Reconciling checking account

rhamburger

I am running Version R41.10, Build 27.1.41.10, Windows 10 Home. Today I downloaded my Bank of America transactions which I hadn't done since June 6th. When it completed, it didn't reconcile. The difference is the transactions that show as "Pending" online in my bank account. Quicken doesn't download the pending transactions (which it never has and shouldn't), but it is trying to reconcile to the available balance that includes the pending transactions in my account and, of course, it can't. What's up?

Quicken Jared

rhamburger said:

I am running Version R41.10, Build 27.1.41.10, Windows 10 Home. Today I downloaded my Bank of America transactions which I hadn't done since June 6th. When it completed, it didn't reconcile. The difference is the transactions that show as "Pending" online in my bank account. Quicken doesn't download the pending transactions (which it never has and shouldn't), but it is trying to reconcile to the available balance that includes the pending transactions in my account and, of course, it can't. What's up?

Hello @rhamburger, 

I am sorry to hear about this unusual behavior with regards to reconciling accounts. Thanks for inquiring about this here on the Quicken Community.

Is it possible to restore from a backup saved just prior to yesterday? We recommend saving backups frequently by navigating to File > Copy or Backup File... in the upper menu at the top of the screen. Provided that this has been done regularly, you should be able to restore from a recent backup by going to File > Restore from Backup... in the upper menu previously mentioned. I want to know if this behavior continues in the restored backup file.

I look forward to hearing about your results. 

Thank you,

Quicken Jared 

rhamburger

I did a restore as you requested, then downloaded my transactions. Results are the same, out of balance by the pending transactions. What next?

Chris_QPW

Unfortunately, it isn't that uncommon for the online balance given to Quicken to be "out of sync" with the transactions sent.  Other than reporting it as a bug (Help -> Report a problem or contacting Quicken Support) the only other thing a person can do is switch to reconciling "to the statement" even if that is a balance you get off of the financial institution's website.

Boatnmaniac

There is an issue, primarily with Express Web Connect connections, where the online balance and the posted transactions data that's downloaded are out of sync with each other.  Some refer to is as a "timing issue" because EWC downloads data at night which is typically when Financial Institutions update their servers with all the new transactions.  If the EWC download occurs before the server updates are completed, then there is the possibility of getting online balances and transactions that are a bit out of sync with each other because the timing is "off". 

While this is a frustrating nuisance when it comes to reconciliation it is important to note that in most cases the issue will self-resolve if OSU is run, again, within 12-24 hrs.

Are you able to reconcile if you run OSU, again, 12-24 hrs later? 

If so, this indicates you are experiencing this timing issue.  If not, it might be due to something else.

rhamburger

What is "OSU"? I can tell you that if I happen to catch a day when I have no transactions showing "Pending" online, I'm pretty certain it will reconcile.

Boatnmaniac

rhamburger said:

What is "OSU"? I can tell you that if I happen to catch a day when I have no transactions showing "Pending" online, I'm pretty certain it will reconcile.

OSU = One Step Update.

If you are pretty sure it will reconcile then it does sound like it might be this timing issue.  I have seen posts from a few others that they are seeing this with their BofA downloads, too.  I am getting this issue with most but not all of my EWC accounts (Elan's Fidelity Rewards Card, Sears MasterCard, Bremer Bank, US Bank) and I used to get it with Wells Fargo until I upgraded my connection method with WF to DC. It happens only some of the time, not all of the time.  But still it is a frustrating situation.

pkeegan

I am having the same issue with my DCU bank account and it's occurring more frequently. There are pending transactions almost every day that I try to reconcile. It's very annoying.

rhamburger

So this is suddenly happening to multiple users. Sounds like a bug has been introduced to the software since it is happening with multiple banks. Does anyone from Quicken monitor this and provide information?

rhamburger

So another quick follow up to Boatmaniac. I restored my file again today to the same point in time as I had previously, then did the OSU again. Same result, but the Pending Transactions from last time had now cleared and there were only two Pending Transactions now vs. the 12-15 I had last time. I entered those two transactions manually and the account reconciled. But I'm thinking I will have to delete those out again the next time I do OSU or they will be duplicate transactions. This needs to get fixed.

Boatnmaniac

Quicken Jared said:

rhamburger said:

I am running Version R41.10, Build 27.1.41.10, Windows 10 Home. Today I downloaded my Bank of America transactions which I hadn't done since June 6th. When it completed, it didn't reconcile. The difference is the transactions that show as "Pending" online in my bank account. Quicken doesn't download the pending transactions (which it never has and shouldn't), but it is trying to reconcile to the available balance that includes the pending transactions in my account and, of course, it can't. What's up?

Hello @rhamburger, 

I am sorry to hear about this unusual behavior with regards to reconciling accounts....

This is not "unusual behavior".  It is an issue that has been around for quite some time but in the last couple of months it seems that more users are being affected by it.  I have long suspected this might be an issue with the migration from FDS to FDP but that is just speculation on my part.  At any rate if you search through this forum you will find quite a few post threads regarding red flags being present but no corresponding new transactions and online balances being downloaded that include pending transaction dollar amounts but no transactions for them being downloaded.  In most, if not all, cases when the pending transactions do eventually download everything gets balanced out but until that happens the account reconciliation does not work properly.  And for those who have a lot of transactions to deal with this means it can mean days and perhaps even weeks before Reconciling to Online Balance can be completed. 

This primarily happens with EWC accounts but it sometimes also happens with DC accounts.  And I do agree with other users posting here that it is an issue that really should be fixed.  Either the FIs are downloading pending data and should not be or Quicken should be screening out the pending data but is not doing that.

rhamburger said:

So another quick follow up to Boatmaniac. I restored my file again today to the same point in time as I had previously, then did the OSU again. Same result, but the Pending Transactions from last time had now cleared and there were only two Pending Transactions now vs. the 12-15 I had last time. I entered those two transactions manually and the account reconciled. But I'm thinking I will have to delete those out again the next time I do OSU or they will be duplicate transactions. This needs to get fixed.

So restoring a backup file and doing OSU returns similar results but with all of the previous pending transactions now downloading as posted transactions, right?  That is pretty consistent with the behavior I have seen for months....download again within 12-24 hrs and most if not all of the pending transactions will then download as posted transactions and Reconciliation can then be completed...unless there are additional new pending transactions that did not download.

Yes, the pending transactions do download you will need to delete either those downloaded transactions or the ones you entered manually.  I personally wait until all the pending transactions download before doing the Reconciliation but for those who have a lot of transactions this might not be practical.  If you cannot or do not wish to wait until Reconciliation can be completed and until this issue gets resolved you could uncheck "Reconcile to online balance" (Online Services tab of Account Details) and then do manual reconciliations, instead.  It's not ideal, of course, but it would allow you to select the closing date for the Reconciliation that will include only downloaded posted transactions.  Just something you might want to consider.