How do I get out of this pickle?

Posted by Gary on August 19, 2009, 8:19 pm

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I run Q09 under XP on a Mac under VMWare Fusion virtualization software.
Each quarter I bring everything up to date and print out a net worth
statement ... I have them going baqck at least 10-15 years.
It is also my habit to back-up Quicken after making all changes.
Well, I recently picked up a virus (the reason for moving to a Mac in
the first place, but XP is not immune).
So I "rebooted" the virtual machine to a past time.
I opened Quicken and restored the last backup.

But now when I run a net worth for some given day at the end of the
quarter, it does not agree with the bottom line of my printed report
for that same date.
So something is astray, but I cannot figure out what. Or why.
Can anyone suggest a procedure for debugging this problem?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Posted by Laura on August 19, 2009, 9:40 pm

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>I run Q09 under XP on a Mac under VMWare Fusion virtualization software.

> Each quarter I bring everything up to date and print out a net worth

> statement ... I have them going baqck at least 10-15 years.

> It is also my habit to back-up Quicken after making all changes.

> Well, I recently picked up a virus (the reason for moving to a Mac in the

> first place, but XP is not immune).

> So I "rebooted" the virtual machine to a past time.

> I opened Quicken and restored the last backup.

> But now when I run a net worth for some given day at the end of the

> quarter, it does not agree with the bottom line of my printed report for

> that same date.

> So something is astray, but I cannot figure out what. Or why.

> Can anyone suggest a procedure for debugging this problem?

> Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

I would work your way back in time printing your Net worth reports until you
find they match your original reports. Since the report is basically your
account balances as of that particular date you'll be able to identify the
account that is incorrect. Hopefully you don't have to go back too far back
in time. You'll need to pull out your statements for the account that is out
of balance and work your way forward until you find the transaction that is
either missing or was posted with an incorrect date.

Posted by Gary on August 21, 2009, 9:42 am

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>> I run Q09 under XP on a Mac under VMWare Fusion virtualization software.

>> Each quarter I bring everything up to date and print out a net worth

>> statement ... I have them going baqck at least 10-15 years.

>> It is also my habit to back-up Quicken after making all changes.

>> Well, I recently picked up a virus (the reason for moving to a Mac in

>> the first place, but XP is not immune).

>> So I "rebooted" the virtual machine to a past time.

>> I opened Quicken and restored the last backup.

>> But now when I run a net worth for some given day at the end of the

>> quarter, it does not agree with the bottom line of my printed report

>> for that same date.

>> So something is astray, but I cannot figure out what. Or why.

>> Can anyone suggest a procedure for debugging this problem?

>> Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

> I would work your way back in time printing your Net worth reports

> until you find they match your original reports. Since the report is

> basically your account balances as of that particular date you'll be

> able to identify the account that is incorrect. Hopefully you don't

> have to go back too far back in time. You'll need to pull out your

> statements for the account that is out of balance and work your way

> forward until you find the transaction that is either missing or was

> posted with an incorrect date.

Good suggestion and one I'm beginning to look at.

The first thing I found out is that I have "hidden" some accounts
(companies that went out of business, accounts I have closed, etc.) and
their totals do not get included in the net worth report, unless they
are "unhidden". In my case this will involve at least two dozen
accounts. Fortunately, it seems to be possible to tell Q in one place
(in the Net Worth report) to include hidden accounts in the report?

Posted by Laura on August 21, 2009, 10:55 am

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>>> I run Q09 under XP on a Mac under VMWare Fusion virtualization software.

>>> Each quarter I bring everything up to date and print out a net worth

>>> statement ... I have them going baqck at least 10-15 years.

>>> It is also my habit to back-up Quicken after making all changes.

>>> Well, I recently picked up a virus (the reason for moving to a Mac in

>>> the first place, but XP is not immune).

>>> So I "rebooted" the virtual machine to a past time.

>>> I opened Quicken and restored the last backup.

>>>

>>> But now when I run a net worth for some given day at the end of the

>>> quarter, it does not agree with the bottom line of my printed report for

>>> that same date.

>>> So something is astray, but I cannot figure out what. Or why.

>>> Can anyone suggest a procedure for debugging this problem?

>>>

>>> Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

>> I would work your way back in time printing your Net worth reports until

>> you find they match your original reports. Since the report is basically

>> your account balances as of that particular date you'll be able to

>> identify the account that is incorrect. Hopefully you don't have to go

>> back too far back in time. You'll need to pull out your statements for

>> the account that is out of balance and work your way forward until you

>> find the transaction that is either missing or was posted with an

>> incorrect date.

> Good suggestion and one I'm beginning to look at.

> The first thing I found out is that I have "hidden" some accounts

> (companies that went out of business, accounts I have closed, etc.) and

> their totals do not get included in the net worth report, unless they are

> "unhidden". In my case this will involve at least two dozen accounts.

> Fortunately, it seems to be possible to tell Q in one place (in the Net

> Worth report) to include hidden accounts in the report?

Run the net worth report and hit customize. On the Accounts tab you can
select to show hidden accounts. Then select just those accounts that you
want included in the report. Maybe you should unhide them all and see what
account totals are not matching. Just watch the dates on the reports you are
generating to make sure they match the hard copy reports you are
replicating.

If these accounts are closed then the current balance of the accounts
*should* be zero and should not impact your net worth report. Unhide all of
your accounts and verify that is still the case. I had one hidden account
that mysteriously was no longer $0. I never figured out what was deleted
because I no longer had the account statements.

Posted by Gary on August 21, 2009, 3:59 pm

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>>>> I run Q09 under XP on a Mac under VMWare Fusion virtualization software.

>>>> Each quarter I bring everything up to date and print out a net worth

>>>> statement ... I have them going baqck at least 10-15 years.

>>>> It is also my habit to back-up Quicken after making all changes.

>>>> Well, I recently picked up a virus (the reason for moving to a Mac in

>>>> the first place, but XP is not immune).

>>>> So I "rebooted" the virtual machine to a past time.

>>>> I opened Quicken and restored the last backup.

>>>>

>>>> But now when I run a net worth for some given day at the end of the

>>>> quarter, it does not agree with the bottom line of my printed report

>>>> for that same date.

>>>> So something is astray, but I cannot figure out what. Or why.

>>>> Can anyone suggest a procedure for debugging this problem?

>>>>

>>>> Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

>>>

>>> I would work your way back in time printing your Net worth reports

>>> until you find they match your original reports. Since the report is

>>> basically your account balances as of that particular date you'll be

>>> able to identify the account that is incorrect. Hopefully you don't

>>> have to go back too far back in time. You'll need to pull out your

>>> statements for the account that is out of balance and work your way

>>> forward until you find the transaction that is either missing or was

>>> posted with an incorrect date.

>> Good suggestion and one I'm beginning to look at.

>> The first thing I found out is that I have "hidden" some accounts

>> (companies that went out of business, accounts I have closed, etc.) and

>> their totals do not get included in the net worth report, unless they

>> are "unhidden". In my case this will involve at least two dozen

>> accounts. Fortunately, it seems to be possible to tell Q in one place

>> (in the Net Worth report) to include hidden accounts in the report?

> Run the net worth report and hit customize. On the Accounts tab you can

> select to show hidden accounts. Then select just those accounts that

> you want included in the report. Maybe you should unhide them all and

> see what account totals are not matching. Just watch the dates on the

> reports you are generating to make sure they match the hard copy

> reports you are replicating.

> If these accounts are closed then the current balance of the accounts

> *should* be zero and should not impact your net worth report. Unhide

> all of your accounts and verify that is still the case. I had one

> hidden account that mysteriously was no longer $0. I never figured out

> what was deleted because I no longer had the account statements.

Thanks very much for your help, Laura and R.C. I followed the
Laura-plan and was careful about the dates. I discovered the offending
account and added the transactions that were obviously missing.

The world can be a beautiful place!