Bank break
A discrepancy between an internal record of an expected bank transaction and the corresponding entry on the bank statement — either the entry is missing, the amount differs, or it is duplicated.
A bank break is the fundamental unit of bank reconciliation. The internal ledger expected a credit of ₹100,000 from customer X on 14 April; the bank statement shows ₹99,950 with the same value date. The ₹50 difference is a break, requiring investigation and either correction of the internal record or a charge-back/follow-up with the bank.
Bank breaks come in standard categories: missing on bank (internal record exists, no statement entry), missing on book (statement entry exists, no internal record), amount mismatch, value-date mismatch, and duplicate. Each category has different operational implications and different typical resolution paths.
Aged bank breaks are a control risk. Breaks aged beyond a few business days suggest the reconciliation process is not catching errors quickly enough; breaks aged beyond a month suggest a systemic gap in reporting. Most banks impose internal break-aging limits and require senior sign-off above defined thresholds.