How do I reconcile a bank statement before filing GST returns?

To be clear about scope: StatementFlow converts bank statements — it does not file GST returns or compute GST liability. What it removes is the step that makes pre-filing reconciliation painful, which is getting a month of bank transactions into Tally accurately in the first place.

The usual sequence is: convert the period's statement and import the vouchers into Tally, reclassify the Suspense entries to the right ledgers, and only then reconcile. Doing it in that order matters — reconciling against a half-entered bank ledger produces differences that turn out to be missing entries rather than genuine mismatches.

Once the bank is fully posted, the checks that actually catch problems are: GST payments made from the bank matching the challans claimed; refunds received appearing in the bank on the dates the portal shows; TDS and other deductions landing in the right ledgers rather than sitting in Suspense; and customer receipts reconciling with the invoices reported in your outward supplies.

The reason converted statements help here is that the figures are proven before they enter the books. Every line is checked against the statement's own running balance at conversion time, so a difference you find during reconciliation is a genuine accounting difference — not a digit that got mistyped three weeks earlier. That distinction is most of the work in a reconciliation.

For a spreadsheet-side comparison, export the same conversion to Excel or CSV and match it against your returns workings without re-keying anything.