Trouble reconciling a credit card account

Frederica Mathewes-Green

I think this is a problem others have cited. I've been using Quicken since 2007, so this is not a newbie issue.

I have been reconciling my statement all manually, no downloading, for 12 years. It started getting glitchy some time recently; I would show an error that I couldn't find, but I would just accept the Adjustment so I could get on with my day.

Today, Reconciling my credit card statement, it showed a correct amount at the bottom of the Charges, Debits column, the same amount on my statement. But to the right, the summary Cleared Balance was $500 less, and it gave a Difference of $500.

I tried Canceling and doing it all over again; tried adding all the figures on a calculator to check; then tried just clicking Done and accepting the necessary Adjustment. However when I do that, it wants to make an Adjustment not of $500 but of exactly the amount of refunds this month--an amount I have already cleared. It's so random. It's like there's a bug loose in there.

Reconciling my accounts used to go so smoothly! But in recent months there are always glitches like this. What's up? Is there any cure?

Sherlock

I suspect you have inadvertently added, removed, or edited a reconciled transaction in the register.  I suggest you compare the running balance of the register against the running balance of the register using a data file backup you saved after a recent reconcile.

To access a data file backup, you would select File > Backup and Restore > Restore from Backup File....  After you select the data file backup to be restored, you'll be offered the ability to choose Create a copy which will allow you to access the old file without overwriting the current data file.  

There are a variety of ways to compare the account registers.  The approach I use is to print the sorted account registers to text files (open an account, press Ctrl + P, set the date range, select Print, and choose Export to: and select Text file and Export).  I then use a text file comparison tool to quickly locate the differences between the files.

It is important to verify the registers are sorted appropriately and there aren’t any unexpected filters being applied:  select the Date column header (you want the small triangle to right of Date to point up) and Reset.