Bank Reconciliation for Maintenance Fee Collections: Monthly Steps and a Worked Example

Short answer: at the end of every month, compare the balance the bank shows with the bank balance in your records. Link the two only through timing differences (items in transit) and corrected recording errors. The difference must end at zero. Do not post a transfer whose sender you cannot identify to an apartment by guesswork; keep it as an open item.

Last checked: 27 September 2026. The figures in the example show the method; they do not belong to a real property.

Why every month?

• The manager keeps the money collected in an account opened at a reputable bank in the manager's own name but showing the capacity of manager (KMK Art. 35(j)).
• All expenses are entered in the book in date order and their documents are kept (KMK Art. 36).
• Unless the management plan sets another time, the accounts are audited every three months (KMK Art. 41). The manager accounts to the owners' assembly (kat malikleri kurulu) in the first month of each calendar year (KMK Art. 39).

Where reconciliation is done monthly, the quarterly audit takes an hour. Where it is not, twelve months of differences have to be traced together at year end.

Where do differences come from?

1. Timing (items in transit): cash paid into the bank at month end reaches the statement the next day; a payment sent on the 30th leaves the account on the 1st. These are not errors; they clear by themselves the following month.
2. Bank movements not yet recorded: bank charges, transfer fees, interest, or a transfer whose sender is unclear.
3. Recording errors: a wrong amount, the wrong apartment, a collection entered twice, an expense never entered.

The aim of reconciliation is to place the whole difference into one of these three groups.

Monthly reconciliation step by step

1. Get the statement. One that covers the first to the last day of the month and shows the opening and closing balance.
2. Check the opening balance. This month's opening balance must equal last month's reconciled closing balance. If not, fix the previous month first.
3. Match the money in. Every amount received must have a counterpart in the records: a collection for an apartment, other income (such as interest) or a transfer from cash.
4. Match the money out. Every amount paid out must be tied to an expense and its document.
5. List what is in the records but not at the bank. Usually items in transit at month end; note the date, they should appear on next month's statement.
6. Fill in the reconciliation table. With two columns, as in the example below.
7. Do not close an unexplained difference. A difference is not written off to expenses or income as "rounding" or "adjustment"; it stays as an open item until found, and the auditor is told.

Worked reconciliation table (30/09)

Bank side

Records side

Calculation: 126,480 + 3,000 − 4,250 = 125,230 and 125,870 − 90 + 1,250 − 1,800 = 125,230. The difference is zero.

The two bank-side items should clear by themselves on the October statement. The records-side items are entered before September is closed. For the unknown transfer, ask the sender or the bank; once the owner is found, it is moved to the right apartment.

Situations specific to fee collections

• Transfer with no description: even if the sender's name matches a resident, that may not be enough; the same person may own two apartments, or the tenant may have paid. Do not post it until you are sure. Ask residents by announcement to write the block and apartment number in the description.
• One transfer, several apartments: an owner of two apartments may send one transfer. The amount is recorded split between the apartments, so each apartment's statement stays right.
• Overpayment: anything above the debt stays on the apartment's account as a credit (advance); it is refunded or set against the next charge. It is not booked to other income.
• Payment made by the tenant: the payment is recorded to the account of the apartment the tenant occupies. The tenant's liability for shared costs is limited to the rent they are liable to pay, and what they pay is deducted from the rent (KMK Art. 22).

Which debt does a partial payment count against?

If a resident pays part of an accumulated debt, which month it counts against matters, because the late payment penalty changes with it. The general rules of the Turkish Code of Obligations are:

• On the day of payment the debtor may say which debt they are paying; if they do not, and do not object immediately, the payment counts against the debt the creditor shows on the receipt (TBK Art. 101). A note such as "March fee" in the transfer description matters for this reason.
• Without such a statement, the payment counts against a debt that is due; if several are due, against the one pursued first; if none has been pursued, against the one that fell due first (TBK Art. 102).
• A debtor who is not late with interest or costs has the right to deduct a partial payment from the principal (TBK Art. 100).

Whether the late payment penalty is deducted before or after the principal on a partial payment needs separate assessment. Write the rule you apply into an assembly resolution and apply the same rule to everyone; if in doubt, ask a lawyer. For how the penalty is calculated, see the late payment penalty (KMK Art. 20) guide.

Who should do it?

For internal control, it is good practice for the person who records collections and the person who checks the reconciliation to be different. Where a small building cannot manage that, the reconciliation table is filed with the statement and the auditor sees these tables at the quarterly audit (KMK Art. 41).

How it works in Yonevo

With supported banks, account transactions are fetched automatically over a read-only connection and pending transactions are gathered in one list; statements from other banks are brought in from the data migration screen. You choose which apartment's account an incoming transaction is recorded to; there is no automatic apartment matching, because guessing leads to errors with transfers that have no description. A single transfer sent for several apartments is recorded as a separate collection for each apartment. Cash and bank listings are available as PDF or Excel.

Common mistakes

1. Writing the difference off to expenses: once an unexplained difference goes to "other expenses", the problem is hidden, not solved.
2. Posting to an apartment by guesswork: a payment posted to the wrong apartment shows two residents with the wrong balance.
3. Not checking the opening balance: last month's difference carries into this month and grows.
4. Letting bank charges pile up: small amounts gathered month after month make the total difference impossible to read.
5. Forgetting items in transit: an "item in transit" that does not appear on the next statement is no longer timing; it is an error.

Frequently asked questions

Is bank reconciliation a legal requirement? The law has no separate duty called "reconciliation". But the manager keeps the money in a bank account opened in the capacity of manager (KMK Art. 35(j)), enters expenses in the book with their documents (Art. 36), gives an account (Art. 39), and the accounts are audited (Art. 41). Monthly reconciliation is the practical way to meet these duties.

What should we do with a transfer whose sender we cannot identify? Record it as an open item and do not post it to any apartment. Ask the bank for the sender's details, or ask by announcement. Once the owner is found, move it to the right apartment.

How often should we reconcile? At least monthly. In large complexes with many transactions, doing it weekly finds differences while they are still small.

Who should see the reconciliation table? The auditor or the audit board; it also supports the annual account given to the owners' assembly.

Sources (in Turkish)

• Condominium Law No. 634, Art. 22, 35(j), 36, 39, 41
• Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Art. 100, 101, 102