TL;DR — Quick Summary

Fix CONTPAQi Bancos bank statement import errors and reconciliation differences. Covers Mexican bank layouts, transit items, duplicates, and journal entries.

When CONTPAQi Bancos shows errors importing the bank statement or generating the bank reconciliation, the root cause is usually a misconfigured bank layout, transit items accumulated from prior months, or bank charges (fees and interest) that are not recorded in the system. This article covers the complete process: configuring layouts for Mexican banks, correctly importing bank statements, the reconciliation process step by step, handling transit items, and generating the journal entry and audit report.

The Error

The most common error messages in CONTPAQi Bancos during bank reconciliation are:

  • “Error al importar estado de cuenta” — the file cannot be processed because the configured layout does not match the actual format of the file downloaded from the bank’s online banking platform.
  • “El formato del archivo no corresponde al layout seleccionado” — the columns, delimiters, or date format in the CSV/TXT file differ from what the layout expects.
  • “Error al generar póliza de conciliación” — the accounting interface has incorrect or inactive COI accounts assigned to the bank movements.
  • Reconciliation differences that won’t close — the system shows a different balance than the bank statement with no clear indication of which movements cause the discrepancy.
  • Accumulated transit items — issued checks (outstanding) or deposits in transit from prior months that were never reconciled and continue appearing in every subsequent period.
  • Duplicate movements — the same bank statement was imported twice, creating two records for each transaction.
  • Fees and interest with incorrect amounts — bank charges or interest do not match the bank statement because they were manually recorded with a different amount.

Root Cause

Incorrectly configured or outdated bank layouts

Each Mexican bank generates its bank statement in a different format:

  • BBVA Bancomer: TXT file with fixed-length fields or semicolon-delimited CSV. Date format is DD/MM/YYYY.
  • Banamex (Citibanamex): OFX or comma-delimited CSV file. May include multi-line headers that must be skipped in the layout.
  • Banorte: TXT or CSV file; recent versions use YYYY-MM-DD date format while older versions use DD-MM-YYYY.
  • Santander: XLS exported as CSV, with columns in a different order than CONTPAQi’s standard layout.
  • HSBC: Standard OFX file but with proprietary tags that generic CONTPAQi layouts do not recognize.
  • Scotiabank: CSV with amounts that include commas as thousands separators (1,234.56), which breaks standard layout parsing.

When a bank updates its online banking platform, the statement file format can change without notice, invalidating the layout previously configured in CONTPAQi Bancos.

Unreconciled transit items from prior periods

Transit items are:

  • Outstanding checks (cheques en circulación): checks issued and recorded in CONTPAQi that the payee has not yet cashed, so they do not appear on the bank statement.
  • Deposits in transit (depósitos en tránsito): deposits recorded in CONTPAQi that the bank had not yet credited as of the period’s closing date.

If these items were not marked as reconciled in the prior month (because the check cleared or the deposit was credited), they will continue appearing as differences in every subsequent period, causing a growing discrepancy that makes it impossible to balance the reconciliation.

Accounting interface with incorrect COI accounts

When the reconciliation journal entry is generated, CONTPAQi Bancos uses the accounting interface (interface contable) to map each type of bank movement (deposit, withdrawal, fee, interest) to a COI chart of accounts entry. If these accounts do not exist, are inactive, or have incorrect nature (debit vs. credit), the journal entry either fails to generate or produces errors that affect the accounting records.

Duplicate bank statement import

If the same bank statement file is imported twice without verifying for duplicates, CONTPAQi will register two movements for every bank transaction. The reconciliation will show twice as many movements on the system side, with no match on the bank side.

Step-by-Step Solution

Step 1: Verify and configure the bank layout

  1. Open the bank statement file in a text editor or Excel to identify its exact format: delimiter (comma, semicolon, tab), date format, column order, and whether it includes header lines.
  2. In CONTPAQi Bancos go to Configuración > Layouts de importación.
  3. Select the bank’s layout or create a new one if the bank is not in the list.
  4. Configure the following layout fields to match the file:
    • Field delimiter: comma, semicolon, tab, or fixed width.
    • Header lines to skip: the initial lines containing column titles.
    • Column positions: date, description, reference, debit, credit, or signed amount.
    • Date format: DD/MM/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, or MM/DD/YYYY.
    • Thousands and decimal separators: configure whether the file uses period or comma as the decimal separator.
  5. Save the layout and use the Test layout option by loading the file to verify columns map correctly before importing.

Step 2: Import the bank statement without duplicates

  1. Go to Movimientos > Importar estado de cuenta.
  2. Select the file downloaded from online banking.
  3. Select the bank layout configured in the previous step.
  4. Select the bank and the period (month and year).
  5. Enable the option “Verificar movimientos repetidos antes de importar” — CONTPAQi will compare the reference and amount of each movement against existing records and skip duplicates.
  6. Review the preview of movements to be imported: verify that amounts are positive for credits and negative for debits (or that the movement type field is correctly mapped).
  7. If you detect duplicates because the file was already imported, cancel and first delete the duplicate movements from Movimientos > Consulta de movimientos.
  8. Confirm the import and check the error log for movements that could not be imported.

Step 3: Run the bank reconciliation

  1. Go to Procesos > Conciliación bancaria.
  2. Select the bank and period to reconcile.
  3. CONTPAQi displays the reconciliation screen with two sections:
    • System movements (left): all movements recorded in CONTPAQi for that bank and period.
    • Bank movements (right): movements imported from the bank statement.
  4. Use Conciliación automática so CONTPAQi automatically matches movements with the same reference and amount. This reconciles most normal transactions (payroll, supplier payments, customer deposits).
  5. Movements not matched automatically (because the reference differs even though the amount matches) reconcile them manually: select the system movement and drag it to the corresponding bank movement.
  6. When finished, the screen should show difference = $0.00. If a difference remains, proceed to step 4.

Step 4: Review and clear transit items

  1. In the reconciliation screen, click Partidas en tránsito (or access from Reportes > Partidas en tránsito).
  2. Review outstanding checks (cheques en circulación):
    • If the check already appears on the current bank statement: mark it as reconciled by selecting it and clicking Conciliar.
    • If the check was voided or replaced: record it in Movimientos > Cancelación de cheque and generate the reversing journal entry.
    • If the check is over 180 days old and has prescribed: record it as income with the corresponding tax journal entry.
  3. Review deposits in transit (depósitos en tránsito):
    • If the deposit now appears on the bank statement: manually reconcile it.
    • If the deposit was returned: record the return with a charge to the customer’s account.
  4. Never delete transit items without the corresponding journal entry — it would affect the accounting balance of the bank account in COI.

Step 5: Record bank fees, interest, and charges

  1. In the bank statement, identify all charges or credits that have no corresponding movement in CONTPAQi: account maintenance fees, interest paid or earned, transfer charges, penalties, etc.
  2. For each missing charge or credit, go to Movimientos > Nuevo movimiento and record:
    • Date: exactly as shown on the bank statement.
    • Amount: the exact bank amount (not rounded).
    • Description: description of the charge (e.g., “Account maintenance fee July 2026”).
    • Accounting account: the correct COI account (bank expense account for fees, financial income for interest earned, financial expense for interest paid).
  3. Return to the reconciliation screen and reconcile these new movements with the corresponding bank statement entries.

Step 6: Generate the reconciliation journal entry and report

  1. Once the reconciliation shows $0.00 difference, go to Procesos > Generar póliza de conciliación.
  2. Verify in Configuración > Interface contable that each movement type has the correct COI account assigned:
    • Interest earned → financial income account (400s in COI).
    • Fees → bank expense account (500s in COI).
    • Tax withheld on interest → recoverable tax account.
  3. Generate the journal entry. If the error “Error al generar póliza de conciliación” appears, fix the accounts in the accounting interface and regenerate.
  4. For the audit report, go to Reportes > Conciliación bancaria and generate the Reconciliation Report for the period. This report includes:
    • Opening system balance vs. opening bank balance.
    • Reconciled and unreconciled movements.
    • Detail of transit items (outstanding checks and deposits in transit).
    • Final difference (should be $0.00 or documented).

Alternative Solution

Manual reconciliation without importing the bank statement

If the bank statement file cannot be imported due to persistent layout problems:

  1. In CONTPAQi Bancos go to Movimientos > Captura de movimientos del banco (manual entry mode).
  2. Manually enter the movements from the physical or PDF bank statement, line by line.
  3. Once entered, run the reconciliation from Procesos > Conciliación bancaria as normal.
  4. This method is slower but guarantees that bank movements exactly match what the bank reports, with no layout parsing errors.

Reconciling corporate credit card accounts

Corporate credit cards require different treatment than checking accounts:

  1. In CONTPAQi Bancos, credit cards must be configured as liability accounts (not asset accounts), with credit nature.
  2. Card charges are debits to the expense account and credits to the credit card liability account.
  3. Card payments are debits to the credit card liability account and credits to the checking account from which the payment was made.
  4. Credit card reconciliation balances against the credit card statement (not the checking account balance).

Prevention

To avoid recurring errors in bank reconciliation in CONTPAQi Bancos:

  • Reconcile monthly without skipping periods. Every unreconciled month accumulates transit items and makes it increasingly difficult to identify the source of differences. Complete the reconciliation within the first 10 days of the following month.
  • Always download the bank statement in the same format. Choose one format (OFX, CSV) and keep it consistent. Format changes between months invalidate the layout and require reconfiguration.
  • Review outstanding checks every 30 days. A check not cashed after 90 days was likely lost. Cancel it and issue a new one before it prescribes.
  • Record fees and interest on the same date as the bank statement. Do not leave them for next month’s reconciliation; accumulation complicates the audit trail.
  • Keep CONTPAQi Bancos updated. Mexican banks change their statement formats when updating their online banking platforms, and CONTPAQi releases updated layouts with each version.
  • Set up a read-only user so auditors can review the reconciliation directly in the system without risk of modifying data.

Summary

  • The “Error al importar estado de cuenta” is fixed by adjusting the bank layout in CONTPAQi to exactly match the downloaded file format (delimiter, dates, columns).
  • Each Mexican bank (BBVA, Banamex, Banorte, Santander, HSBC, Scotiabank) uses a different format requiring its own configured layout in CONTPAQi Bancos.
  • Transit items (partidas en tránsito) accumulated over months are cleared one by one: reconcile cleared checks, cancel prescribed ones, and record returned deposits.
  • Duplicate movements are prevented by enabling “Verificar movimientos repetidos” before each import.
  • Bank fees and interest must be recorded in CONTPAQi with the exact amount and date from the bank statement before closing the reconciliation.
  • The accounting interface must have valid, active COI accounts for each bank movement type; otherwise journal entry generation will fail.
  • The reconciliation report with transit item detail is the document auditors require to validate the bank balance against the accounting records.