The primary purpose of Verifycharges is to confirm the accuracy of credit card statements and corresponding receipts, while requiring minimum user effort.

As you use your credit cards, save all your receipts, accumulating a separate batch for each calendar month.  The receipts from all credit cards can be mixed together.  If you make an Internet or mail order purchase, make a dated note or screen print that represents each virtual credit card purchase.  By having a receipt or notation for every purchase and refund, you will be able to completely "clear" every statement.

As you receive credit card statements during the month, or receive email notifications that a statement is available on-line, log into that bank and download the new statement.  When you have received and downloaded every statement for the new calendar month, begin the reconciliation process as follows:

• Open the screen that enables you to "View, Change, or Report Line Item Charges and Credits".  You will be viewing some of the statement line items for all the credit cards in your Verifycharges files.
  
  

• Single left click on the "Amount" column header, to sort the line items in ascending $ amount sequence.  Another click will change the order to descending, if that is your preference.
  

You can click on the "Sale Date", "Amount", "Payee / Description", or "Category" column headers, to sort the line items into that sequence.  The "Lookup" field will then expect you to enter data appropriate for that field. Since purchase amounts are mostly unique, the purchase amount is the easiest data to manually enter to match a receipt to a line item.

• Press function key "F10" to put the screen into a "lookup mode", by moving the cursor to the "Lookup" field and highlighting the "Find" button.

You will be using your left hand to pick up your receipts, and your right hand on the ten key pad, the up and down arrow keys, the space bar, and the F10 key.

• Pick up the first receipt and enter the $ amount.  If the receipt is a credit or refund, enter a minus sign before the numbers.  Then press the enter key.
  
  

• If only 1 line item has the entered $ amount, and it has not already been matched to a prior receipt, a "ding" sound will be heard, and the line will be highlighted.  Look at the payee.  If it matches the receipt, press the space bar.  This will place an X in the "C" (cleared) column.  The screen is now ready for the next receipt.  Put this receipt in a stack of "reconciled" receipts for this calendar month.
  
  

• If more than 1 line item contains the entered $ amount, or if none is found, a "clunk" sound will be heard.  If none of the lines is appropriate, press F10 to do the next receipt, and set this receipt aside to be researched or tried again next month.

Research the receipt by sorting the line items in "Sale Date" or "Payee / Description" order.  Maybe the amount is incorrect.  If so, take appropriate steps to have the charge corrected.  In this case, the receipt will never be "reconciled" and the line item on that statement will never be "cleared".

• Keep the unmatched receipts in calendar month groups.  You should attempt to reconcile these receipts for another month or two, then assume they are never going to appear on a statement.  If one is a refund, take appropriate steps with the payee, to receive the refund due to you.  If it is a charge, the payee must have neglected to submit the charge to the credit card bank, so you can either let the payee know about his mistake or you can revel in your good fortune.
  
  

• If one of the lines is the correct one, using date and/or payee as clues, highlight that line, using the up or down arrow keys or the mouse, then press the space bar.  As described above, this will place an X in the "C" (cleared) column.  The screen is now ready for the next receipt.  Put this receipt in a stack of "reconciled" receipts for this calendar month.

The date cycles suggested above are just that - suggestions.  You may prefer to attempt reconciliation more frequently, knowing that you will have more failures, but may catch possible fraudulent charges sooner.