# Reconcile the Control Account

After a period is filed and paid, the tax control account should be zero for that period.

When it is not, the reason is nearly always one of four things, and they are quick to check in this order.

![The Tax Rates tab of Finance Settings, listing Zero Rate at 0%, Reduced Rate at 5% and Standard Rate at 20%, each Active, with an Add Tax button above them.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/tax-payments/tax-rates-settings.png)

*Every rate here posts to the same control account, which is why the account is the thing to reconcile.*

## What should be left

After a filed and paid period, the control account should hold only the tax on transactions dated after that period. Anything else is either a backdated transaction, a misallocated payment, or something coded to the account that was never tax.

| Remaining balance | Means |
| --- | --- |
| Zero for the period | Correct. Nothing to do. |
| Small credit or debit | Rounding on the return, or a part payment. |
| The size of one transaction | Something was backdated after filing. |
| Growing every month | Payments are not being recorded at all. |
| An odd figure that never moves | Interest, a penalty, or an opening balance. |

## Correcting it

Correct the cause rather than the symptom. Journalling the control account to zero makes the balance sheet look right and leaves the next return wrong, because the underlying transactions are still what they were.

> **Warning:**
>
> **Do not journal a control account to zero**
>
> It is the single most tempting and least helpful action available here. The next return is built from transactions, not from the account balance, so the difference simply reappears.