Reconciling DTC and wholesale together

A brand selling both direct and wholesale is running two entirely different order-to-cash processes that settle into the same bank account, and that is the whole problem.

DTC settles automatically, in bundles, net of fees, on the processor's schedule. Wholesale settles on invoice terms, one payment at a time, often with a remittance that references invoice numbers the bank line never carries. Neither reconciliation is unusual alone. Together they make a single bank feed that needs two different matching strategies.

Where it goes wrong

• One bank feed, two logics.A deposit is either a bundled DTC payout or a wholesale receipt, and the bank line often does not make that obvious.
• Missing invoice references.Wholesale customers pay several invoices in one transfer, or pay a rounded amount, with no usable reference.
• Partial payments and creditsagainst open invoices, so amounts never match a single document.
• Separate systems.Orders in the storefront, invoices in the ledger or an ERP, payouts in the processor, receipts in the bank.
• Different timing.DTC settles in days, wholesale in 30 to 90.

How the two are reconciled together

Classify the bank line first, then apply the correct logic: rollup reconstruction for DTC settlements, open-invoice matching with partial-payment handling for wholesale receipts. Anything the classifier cannot resolve confidently is routed for review rather than guessed.

That principle of asking rather than guessing when the match key is weak is visible in the reference build, where a reference-less bank line routes for a one-click confirm instead of auto-clearing.

When standard software is enough

Standard connectors are often the right solution for standard workflows. If the connector posts activity correctly and the clearing account returns to zero without investigation, there is nothing here worth building. Keep the software you have.

When custom automation may be justified

The case for a custom reconciliation layer depends on recurrence, not on frustration. It is worth looking at when the same exception patterns return every close, several sources have to agree before the balance resolves, and meaningful staff time goes into work that follows repeatable rules.

If you want a structured answer rather than an opinion, the Fit Score scores one workflow against recurrence, effort, source complexity, rule repeatability and portfolio reuse. It runs in your browser and takes a couple of minutes.