Reconcile method

Posted by Laura on November 10, 2007, 5:23 pm

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> Laura wrote:

> > That said, how do you get a difference of several hundred dollars?

> I changed from on line balance to paper statement.

That difference is usually due to timing issues but certainly not
necessarily an error.

For example, the paper statement dated 10/31/07 has a balance of 1000. My
online balance on 11/5/07 is 1500 because of a deposit on 11/1/07.

If you are using the paper statement to do the reconciliation then you enter
a 10/31/07 date and a value of 1000. As long as you select the proper
transactions to be marked cleared then your reconciliation is correct.

Just because you don't match the online balance does not mean that there is
an error. The only time the paper and online balance will match will be the
day of the paper statement providing there are no pending transactions
showing on the website. Any other difference is a timing issue but again, as
long as you can complete the reconciliation then everything is correct. Just
ignore the difference.

Posted by John Pollard on November 10, 2007, 11:38 am

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Capt. Tuttle wrote:

> Yes, there is a radio button to do that.

> When you change from one

> method to the other you get a warning that if you change you

> may screw up.

I don't get a warning when I change from "Paper Statement" to
"Online Balance"; only when I change from "Online Balance" to
"Paper Statement". My experience also agrees with Quicken Help
on the subject.

> I screwed up and changed.

> I want to know now if there is any way to change back without

> being several hundred dollars off.

It's not really clear what "several hundred dollars off" refers
to. If you change from reconciling to a paper statement to
reconciling to an online balance, there is likely to be an
inititial difference; the online balance is more current than
your last printed statement balance.

If you're going to have problems, you should have had them when
you converted from Online Balance to Paper Statement.

> That is what happens when I change the

> radio button you mention.

> Maybe I should just include the mistake of hundreds of dollars

> and go

> from there, but that may just add to the problem rather than

> fix it.

Again, it's not clear what the "mistake" really is.

I can tell you that if your financial institutions "pends" some
transactions, does not download "pended" transactions (while
they're pended), but does include "pended" transactions in the
online balance; you will not be able to successfully reconcile
to that online balance while there are pended transactions.

> The thought entered my mind to delete the account and start

> over. That

> is not an easy solution or one I want to consider.

As a last resort, I think you should always be able to
unreconcile all the transactions in the account (using
Find/Replace), then re-reconcile once up through the most
current known reconcile balance.

--
John Pollard
First initial underscore Last name at mchsi dot com
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Posted by Capt. Tuttle on November 10, 2007, 5:24 pm

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John Pollard wrote:

> Capt. Tuttle wrote:

>>Yes, there is a radio button to do that.

>>When you change from one

>>method to the other you get a warning that if you change you

>>may screw up.

> I don't get a warning when I change from "Paper Statement" to

> "Online Balance"; only when I change from "Online Balance" to

> "Paper Statement". My experience also agrees with Quicken Help

> on the subject.

That's exactly what I did.

>>I screwed up and changed.

>>I want to know now if there is any way to change back without

>>being several hundred dollars off.

> It's not really clear what "several hundred dollars off" refers

> to. If you change from reconciling to a paper statement to

> reconciling to an online balance, there is likely to be an

> inititial difference; the online balance is more current than

> your last printed statement balance.

> If you're going to have problems, you should have had them when

> you converted from Online Balance to Paper Statement.

That is when I had the problem.

>>That is what happens when I change the

>>radio button you mention.

>>Maybe I should just include the mistake of hundreds of dollars

>>and go

>>from there, but that may just add to the problem rather than

>>fix it.

> Again, it's not clear what the "mistake" really is.

The "mistake" was going from online balance to paper statement.

> I can tell you that if your financial institutions "pends" some

> transactions, does not download "pended" transactions (while

> they're pended), but does include "pended" transactions in the

> online balance; you will not be able to successfully reconcile

> to that online balance while there are pended transactions.

>>The thought entered my mind to delete the account and start

>>over. That

>>is not an easy solution or one I want to consider.

> As a last resort, I think you should always be able to

> unreconcile all the transactions in the account (using

> Find/Replace), then re-reconcile once up through the most

> current known reconcile balance.

Thanks. I'll give that a try. If it doesn't work I can always go back
through and be at the same spot I am now.

Posted by XS11E on November 11, 2007, 11:25 am

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> I know I've messed up, but thought maybe someone here could help.

> Is there any easy way to change the method to reconcile from paper

> statement to on line balance? I don't remember now, but I think I

> was using on line balance at first, but for some stupid reason

> changed it. Yes, I did see the warning about doing that.

> If I try now to go from paper statement to on line balance there

> is a huge difference.

> Is there any hope?

> Thanks for any help you can give.

Can you restore an earlier backup that was done before you made the
change? You'll have to enter the more recent transactions but that
shouldn't be a big probem, I hope.

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