Check Image Management

This guide explains what the Check Image Match screen does, what each tab and button means, how to manually match check and deposit slip images to bank transactions, and how to work through the most common reasons an item won't match. It also covers editing item details, exporting matched check data, and what to do if items go missing.

You may also see this screen referred to as Check Images, Check Matching, or Match: Check/Bank.

When you upload check images, deposit slips, or withdrawal slips to Load Evidence, Valid8 extracts each one into an Item (check number, date, amount, payee, payor, memo) and then tries to match each Item to a bank statement transaction. The Check Image Match screen is where you review those matches, finish the ones the system couldn't make automatically, and correct any that are wrong.

A few things to know up front:

• Items are separate records from bank transactions. In Transactions and in exports, an Item shows a Transaction Kind of Item with a $0.00 Statement Amount. This is intentional — it prevents double-counting. The dollar value lives on the bank transaction the Item is matched to.
• Matching runs on one fixed algorithm. It primarily uses amount, along with date, account, and check number. It cannot be tuned, but you can improve results by correcting Item details and making sure the right statements are loaded and assigned.
• Not every Item will match. With large volumes it is normal for some Items to remain in To Match — the bank may have provided an image for a check that never cleared, statements may be missing, or amounts may differ. You do not have to clear the To Match list.

1. Open the To Match tab.
2. Click the › arrow to the left of the Item. The candidate bank transactions appear underneath it.
3. Select the correct transaction (round radio button).
4. Click the teal Match arrow. The Item moves to the Matched tab and its payee, payor, and memo flow onto the bank transaction.

Banks often record several checks as a single deposit on the statement. Valid8 matches at the deposit level, so the checks must be grouped under a deposit slip first.

If the deposit slip image was uploaded:

1. In To Match, select the deposit slip and each check that belongs to it (square checkboxes).
2. Click Match Deposit / Check.
3. Expand the deposit slip with › — the bank deposit transaction should now appear as a candidate.
4. Select it and click Match.

If the bank did not provide a deposit slip:

You can create one. Build a small CSV in the Check Item List format with just the type (deposit), date, and amount, then upload it in Load Evidence as a Check Item List. It processes almost instantly and appears in To Match, where you can group the checks under it as above. See Load: Check Item Lists for the file layout.

Handwriting and low-quality scans can be transcribed incorrectly (wrong amount, misspelled payee, wrong date). To fix:

1. Make sure the Item is in To Match. If it's in Matched, select it and click Unmatch Deposit / Check first — Items can only be edited while unmatched.
2. Click the field you want to change (amount, payee, memo, date) and enter the correct value.
3. Run Match All / Find New Matches so the algorithm picks up the corrected value.

Editing the bank transaction instead: If you need to add a check number to a bank transaction that's missing one, go to Transactions, tick the transaction's checkbox, click the pencil icon, and edit the details there.

Don't overwrite the bank description. Keep the transaction Description as the bank sent it. Add investigative notes in a custom column instead so the record stays defensible.

Work through these in order. Most unmatched Items fall into the first three.

1. The transcribed amount or date is wrong.
Hover over the Item to view the image and compare it to the transcribed values. Fix the Item and re-run matching.

2. The bank cleared it for a different amount.
The algorithm uses the amount on the check. Search Transactions for the approximate amount and date; if you find it, edit the Item amount to the cleared amount and match.

3. The transaction is already matched to a different Item.
Common with cashier's checks, "cash out" slips, and other cases where two images relate to one transaction. Open Matched, find the transaction, Unmatch it, then go back to To Match — the transaction will now appear as a candidate for the correct Item.

4. The statement for that period isn't loaded or is assigned to the wrong account.
Run Statement Existence to find Items with no covering statement. Check Load Evidence for unassigned statements and assign them to the correct account, then run Match All.

5. The account number changed.
If a bank merger or renumbering means checks were written on one account number and cleared on another, combine the two accounts into one, then run Match All.

6. The check never cleared.
Banks sometimes provide images of checks that were never debited (voided, never presented, replaced). If there's no transaction anywhere near the date and amount, the Item legitimately has no match. Leave it in To Match.

7. The Item wasn't extracted.
If an Item shows $0.00 with no image preview, but the Item Page # link shows a check on the page, the image wasn't read during processing. Contact support with the project and file name.

• Check images take longer to process than bank statements. Turnaround depends on volume, and files with non-image pages or multiple accounts in one file need extra QA time. Running Find New Matches before processing finishes won't surface anything.
• Best practice: keep each upload under 25 MB and 250 check items per file for fastest processing.
• Duplicate check images across uploads (for example, an extended production period that overlaps the first) are removed during QA — you do not need to redact them before uploading.
• Deposit slip account attribution: when a batch of check images contains checks deposited into an account (rather than drawn on it), let support know which account each file belongs to. Otherwise the system attributes each check to the account printed on it.

Deleting a deposit slip also removes the checks grouped under it from the Check Image Match screen. Reset All Matches does not bring them back, and re-uploading the same page won't reliably recreate them.

Deleted Items are recoverable, but only by support. Contact us with the project name and we'll restore them.

The Check Image Match screen itself doesn't export. Use the reports in the Bank Transactions area:

To get only matched checks: export Bank Transactions and Matched Item Details, then filter the Item Status column to exclude blanks.

If an Item shows as matched in the app but the export has blank Item columns: unmatch and re-match the Item, then create a fresh export. If this affects many Items, contact support and we can re-run the matches in bulk for you.

Do I have to do anything with the Items left in To Match?
No. If you've checked the causes above and there's no corresponding transaction, leave them. They don't affect your analysis.

Why does the export show the account holder as payor instead of the name on the check?
Payor/payee from the check image populate the Item Payee and Item Payor columns on the matched bank transaction. Make sure you're exporting a report that includes Item Details (see table above), and look at the Item columns rather than the bank's own Description field.

Can I expand all Items at once to see candidates?
Not currently. Items are expanded one at a time with the › arrow. This has been logged as a feature request.

The transaction columns under an Item are blank.
Right-click any row and choose Reset Columns.

Can wire confirmations or other non-check images be matched?
The Check Image Match screen handles checks, deposit slips, and withdrawal slips. Other images (such as wire confirmations or misc debit slips) can sometimes be loaded as Items by support — ask us if you have these in your evidence.

Can I sort by most recently uploaded items?
Yes. Enable the ITEM UPLOAD DATE column by clicking the three lines menu in any column header, and click the ITEM UPLOAD DATE enabled column header to sort by newest or oldest first.