000 a month plus VAT, with unlimited accounts and users and all three products. Compare that with your team's hours in Excel.
Do I still need Excel?
Many teams keep it for analysis. The reconciliation, sign-off and evidence move into one place.
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