The format, in one paragraph
MT940 is a structured, machine-readable bank statement defined within the SWIFT message standards. One file describes one account over one period: an opening balance, a line per transaction with dates, amounts and references, and a closing balance. Because the structure is fixed, software can read it without guessing - which is what makes automatic reconciliation possible.
What is actually inside
Each statement line carries the value date, the amount and direction, a transaction type code, and the reference text the counterparty supplied - an invoice number, a name, a payment description. The quality of that reference decides how much of your reconciliation can run automatically: a clean invoice number matches itself, a vague description needs a human.
Where you get MT940 files
Every major Dutch bank exports MT940 from business banking: ING, Rabobank and ABN AMRO all offer it as a download or an automated feed, alongside the newer CAMT.053 XML format. Daily exports keep the books close to reality; monthly exports keep them close to fiction.
What reconciliation software does with it
The software matches statement lines against open invoices and expected payments: exact amounts and invoice references match automatically, near-matches are proposed for one-click confirmation, and only the genuinely unclear lines reach a person. In VFusion Retail this runs against the same database the tills write to, so a settled invoice updates the customer’s open balance immediately.
MT940 or CAMT.053?
CAMT.053 is the ISO 20022 successor: XML, richer, and the long-term direction of European banking. In practice both formats will coexist for years, and virtually all reconciliation software reads both. The honest advice: use whichever your bank exports most reliably - the win is automating reconciliation at all, not the file format.
Format authority: the SWIFT MT message standards. swift.com/standards