Clearingkonto

Clearingkonto, in English known as a clearing account, is a temporary balance sheet account used in accounting to accumulate transactions that have not yet been allocated to their final accounts. Its main function is to facilitate reconciliation and to separate processing steps from regular postings. The balance in a clearing account is typically expected to be zero once the related items have been properly assigned to their ultimate ledgers, providing an auditable trail of intermediate steps.

Common uses include bank clearing, accounts receivable clearing, and accounts payable clearing. A bank clearing account may hold cash in transit or pending bank postings until they are matched with bank statements. Accounts receivable clearing groups incoming customer payments before they are applied to individual customer accounts. Accounts payable clearing serves a similar purpose for payments to suppliers. In larger organizations, intercompany clearing accounts settle transactions between group entities, while payroll or tax clearing accounts can hold liabilities or assets until remittance occurs.

Typical operation involves posting to the clearing account as an intermediate step and then posting to the final accounts to complete the transaction. The goal is that, after the final allocations, the clearing account returns to zero, leaving the true balances in the final accounts and a clear audit trail of how items were processed.

Best practices include regular reconciliation of clearing balances, clear documentation of the allocation rules, and controls to prevent items from remaining uncleared. In ERP systems, clearing accounts are often configured with automatic matching rules to streamline reconciliations.

See also: clearing, accounts receivable clearing, accounts payable clearing, intercompany clearing.