Latest Quicken Update - Bank of America and Reconciling

Champ198

Has quicken changed the reconciliation process in the last two updates? I used to have perfect reconciliations up until the last update or two from Quicken. My account balances to the penny by doing manual reconciliation. Quicken seems to have changed something and there is no way for me to use the manual reconciliation process to fix the error. Everything looks correct except the balances quicken shows on the reconciliation screen.

Champ198

So I did some more research. Quicken logic has changed so it is taking the "available balance" online (which includes items that haven't settled or processed (sometimes, they many never settle if the transaction never comes through (- denoted by "processing") and comparing it to some unexplained aggregate value from the transactions in the check register. Quicken should not include the "available balance" in the reconciliation because it's inaccurate. They should use the transactions from BOA identified with posting dates.


The Quicken register shows a "Today's Balance" which contains items I've paid and cleared, as well as, items for which I've written checks and anticipate coming through the bank (deducting ACH transactions like a mortgage that are scheduled to come through to reduce the balance in the register).

Going back through my register, all items show cleared except the items I've put into the register anticipating them to come through.

Quicken has truly [mess]ed up the logic with the latest release. The number online and in my register are solid and have manually reconciled to the penny. The reconciliation screen is in error and does not allow you to find the errors created. Adding an adjustment to correct the quicken error simply amplifies the issue.

rweeden

Seeing the same on my end. Very frustrating :(

Champ198

So, I have found the only way this reconciles is if there are no "processing" transactions and everything has posted to the account. only then will Quicken balance to your register. [Removed - Rant]

jacobs

@Champ198 @rweeden Actually, the problem is likely with BoA transmitting the wrong data to Quicken.

I would have said it's definitely a BoA problem, because traditionally a financial institution was only supposed to transmit posted transactions and the balance base don posted transactions. But I've read some posts indicating Quicken, at least on the Windows side (and presumably thereafter on the Mac side as well), is working towards being able to show pending transactions and therefore a pending balance. This functionality does not exist yet for Quicken Mac, and the financial institution should only be transmitting to Quicken the balance of posted transactions. So you might want to pursue this with BoA technical support, if you can get a Level 2 representative who's very familiar with Quicken; the problem is that they're sending the balance including pending transactions and shouldn't be.

In terms fo reconciling, if you simply switch to reconciling to a statement balance which you enter manually, you can complete your reconciliations successfully because the pending transactions won't be a factor.

Champ198

@jacobs Agree, this may be a recent change by BOA, but if I'm downloading data from BOA via quicken to perform a reconciliation, quicken can, through programming, exclude all pending (with no posted date) transactions which shouldn't be there and exclude those transactions from the balance. The online balance and the transactions I see coming down from BOA are two different things that don't add up.

jacobs

Champ198 said:

if I'm downloading data from BOA via quicken to perform a reconciliation, quicken can, through programming, exclude all pending (with no posted date) transactions which shouldn't be there and exclude those transactions from the balance.

I thought the problem was that the pending transactions don't download (proper) but the online balance includes the pending transactions (improper). Is that not the problem? Quicken can't programmatically fix the balance BoA is sending; it doesn't know what unsent pending transactions are incorporated into that balance. 

mrzookie

It's not just BOA, I see it with Citi too. I sorta get where its coming from. Its what the banks are reporting as their balances. Not sure Q can do anything about it, but even if they can, perhaps Q assumes people want to see a balance that matches what's showing on their banking sites. Maybe they're right.

rweeden

@mrzookie Makes perfect sense to me. Maybe people want to see there full online balance which includes the processing transactions. I use quicken primarily for seeing cash flow over a period of time to help me plan for future expenses so that kind of helps me in a way. I just don't like getting those darn balance adjustment in my register but I think I may need to learn to deal with it.

Cindylou362

This is not just a BOA issue; it happens with many of my accounts and it makes me crazy. I have to go look at my statement, figure out which transactions are "pending" but being deducted from my Quicken balance, clear them to balance in Quicken, and then remember to "unclear" them so they match when the download. It is really a pain in the butt, and no, manual reconciliation is not an acceptable option. I pay for this service and I expect Quicken to do it correctly! Either balance to the actual balance or download the pending transactions, too. Either way would work for me, but this is not! Stop "fixing" stuff! It used to work!

jacobs

@Cindylou362  First, you're not talking with Quicken management here -- just fellow users and a few Quicken moderators. So please don't yell about what you want/expect us to do.

Second, I agree it's an issue for those who want to reconcile automatically. (I prefer to reconcile my accounts monthly to the balance shown on the bank/credit card statement, because there's never any mis-match with pending transactions that way.) The problem is that if the company sends Quicken a balance that includes pending transactions, but doesn't transmit those transactions, there's no way for Quicken to know the balance without the pending transactions. The financial institutions shouldn't be sending that number to Quicken, they should be sending the balance of only posted transactions. While I understand your frustration, understand that what "used to work" and now doesn't is due to changes made by the financial institutions, not Quicken. 

cblume

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person experiencing this problem. It sure is frustrating. Reconciliation with my BoA account used to be quick and easy, up till a month ago. Now, I've got the extra step of looking up the latest statement balance. Ugh.

Scotmac57

Happening with Chase also. Why did it change?