123 Sheets vs. Reckon for bank reconciliation
These two tools come up together in searches, but they're not actually competing for the same job. Here's what each one really does, so you're not evaluating one of them for a feature it was never built to have.
The short answer
123 Sheets doesn't do bank reconciliation. Reckon does. They're different categories of software, not two competitors in the same one.
123 Sheets is UK VAT and Making Tax Digital (MTD) bridging software — it connects a spreadsheet you already maintain to HMRC's digital filing system. Reckon (specifically Reckon One) is full cloud accounting software, with bank reconciliation built in as a core feature. If bank reconciliation is what you actually need, the comparison mostly answers itself.
What 123 Sheets actually is
123 Sheets is a UK-based Making Tax Digital bridging tool, built by a chartered accountant specifically for businesses and individuals who keep their financial records in Excel or Google Sheets and want to stay compliant with HMRC's digital filing requirements without switching to a full accounting platform. It installs as a spreadsheet add-in, reads figures from your workbook — either your own spreadsheet with mapped cells, or a pre-formatted template it provides — and submits VAT or Income Tax figures to HMRC through the official Making Tax Digital API.
Critically, the underlying bookkeeping stays with you. 123 Sheets doesn't create or maintain your financial records — it bridges whatever figures already exist in your spreadsheet to HMRC's system. That's the entire category of "bridging software": a narrow, specific function, deliberately simpler and cheaper than a full accounting platform, for people who don't want to give up their existing spreadsheet workflow.
What Reckon actually is
Reckon is an Australian accounting software company, and Reckon One — its modular cloud product — is a genuine full accounting platform: invoicing, expense tracking, payroll with ATO (Australian Taxation Office) compliance built in, financial reporting, and bank reconciliation, sold as separate modules so a business only pays for what it uses.
Bank reconciliation in Reckon One works through connected bank feeds — linking a bank account or credit card so transactions import automatically, then matching them against recorded transactions inside the platform. Independent reviews are mixed on how smooth that matching process feels in practice: some describe the automated bank feeds as a genuine time-saver, while others report a learning curve or manual cleanup in certain scenarios. Either way, it's a real, built-in feature — not something bolted on or absent.
Side by side
Features and pricing change — confirm current details directly with each vendor before deciding.
Which one you actually want
123 Sheets fits this exactly — it's built for this one job and is generally cheaper than a full accounting platform for it. Bank reconciliation stays your own manual process inside the spreadsheet.
123 Sheets doesn't offer this at all, regardless of price or ease of use — it's outside its category. Reckon One (or a comparable full platform) is the right type of tool.
Reckon's payroll and compliance features are built around Australian tax rules specifically. A US or UK business evaluating full accounting software with bank reconciliation would more typically compare QuickBooks, Xero, or FreshBooks.
Frequently asked questions
No, not as a built-in feature. 123 Sheets is UK VAT and Making Tax Digital (MTD) bridging software — it takes figures from an Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet you maintain yourself and submits them to HMRC. It explicitly doesn't create or maintain the underlying digital records; that stays entirely in your own spreadsheet, which is where any bank reconciliation would happen, outside the tool itself.
Yes — it's a genuine, built-in feature. Reckon One connects to bank accounts and credit cards via bank feeds or Open Banking, imports transactions, and lets you match them against your records inside the platform. User feedback on how smooth that matching process is in practice is mixed, but the feature itself is a core, native part of the product.
Not really. 123 Sheets is bridging software — a much narrower category that connects an existing spreadsheet to a tax authority's digital filing system. Reckon One is full cloud accounting software — invoicing, payroll, reporting, and bank reconciliation all built in. Comparing them on bank reconciliation specifically is comparing a tool that doesn't attempt the feature against one built around it.
If bank reconciliation is a requirement, 123 Sheets isn't the right category of tool regardless of how it performs on anything else — you'd need a real bookkeeping or accounting platform, which Reckon One (or a comparable product) provides. 123 Sheets makes sense specifically if you already keep your books in a spreadsheet and just need a compliant way to file UK VAT or Income Tax returns from it.
Reckon operates primarily in the Australian and New Zealand markets, with payroll features built around ATO (Australian Taxation Office) compliance specifically. A US or UK business evaluating cloud accounting software with bank reconciliation would more typically be comparing QuickBooks, Xero, or FreshBooks rather than Reckon.
Calcority isn't a bookkeeping or bank-reconciliation tool itself — it's a suite of financial calculators. If you're tracking cash tied up in receivables and payables once your books are reconciled, see the cash conversion cycle calculator or the DSO calculator.