Controls and audits

Reconciliation of government revenue

Last checked 24 October 2026 · 9 sources

Short answer

Reconciliation means checking that what was billed, what payers paid at banks and what reached the treasury all match. The IMF describes banks sending daily statements to the tax authority and the treasury, which each check them against their own records ¹. PEFA gives score A when revenue bodies fully reconcile assessments, collections, arrears and transfers at least quarterly, within four weeks of the quarter end ². It gives score A for bank reconciliation done at least weekly ³.

PEFA 20.3, score A: Full reconciliation at least quarterly, within four weeks ²
PEFA 27.1, score A: Bank reconciliation of all active accounts at least weekly ³
PEFA 27.2, score A: Suspense accounts reconciled at least monthly ³
PEFA 21.1, score A: All bank and cash balances consolidated daily ⁴
Recent finding: Manual reconciliations at several Tanzanian bodies, NAO, 30 March 2026 ⁵

The three records that must match

The IMF 2010 paper describes a revenue circuit. Banks send daily statements to the tax authority and the treasury. The tax authority checks them against taxpayer records, and the treasury checks them against the treasury single account ¹. The paper says a TSA makes full reconciliation possible between government accounting systems and bank cash flow statements, usually by automated means ¹.

The World Bank TSA toolkit rates whether the central treasury reconciles bank statements through the general ledger module of its financial management information system on a daily basis ⁶.

PEFA timing standards

For suspense accounts, PEFA adds that balances should be cleared by the end of the fiscal year, with exceptions only where duly justified ³.

Dimension	Score A	Score B	Score C
20.3 Revenue accounts reconciliation ²	Quarterly, within four weeks ²	Half-yearly, within eight weeks ²	Annually, within 2 months, collections and transfers only ²
27.1 Bank account reconciliation ³	Weekly, within one week ³	Monthly, within 4 weeks ³	Quarterly, within 8 weeks ³
27.2 Suspense accounts ³	Monthly, within a month ³	Quarterly, within two months ³	Annually, within two months ³

How a payment reference helps

A reference number on each bill lets the system match a payment to a bill. In Tanzania, if a payer uses the wrong control number, the service provider debits the wrong number and credits the right one in its records ⁷. In Uganda, the bank sends transaction details to URA, which updates the taxpayer's account and confirms the payment ⁸.

What audit offices found

Tanzania's Controller and Auditor General reported on 30 March 2026 that several critical systems were not integrated, "necessitating manual data entry and reconciliations" ⁵. It cited errors from manual reconciliations at the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation and manual reconciliations with delayed revenue recognition at Air Tanzania ⁵.

Audit Service Sierra Leone said in its 2024 summary that transfers of NLe9,623,044.50 for customs and excise, NLe6,586,791.15 for GST and NLe2,352,256.52 for income tax could not be traced to the Bank of Sierra Leone account ⁹.

Common questions

How often should government bank accounts be reconciled?

PEFA gives score A for weekly reconciliation of all active accounts, B for monthly and C for quarterly ³.

What is a suspense account?

An account for items not yet classified. PEFA scores how often these accounts are reconciled and cleared ³.

Who reconciles tax payments with bank records?

In the IMF model, the tax authority checks bank statements against taxpayer records and the treasury checks them against the TSA ¹.

Why does manual reconciliation matter?

Tanzania's auditor linked manual reconciliation to errors and delayed revenue recognition in 2026 ⁵.

Rules and charges change. Check the official source linked on this page before you pay or travel. Spotted an error? Email hello@revenuecollectionexplained.org.

Sources

Control numbers and payment references
How control numbers and payment registration numbers link a government bill to a payment, with Tanzania GePG and Uganda URA rules and audit findings.
Revenue leakage: what audit offices have found
Findings by audit offices in Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Zambia on revenue collected outside systems, not transferred or not remitted.
What is a treasury single account?
How the IMF defines a treasury single account, how collections reach it, the account models countries use and how PEFA scores cash consolidation.
IMF, World Bank and PEFA guidance on collection
The main IMF, World Bank and PEFA documents on treasury single accounts, bank collection, transfer timing and reconciliation, with what each says.