In Reconciliation, is there any way to get the "Balance Adjustment" to 0?

summitbum

I have two bank accounts which I have reconciled each month with no problem for years, but in the recent year or so I have had to insert a Balance Adjustment in each reconciliation and the amount has become very large (5 digits!). It grows every month and seems out of control. The register transactions match the bank accounts, and I have found no discrepancies.

Tom Young

"The register transactions match the bank accounts, and I have found no discrepancies."

Unless you sat down and matched every single transaction from the time the accounts opened some years ago until just before your post, you really can't make that claim.  You may have reconciled to the penny over the years, but one common reason for the inability to reconcile is that previously reconciled transactions - maybe from years back - have somehow changed or new reconciled transactions have been inserted.  If either of these events have occurred then the register transactions won't match the bank accounts though the lack of "match" might be years in the past.

Since the opening balance figure for a reconciliation is calculated each time you do a reconciliation, have you noticed that the opening balance shown is "wrong", i.e., different than the prior reconciliation's closing balance?  That would be a giveaway that something has gone wrong in the period prior to the period covered by your current reconciliation.

One way to minimize the possibility of problems creeping into prior periods and affecting your current period reconciliation is to do

File > Set Password to modify transactions...

and then password protect transactions up to the reconciliation date.  You can still make changes or additions to transactions before the reconciliation date but you'll be asked for the password to do so, and that maybe slows you down a bit the think "Oh, do I really want to make this change?"

I'd suggest doing a file validation to see if that discovers anything and, if you want to, you could do a complete uninstall and reinstall of the program.  There is a chance, of course, that some date/program corruption is the source of the problem since you shouldn't be seeing larger and larger Balance Adjustments each with each reconciliation. 

summitbum

Thanks for your reply. I am fearful trying the suggested fixes could leave me worse-off since I am not sufficiently knowledgeable about them. A question about one fix: What happens to the registers when one uninstalls and reinstalls Quicken?

Tom Young

The data set is a completely separate file from the Quicken program.  Removing the program and then reinstalling it should in no way affect your data. 

The 4-step directions for uninstalling are detailed here:

https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-uninstall-quicken-windows

The process for downloading and installing Quicken (I'm assuming you are using the "subscription" version) is here:

https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-download-quicken-quickencom-after-i-buy-it

Before doing anything - validation or uninstall/reinstall - you should make a backup of your data as a matter of routine.