Special situations
Records reconstruction
Finbryn rebuilds a business's financial history from bank, card and processor statements when the original books are incomplete or unreliable, working to the standard your local statutory-accounts partner needs, whether the entity reports under IFRS for SMEs or a national GAAP.
Bank reconciliation summary
Illustrative client · August 2026
EUR
| Account | Difference | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating account··4821 | 184,220.16 | 184,220.16 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Reserve account··0937 | 60,000.00 | 60,000.00 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Company card··1006 | (12,418.52) | (12,418.52) | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Card processor clearing | 8,905.40 | 8,905.40 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Payroll clearing | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
Last weekly runFri, 28 Aug, every account agreed to its statement.
Two open itemsTwo card receipts requested from you, marked on the card account until they arrive.
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Rebuilding from what actually exists
A reconstruction usually starts because a business changed bookkeeper, platform or country of registration and the prior file no longer holds up. Working across the EU means the reconstruction has to respect whichever standard the entity reports under, IFRS for SMEs in one country, national GAAP in another, so the rebuilt ledger matches what a local statutory-accounts partner can actually certify, not a generic template.
We rebuild the transaction history directly from bank, card and processor statements, reconstruct a chart of accounts that matches how the business actually operates, and source missing invoices and bills wherever a paper or digital trail still exists. Where it does not, we document the gap rather than guess at a number, because a documented assumption is something a local partner or lender can work with and a silent guess is not.
The output is a reconstructed profit and loss and balance sheet for each affected period, alongside a written list of assumptions and gaps. For a group entity, the reconstruction also flags any intercompany balance that needs resolving before a consolidated view becomes possible. The finished file, together with its assumptions log, becomes the base your ongoing bookkeeping continues from, so nothing gets rebuilt a second time.
This work runs under the same data-protection safeguards as any current file, consistent with GDPR's core-processing rules, whose most serious breaches carry fines of up to EUR 20 million or 4 percent of worldwide turnover.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Records reconstruction
What if some of our original records are simply gone?
We rebuild from what remains, bank and card statements, processor reports, prior filings, and document every assumption where a record cannot be recovered.
Can a reconstructed file support a local statutory filing?
Yes, we build it to the standard your local partner needs, whether that is IFRS for SMEs or a national GAAP, and flag anywhere a number is an estimate rather than a fact.
Is this safe for a group with entities in more than one member state?
Yes. Each entity's reconstruction respects its own reporting standard, and intercompany balances between entities are flagged for resolution before consolidation.
What sources do you use when original invoices are missing?
Bank and card statements, supplier and customer confirmations, and any surviving correspondence are cross-referenced to rebuild a defensible transaction record where the original document itself no longer exists anywhere in your files. We flag any gap that cannot be filled this way before the project moves forward.
How do you flag an amount that had to be estimated rather than confirmed?
Every estimated figure is marked as such in the working file, with the basis for the estimate noted, so anyone relying on the reconstruction later knows exactly which numbers are confirmed and which are best-evidence estimates.
What if some records are simply gone?
We work from what remains, bank and card statements, vendor confirmations, prior filings, and document every assumption we have to make.
Can reconstructed books support a tax filing?
Yes. We build them to a standard your credentialed preparer can rely on, and we flag anywhere the reconstruction is an estimate rather than a fact.
How is records reconstruction priced?
Pricing for records reconstruction depends on your transaction volume, the software you use, and how much cleanup is needed before ongoing work starts. Current ranges are published on the pricing page, and your exact fee is confirmed in writing before anything begins.
What software works with records reconstruction?
Records reconstruction runs inside QuickBooks Online or Xero, whichever you already use. If you are not yet set up in either, we can configure a file in your name so you keep ownership of it once the engagement is under way.
Related services
- Special situationsMulti-year catch-upBringing several years of unreconciled or missing books current in one structured engagement, scoped and timed before the work starts.
- BookkeepingCatch-up and cleanup bookkeepingMonths or years of books brought up to date and reconciled, with a written record of every adjustment, so monthly bookkeeping can start from a clean base.
Industries
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.