How a Travel Platform Automated Reconciliation with Cointab

A leading travel platform used Cointab to move from manual spreadsheet-based reconciliation to a structured, reusable workflow. With multiple travel services and high volumes of transaction data, the finance team needed a clearer way to match records, review exceptions, and generate audit-ready reports without repeating the same work every period.

Case study overview

This travel platform manages bookings across trains, buses, flights, and hotels, which means financial data can come from several systems and partner files. For the finance team, the recurring challenge was not just matching transactions, but doing it consistently across large files, multiple report formats, and frequent settlement cycles.

Cointab helped the team build a reconciliation workflow that could be reused for ongoing runs. Instead of manually downloading files, applying formulas, and comparing rows in Excel, the team could upload the required data, map the fields once, and run reconciliation from a shared workspace.

The reconciliation challenge

Travel businesses often work with data from internal booking systems, payment channels, partner settlement reports, and bank statements. In this case, the finance team needed to reconcile high-volume transaction files while keeping reports accurate and easy to review.

The main issues were familiar to many finance teams:

• Large files were difficult to manage in spreadsheets.
• Manual checks took time every day.
• Different reports had to be compared across systems.
• Missing, partial, or delayed records created exceptions.
• Repeated reporting work made month-end close more stressful.

The team also needed a process that could support recurring reconciliation instead of rebuilding the same spreadsheet logic each time.

How Cointab supported the workflow

Cointab gave the team a structured reconciliation setup that could handle repeatable finance operations.

Side A and Side B reconciliation

The platform lets finance teams define their own Side A and Side B records.

• Side A can represent the company’s internal source records, such as booking data, revenue records, or ledger exports.
• Side B can represent partner, payment, bank, or settlement data received from outside systems.

That model makes it easier to compare the records the business expects with the records received from external sources.

File upload and field mapping

The team could upload CSV, XLS, or XLSX files and map key fields such as date, amount, and identifiers. This is especially useful when travel data comes in different layouts or from multiple partners.

Reusable reconciliation setup

Once the workflow was configured, it could be reused for future periods. That reduced repeat setup work and helped the finance team run the same reconciliation more consistently across cycles.

Scheduled reconciliation

Cointab also supported recurring runs, so reconciliation could be scheduled instead of started manually each time. This was useful for daily or periodic travel finance workflows where reports arrive on a regular basis.

Reviewable exceptions

After the reconciliation run, the team could review:

• Fully matched transactions
• Partially matched transactions
• Unmatched transactions
• Skipped records

This made exception handling more focused. Instead of reviewing every row manually, the team could concentrate on the items that needed attention.

Manual match for exceptions

When a transaction could not be matched automatically, users could manually match records if the business context was clear and the totals tallied. This kept the workflow flexible while still preserving control and auditability.

Business impact for the finance team

The most important change was operational clarity.

Instead of relying on spreadsheet formulas and ad hoc file comparisons, the team now had a structured reconciliation process with visible statuses, reusable logic, and downloadable reports. That improved day-to-day finance operations in several ways:

• Less manual effort in preparing and reviewing reports
• Faster handling of recurring reconciliation runs
• Better visibility into matched and open items
• More consistent outputs for internal review and audit follow-up
• A clearer workflow for multi-source travel transaction data

For a business that handles bookings across several categories, this kind of control is important. It helps finance teams keep reconciliation organized even when the data volume and number of source files keep growing.

Why this matters for travel platforms

Travel platforms often operate with a mix of internal systems and external partner data. Bookings, payments, settlements, and bank activity may not always line up in the same format or on the same schedule.

A reconciliation platform like Cointab helps finance teams handle those differences by:

• Mapping fields once and reusing the configuration
• Comparing internal records with external files using structured matching logic
• Highlighting open items that need review
• Supporting recurring runs without rebuilding spreadsheets
• Exporting Excel reconciliation reports for audit and follow-up

That makes reconciliation more manageable for finance teams that need control, transparency, and repeatability.

What the team gained from automation

By moving to Cointab, the travel platform turned reconciliation into a repeatable finance workflow rather than a manual file exercise. The team could work faster, stay more organized, and spend less time on repetitive matching tasks.

The result was a more stable reconciliation process that better supported reporting, review, and operational follow-up across the business.

Common questions about travel platform reconciliation

What kinds of files can be reconciled in a travel workflow?

Finance teams can reconcile internal booking data, revenue files, payment records, partner settlement reports, and bank statements, depending on the workflow they configure.

Can the same setup be used every month?

Yes. One of the main advantages of Cointab is that a reconciliation can be configured once and reused for future periods.

What happens to transactions that do not match?

Unmatched and partially matched transactions are shown separately so the finance team can review exceptions, investigate differences, and take the next step.

Can reconciliation be automated after setup?

Yes. Cointab supports recurring reconciliation runs and automated data flow through email, SFTP, or API-based workflows, depending on how the setup is configured.

Are reports available for audit and review?

Yes. Users can download reconciliation reports that include matched, partially matched, unmatched, and skipped records for internal review and audit readiness.