Moving money from one company bank account to another changes where cash is held. It does not, by itself, create a sale. The source statement shows a withdrawal and the destination statement shows a deposit. When those files are reviewed separately, someone may classify the withdrawal as an expense and the deposit as income, misrepresenting an internal movement on both sides.
Start with ownership. A payment to a supplier, shareholder, or another company in the group is not an internal transfer just because its bank description says transfer. Confirm the entity and accounts involved. This article concerns accounts owned by the same company. Movements between separate entities require their own identification and accounting review rather than being treated as cash within one business.
Hypothetical example: moving cash without changing profit
A Costa Rican small business holds CRC 900,000 in operating account A and CRC 100,000 in reserve account B. It transfers CRC 250,000 from A to B. With no fees or other movements, A ends at CRC 650,000 and B at CRC 350,000. Combined cash remains CRC 1,000,000. This illustration uses colones and two accounts belonging to the same company.
The supporting record connects A's CRC 250,000 withdrawal to B's CRC 250,000 deposit. Keep the reference and both dates. If the deposit arrives the following day, do not invent a sale to explain the gap between files. Document that the receiving side is still being followed up, then verify its arrival before considering the case resolved.
A review of one account may show an outstanding item while the other statement is missing. That is not a reason to manufacture a bank line or change a receipt date. Preserve the follow-up and use balances from the correct cutoff. The explanation needs to survive the close even when the outgoing and incoming entries appear in different statement periods.
Look for a transfer already recorded
Before posting anything, check whether a colleague already created the transfer in the transactions module. The bank file may arrive after the operational record. Where appropriate, reconciliation should connect the bank evidence to that existing movement rather than create another identical transfer. Compare accounts, amount, and reference. Two transfers with the same value can still be separate events.
- Confirm that both accounts belong to the same company.
- Find the existing transfer or the evidence supporting a new record.
- Compare currencies, references, and dates on both sides.
- Review any separate charge before classifying it.
- Check individual balances and combined cash after recording the movement.
Xero's official documentation distinguishes recording a transfer before reconciliation from recording it during reconciliation, warning against using both methods for the same transfer. That source describes Xero, not a Tario bank integration. The useful operational principle is to identify the record representing the transfer and reconcile evidence against it instead of repeating the transaction for each statement file.
A fee does not make the whole transfer an expense
Return to the example with an additional, separately documented CRC 1,500 bank charge in A. The transfer is still CRC 250,000, B receives CRC 250,000, and A ends at CRC 648,500. Combined cash falls to CRC 998,500 because of the charge, not the transfer. This version assumes that the bank identifies the charge as a distinct line.
If the destination receives less and no breakdown is available, obtain the transfer advice or settlement details. The gap might be a fee, currency conversion, or an incorrectly selected amount. Do not invent a commission to force agreement. Once the charge is documented, your accounting team can determine its classification. Until then, make the unresolved portion visible.
Accounts in different currencies require another comparison. A dollar withdrawal and a colón deposit cannot be assessed by adding their nominal amounts. Retain the amount in each currency and the conversion evidence. The same-currency example is not a recipe for exchange differences; the rate and its effect need to be checked against the company's actual records.
What to check in Tario
Tario maintains bank accounts by company and considers transfers when looking for reconciliation matches. Check the account assigned to each statement before accepting suggestions. An incoming transfer from your own account proposed as income needs review. A confidence score cannot replace checking the source account, destination account, and nature of the movement.
Tario's transaction documentation includes transfers without commercial documents. For a movement already recorded, the bank flow can link a line to an existing transaction without generating another entry. Do not assume every pair of lines will resolve automatically. Multiple candidates, distant dates, or different currencies warrant checking the relationship and getting help before confirming something you cannot explain.
Separate reading a file from confirming its accounting effect. Detecting a possible transfer does not mean Tario sent money through your bank. The physical transfer takes place through the bank; Tario records and relates the evidence. Check the action being confirmed and its result, especially when one person recorded the transfer and another is reconciling statements.
A check for double classification
After reconciliation, find the amount in both accounts and check whether it also appears as income or an expense without an independent reason. The first example should not explain new sales or purchased services. In the second, only the documented charge explains lower combined cash. That comparison says more than a count of resolved statement lines.
If you find a duplicate record, do not conceal it with an unexplained negative income entry or compensating expense. Identify the action that created it and use the correction process appropriate to the record and period. Retain the explanation for colleagues so the next import can be related correctly and nobody has to guess why the transfer appears more than once.