Mystery Register Balance Error

dcurtischurch

Using Quicken for Windows.

I do not download bank register, instead enter account activity manually. (AllyBank downloads double transactions.)

Last evening, my bank and Quicken registers matched. (I made a full backup.)

This morning, my Quicken register total was $3,143.64 higher than before. There are no new entries. And, a kicker, when I restored from backup, the register has the same new error.

This variance does not match any single transaction. There are no uncleared transactions since January 2021. I did not download any account information before or since. (Note: I do not reconcile my bank account register.)

I really hate adjustments but I have had to give up and employ them for Chase CC accounts, and now also with the main bank register,

With the known sync errors from Chase accounts, I have had to download these transactions,

[Removed - Rant]

MontanaKarl

@dcurtischurch In 30+ years, I've never had this happen.  I think the most likely thing is that in another account register, you might have entered a transfer transaction that has the bank account as a target?  If not, try doing a file validate:
https://help.quicken.com/display/WIN/Troubleshoot+a+damaged+Quicken+data+file

Frankx

Hi @dcurtischurch

Are you talking about one bank account, one investment account or many accounts/all of your accounts?

Do you have any investments in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds in any of your accounts that you are tracking in Quicken?  Are those accounts part of the two different numbers (from last night and this morning)/

The reason for the difference you see could be many things.  Please give us more information precisely about which accounts, the types of accounts and exactly where you are looking in Quicken for the two numbers that you are saying are different.

Frankx

MontanaKarl

@dcurtischurch In 30+ years, I've never had this happen.  I think the most likely thing is that in another account register, you might have entered a transfer transaction that has the bank account as a target?  If not, try doing a file validate:
https://help.quicken.com/display/WIN/Troubleshoot+a+damaged+Quicken+data+file

Frankx

Hi @dcurtischurch

Are you talking about one bank account, one investment account or many accounts/all of your accounts?

Do you have any investments in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds in any of your accounts that you are tracking in Quicken?  Are those accounts part of the two different numbers (from last night and this morning)/

The reason for the difference you see could be many things.  Please give us more information precisely about which accounts, the types of accounts and exactly where you are looking in Quicken for the two numbers that you are saying are different.

Frankx

dcurtischurch

Thanks. Seems the issue was an opening balance error. Not sure how it occurred or if it will re-emerge.

Frankx

Hi again @dcurtischurch

That makes sense.  The Quicken application does sometime change an account's opening balance, which really should not happen.  And what makes things worse is that there is no notification to the user of the change. I believe it only happens in "connected accounts".

I would suggest that you add a note to the first transaction in each connected account's register indication the date and amount of the actual opening balance.  This is very helpful when you see that an account is out of balance for some unknown reason.  Having that information at the top of the register will save you a lot of time looking for the problem.

Frankx