A connected system still needs a reconciliation

A connector can authenticate successfully while one invoice fails to transfer. A green status proves little about the completeness of the business records.

Stripe documents that events can be repeated and delivered out of order.^[1] A dependable integration must therefore do more than receive notifications.

Compare the source and destination using stable business references. Each eligible event should map to one valid transaction or a visible exception. Check amounts, entity, currency and status, not just record counts: ten records on each side can still contain a duplicate and an omission.

For an illustrative daily billing batch, 20 approved events should produce 20 intended invoices or a clearly explained set of exceptions. A rejected customer record should remain assigned until corrected and replayed safely. Staff should not have to discover the failure when a customer asks why an invoice never arrived.

Use the system ownership map to decide which record is authoritative and the acceptance tests to prove recovery. The reconciliation is how the business establishes that the connection did the right work.