Unable to change previous month ending balance when reconciling

The Keeper

Windows 10
Quicken Version: R37.67
Build 27.1.37.

While reconciling January 31, 2022 banking statement, the December ending balance amount which shows as "Prior Balance" when starting January reconcile is off by $60.00

I changed the "Prior Balance" amount before starting to reconcile, but when the reconcile window opens the corrected amount has reverted to the incorrect amount. I tried numerous times to correct the "Prior Balance" amount with no success. I exited Quicken, reopened and tried again but the change was not accepted. 

I restored Quicken from a previous day's back up and tried again with no success. Finally, I just reconciled January and allowed Quicken to make the balance adjustment. In doing so, Quicken informed me the "Prior Balance" amount was incorrect however as stated above I am unable to enter the correct amount.

I have completed the reconciliation but I am wondering why I am unable to adjust the "Prior Balance" amount. This is a rare occurrence for me but was able to correct an amount several years ago but not today. Any suggestions?
 

Chris_QPW

No matter what the dialog says, you can't change the value Quicken uses for starting the reconcile.  The Previous Balance is calculated based on your transactions.  If it is wrong, then your previous transactions are wrong and have to be corrected.  Note also it includes reconciled transactions past the "Ending Date".

Sherlock

If the reconciled opening balance has changed, a reconciled transaction has been added, modified, or deleted.  To determine the source of the change, I suggest you compare the running balance of the account register in the current Quicken file with the running balance of the account register from a Quicken file backup saved when the account was last reconciled.  One way to accomplish this is to print the registers to text files.

Note: Quicken only uses the Ending statement date and Ending balance amount the user enters and ignores the amounts entered in any other fields.  The Prior Balance applied is always the total of the transactions that are already marked as Reconciled (R).

The Keeper

Chris_QPW 
Thanks for the reply and clarifying that a user can't change the value Quicken uses for starting the reconcile.

Sherlock
Thank you for your reply and for the extra tip on comparing the current register and backup register which was very helpful. Your last sentence "The Prior Balance applied is always the total of the transactions that are already marked as Reconciled" is something I should have realized. Sometimes I get so caught up in a frustrating situation I don't take a deep breath and think about the common sense solution.