By the team at Acey Bookkeeping, Xero-certified bookkeepers in Medway and Kent. Last updated July 2026.
The short answer (TL;DR)
To bulk reconcile transactions in Xero, use the Cash coding tab. Go to Accounting > Bank accounts, open the account you want to clear, then click the Cash coding tab. You get a spreadsheet-style grid of up to 200 unreconciled statement lines. Sort similar transactions together, set the contact, account and tax rate for a whole group at once, then click Reconcile to clear them all in one go.
Cash coding is Xero’s built-in bulk reconciliation tool and it is available on the Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate plans. If your transactions match existing invoices or bills, use Find & Match instead. If you would rather not do this at all, our bookkeeping team in Medway and Kent reconciles Xero accounts for small businesses every day.
What does “bulk reconcile” actually mean in Xero?
Reconciling in Xero means matching the transactions on your bank feed against the records in your accounts, so your books agree with your actual bank balance. Normally you do this one line at a time on the Reconcile tab, clicking OK on each suggested match.
Bulk reconciling means clearing many statement lines at once rather than clicking through them individually. This is a lifesaver when you have fallen behind, imported months of historic transactions, or you run a business with lots of small, repetitive payments like cafe takings, parking, fuel or subscription charges.
There are two honest ways to think about “bulk” in Xero:
- Cash coding codes and reconciles a batch of statement lines in one spreadsheet-style screen. Best for cash-type transactions that do not have a matching invoice or bill.
- Find & Match reconciles a single statement line against several invoices or bills at once. Best when one payment covers multiple documents.
Most people searching for “bulk reconcile transactions in Xero” want cash coding, so that is where we will spend most of this guide. If you are still finding your feet with the basics, start with our full walkthrough on how to reconcile in Xero and come back here to speed things up.
Cash coding vs Find & Match vs bank rules vs JAX: which should you use?
Xero gives you four ways to move faster through reconciliation. They solve different problems, so it helps to know which tool fits which job before you dive in.
| Tool | What it does | Best for | Plan availability (UK)
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash coding | Reconciles up to 200 statement lines at once in a spreadsheet grid by creating new transactions | Repetitive cash-type payments with no matching invoice or bill | Grow, Comprehensive, Ultimate |
| Find & Match | Matches one statement line to several existing invoices or bills, including part payments and splits | A single payment that clears multiple invoices or bills | All plans |
| Bank rules | Automatically suggests the same coding every time a similar transaction appears | Recurring payments to the same supplier or customer | All plans |
| JAX (AI auto-reconciliation) | Uses Rule, Match, Memory and Prediction to reconcile confidently in the background | Hands-off, ongoing reconciliation as transactions arrive | Grow, Comprehensive, Ultimate (add-on for Simple and Ignite) |
Here is the key point people miss: cash coding does not match against invoices or bills you already have in Xero. It creates fresh transactions and reconciles them in one step. So if a payment should clear an outstanding invoice, use Find & Match. If it is a straightforward cost like fuel or a card fee, cash coding is your friend.
Which Xero plans let you bulk reconcile with cash coding?
As of 2026, cash coding is available on Xero’s Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate plans in the UK. It is not included on the entry-level Ignite or the Simple plans.
If you are on Ignite or Simple and you regularly face big batches of transactions, you have three options: upgrade to Grow or above to unlock cash coding, add the AI Automate add-on to get JAX doing the work automatically, or hand the reconciliation to a bookkeeper who already has the right plan and the experience to do it quickly. If you are weighing up the tiers, our guide to Xero pricing in the UK for 2026 breaks down what each plan includes and what it costs.
How to bulk reconcile transactions in Xero using cash coding (step by step)
Here is the exact process. Set aside a quiet half hour for your first run, because a little care here prevents a lot of clean-up later.
- Open the Cash coding tab. Go to Accounting in the top menu, click Bank accounts, choose the account you want to reconcile, then click the Cash coding tab. You will see your unreconciled statement lines laid out in a grid.
- Sort similar transactions together. Click a column header, such as Payee or Description, to group like-for-like lines. This is what makes bulk coding fast, because you can handle a whole cluster of identical payments together.
- Code one line, then copy it down. For a transaction, fill in the Who (contact), What (account) and Why (a description), plus the Tax Rate. Once one line is right, you can apply the same coding to every similar line rather than retyping it.
- Use bank rules for anything recurring. If a group of transactions always gets the same treatment, set up a bank rule so Xero codes them for you next time. That shrinks the job every month.
- Review before you commit. Scan the grid and check the account codes and tax rates look right. Working with 100 lines or fewer at a time makes review easier and cuts the risk of errors.
- Reconcile the batch. When you are happy, click Reconcile (or Reconcile All) to clear the coded lines together. Xero creates the transactions and marks them reconciled in one step.
That is the whole loop. Once you have bank rules doing some of the coding and JAX handling the confident matches, most weeks the grid is nearly empty before you even start.
How do I reconcile multiple transactions that match invoices or bills?
When one payment covers several invoices or bills, do not use cash coding. Open the statement line on the Reconcile tab, choose Find & Match, and tick every invoice or bill the payment relates to. Xero adds them up and lets you reconcile the lot against that single line, including part payments and split amounts. This keeps your customer and supplier balances accurate, which cash coding would not do.
Speed tips to make bulk reconciliation faster
- Build bank rules first. Every rule you create is coding you never have to do by hand again. Start with your most frequent suppliers and card fees.
- Sort by amount for cash businesses. If you take daily takings, sorting by amount groups similar deposits so you can code and clear them in a block.
- Keep batches under 100 lines. Xero shows up to 200, but reviewing smaller batches catches mistakes before they land in your reports.
- Let JAX handle the obvious ones. On Grow and above, JAX reconciles the confident matches in the background, so cash coding is only for the leftovers.
- Reconcile little and often. A ten-minute weekly session beats a painful catch-up at year end, and your cash flow figures stay trustworthy.
Common bulk reconciliation mistakes (and how to fix them)
Speed cuts both ways. When you code 200 lines at once, one wrong account or tax rate gets repeated across the whole batch. The three we see most often are miscoded VAT on exempt or zero-rated costs, personal spending coded as a business expense, and transfers between your own accounts booked as income or costs.
The good news is that a reconciled transaction is not set in stone. If you spot an error, you can fix the account code or tax rate directly on the Reconciled page. If your correction changes the total amount, use Remove and redo to reconcile it again in one step. For a full walkthrough of undoing and correcting reconciled items, see our guide on how to fix Xero reconciliation mistakes.
Should you bulk reconcile yourself, or hand it to a bookkeeper?
Cash coding is genuinely powerful, and for a tidy set of books it can turn an hour of clicking into a few minutes. But bulk tools also make it easy to bulk a mistake. The whole point of reconciliation is that your numbers can be trusted, and a batch coded on autopilot can quietly push VAT, profit and cash flow off track.
That is where an experienced set of eyes pays for itself. As Xero-certified bookkeepers, we reconcile client accounts every day, spot the transactions that do not belong, and keep everything ready for VAT returns and Making Tax Digital. If reconciliation is the job that keeps slipping to the bottom of your list, we can take it off your hands entirely.
Want your Xero kept clean and reconciled without the headache? Talk to Acey Bookkeeping about our bookkeeping services in Medway and Kent and get your books back under control.
Frequently asked questions
Can you bulk reconcile in Xero?
Yes. Xero’s cash coding feature lets you reconcile multiple statement lines at once in a spreadsheet-style grid, up to 200 lines at a time. It is available on the Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate plans.
How do I reconcile multiple transactions in Xero?
For cash-type payments with no matching invoice, use the Cash coding tab under Accounting > Bank accounts, sort similar lines together, code them, then click Reconcile. For a single payment that clears several invoices or bills, use Find & Match on the Reconcile tab instead.
Where is the cash coding tab in Xero?
Go to Accounting in the top menu, click Bank accounts, choose the bank account you want to reconcile, then select the Cash coding tab. If you cannot see it, your plan may not include cash coding, which needs Grow, Comprehensive or Ultimate.
Is cash coding available on all Xero plans?
No. In the UK, cash coding is available on the Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate plans. It is not included on the Ignite or Simple plans.
What is the difference between cash coding and Find & Match?
Cash coding creates new transactions and reconciles a batch of statement lines in one step, so it is best for costs with no existing document. Find & Match reconciles a single statement line against invoices or bills you already have in Xero, including split and part payments.
How do I undo a bulk reconciliation if I made a mistake?
You can edit the account code or tax rate directly on the Reconciled page. If your change affects the total amount, use Remove and redo to reconcile the transaction again in one step.
