{{Reference guide header|The ''Reconciliation and Approval'' process is a series of steps to ensure the approval of high-level quality data inside IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>. To help achieve this aim, operations staff classifies and organises the submitted data according to locally defined standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The first step of the ''Reconciliation'' process of a newly reported item is to assign it to its corresponding location folder. Newly reported items are often ''linked'' to ''any'' existing item in the IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> dataset. ''Updates replace'' or ''are combined'' with an existing item of the ''same'' category. Updates display on the summary window of the corresponding item and each reported update can be traced back.
''Data'' approval is the final step of the reconciliation process. Approved data displays in the items pane.