# Owner Review of Bank Statements in 15 Minutes

- Author: PreciseBankFlow (https://precisebankflow.com)
- Published: 2026-10-17
- Category: Internal controls over cash
- Canonical: https://precisebankflow.com/blog/owner-review-of-bank-statements

> A 15-minute owner review of bank statements: unfamiliar payees, check images, transfers, payroll totals and the questions to ask your bookkeeper.
An owner review of bank statements is a short monthly read of every business account by the owner, before or alongside the bookkeeper. In about 15 minutes you check the balance, scan payees for names you do not know, look at check images, question transfers and payroll totals, and write down what to ask your bookkeeper.

## Why does an owner review of bank statements deter theft?

An owner review deters theft because an employee who knows the owner reads every statement has to assume any odd payment will be seen. A theft that runs for years usually depends on nobody outside the bookkeeping role ever looking. The review also catches honest errors and bank mistakes while they are recent.

### What the review is, and is not

The owner review is not a reconciliation. The bookkeeper still matches the statement to the books. The owner's job is narrower: look at what actually left and entered the account and ask whether it makes sense for the business. The owner knows which suppliers are real, who is on staff and what the business bought, which is knowledge a bookkeeper may lack.

### The legal clock on reporting

Speed matters for another reason. Under [Uniform Commercial Code section 4-406](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/4/4-406), a bank customer must examine statements with reasonable promptness and report unauthorized payments. A customer who fails to do so can lose the right to dispute later items by the same wrongdoer, and an unauthorized signature or alteration not reported within one year after the statement is made available cannot be asserted against the bank at all. A monthly look keeps you well inside these limits.

## Getting the bank statement before anyone else sees it

The owner should receive each statement directly from the bank, by online access in the owner's own login or by mail to the owner's address, before the bookkeeper works on it. A statement that passes through the bookkeeper first can be edited or replaced. Then spend the first three minutes on the balance.

### Minutes 1 to 3

1. Open the statement from the bank portal or the bank's envelope yourself.
2. Confirm the account name and number are yours, and that every business account has a statement this month.
3. Read the opening and closing balance. Ask yourself whether the closing balance feels right for the month you just had.
4. Read the summary: total deposits and total withdrawals. A large swing from last month deserves a note.

If the bank offers alerts, turn on email or text alerts to the owner for large payments, new payees and changes to online banking users. Alerts are a cheap supplement to the monthly read.

## Unfamiliar payees on the monthly bank statement

Unfamiliar payees are the clue an owner is best placed to spot. Read down the withdrawals and mark every name you do not recognise, every name that looks like a person rather than a business, and every payee you recognise but did not expect to see this month. Spend about four minutes here.

### Minutes 3 to 7

- **Names you do not know.** A fictitious supplier usually has a plausible, dull name. "Office Supply Services" is more likely than something exotic.
- **Individuals.** A payment to a person may be a contractor, a refund or an employee's personal account.
- **Card payments to unusual merchants.** Personal shopping, travel or streaming services on a business account.
- **Round amounts.** A payment of exactly 2,500.00 to a supplier who normally bills odd amounts.
- **Amounts just under your approval limit.** If you approve anything over 5,000, a run of payments at 4,900 is worth a question.

Card spending often runs through a separate statement. The rules that keep company card use in line, and how to review card statements the same way, are in [corporate card controls](/blog/corporate-card-controls). Small cash withdrawals may be refilling a petty cash box; how that fund should be run and counted is covered in [petty cash controls](/blog/petty-cash-controls).

## Check images in an owner statement review

Check images show who the check was made out to, who signed it and who cashed it. Most business online banking lets you open each image, front and back. Spend three minutes on the larger checks and any check to a payee you marked, comparing the image with what the check register says.

### Minutes 7 to 10

On the front, look at:

- **Payee.** Does it match the supplier in the books? Altered payee lines often show different handwriting or font.
- **Signature.** Is it yours or an authorized signer's? A signature that looks traced or a stamp you did not approve is a red flag.
- **Amount.** Do the words and the figures agree?

On the back, look at:

- **Endorsement.** A business check endorsed by an individual, or deposited to an account that is not the supplier's, deserves a call.
- **Bank of deposit.** Checks to local suppliers deposited at a distant bank, or by mobile app, can mean the check was stolen and washed.

### Checks you did not expect

Any check number out of sequence, or a check cleared with no entry in the books, should go on the list for the bookkeeper. If the business writes checks often, ask the bank about positive pay, which compares presented checks with the list you issued.

## Transfers and payroll totals on the bank statement

Transfers and payroll are where large amounts can leave quietly. Look at every transfer out of the account and every payroll debit, and compare the payroll total with what you expect for your headcount. Spend about three minutes here, the most valuable three minutes for catching larger losses.

### Minutes 10 to 13

**Transfers.** Every transfer should go to another account the business owns or to a known lender. Ask about transfers to accounts you do not recognise, transfers to your own personal account you did not make, and transfers in and out of the same account in the same week.

**Payroll.** Find the payroll debit or debits. Divide the total by headcount, roughly, and ask whether it fits. A payroll that grew while staff did not is a clue to a ghost employee or an unapproved raise. Payroll tax payments should appear on schedule too; a missing tax payment can mean the money went elsewhere.

**Deposits.** Look at deposits briefly. A steady business with a sudden drop in deposits, with no sales reason, can mean receipts are being diverted before they reach the bank.

### An example 15-minute step list

The list below is an example you can print and keep next to the statement. Adjust the times to your volume.

| Minutes | Step | Write down |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 to 3 | Open the statement yourself, check accounts, balances and totals | Any account missing or balance that surprises you |
| 3 to 7 | Read payees, mark unknown names, individuals, round or near-limit amounts | Payee, date, amount |
| 7 to 10 | Open images of large checks and marked checks, front and back | Check number and what looks wrong |
| 10 to 13 | Review transfers, payroll totals and the deposit trend | Transfer destination, payroll total compared with expectations |
| 13 to 15 | Write the questions for the bookkeeper and initial the statement | Questions and the date reviewed |

## What should the owner ask the bookkeeper after the statement review?

After the review, the owner should ask the bookkeeper short factual questions about each marked item: who the payee is, what the payment was for, and where the invoice or approval is. Ask for the document, not just an answer. Most questions have quick, honest answers, and asking every month is what makes the review a control.

### Minutes 13 to 15

Questions that work:

- "Who is this payee, and can I see the invoice?"
- "What was this transfer for, and which account received it?"
- "Why did payroll go up this month?"
- "Which check is number 4417? It is not in the register."
- "Is the reconciliation for last month done, and can I see the outstanding items?"

Initial and date the statement or a short review note, so there is a record that the review happened. If you use an outside accountant, share the questions with them too.

### How the answers should come back

The bookkeeper should answer with documents: invoices, payroll reports, transfer confirmations. Matching statement payments to their invoices by hand is slow, and tools for automating that match are covered in [automated invoice reconciliation](/blog/automated-invoice-reconciliation). [PreciseBankFlow](/) can also reconcile the statement and list duplicate and unmatched payments, which gives you a short list of items to ask about rather than a whole statement.

## When a 15-minute bank statement review is not enough

A 15-minute review is not enough when the answers do not hold up, when the same kind of question keeps coming back, or when something is clearly wrong. At that point the owner needs a deeper look at several months of statements, ideally by an accountant who is independent of the bookkeeper.

### Signs to dig deeper

- The bookkeeper cannot produce an invoice, or produces one that looks newly made.
- Statements arrive late, are only ever printed copies, or come through the bookkeeper despite your instructions.
- Several payees share an address, a bank account or a phone number with an employee.
- The bookkeeper resists taking leave or letting anyone else handle the books.
- Payments you questioned stop, and similar ones start under a new name.

### What to do

Keep the statements and records you have, and do not confront anyone yet. Get read-only bank access for yourself if you do not already have it. Ask an outside accountant to review twelve months of statements against the books. If you want to start with the statements themselves, you can [get started with PreciseBankFlow](/get-started) and bring the months in question.