How can I reconcile when Quicken shows the wrong opening balance?

Mary G

This has happened SO MUCH. I balance my statement. The next month, when I open Quicken, the opening balance is incorrect. It does not match the closing balance of the previous month's statement. What can I do?

splasher

If the beginning balance of the reconcile is changing from what they were, it is because the Reconciled transactions have changed.
The opening balance of the reconcile is the sum total of all of the R transactions in the register and is calculated at the time of reconciliation and not stored for future reference.

What could change that # is one of the following:

a blank or C was changed to a R

1. an R was changed to a blank or C
2. the amount of an R was changed
3. a new transaction was marked R to begin with
4. a R transaction was deleted

Mary G

Thank you - this is very good to know. However, I have encountered this over and over, and I don't usually modify my Quicken between statements. This time, I had reconciled two bank accounts from separate banks, and both had balanced. I'd transferred $5,000 from one bank to the other. Both accounts showed the deposit. But somehow the transaction was no longer cleared in the account from which I'd transferred the money, and instead showed up as unreconciled in the receiving statement, but two months later. I do think Quicken messes up on these things, but I am printing your email and will be diligent about not changing transactions as you've suggested. Thanks very much for your prompt help. - Mary

q_lurker

@“Mary G” I could not quite tell if you are seeing previous entries change or new entries start as R. 

One thing I do frequently is sort the register by that Clr Status column. That puts the register with the R transactions first. The last R should have a balance that matches your previous statement. The next group are the c transactions followed by the blank status transactions that have been entered but not tied to a bank downloaded transaction. Keeping an eye on that presentation may help you identify the problem. 

Mary G

Thank you very much. I'm printing this (along with the last response) because I'll be balancing a number of statements today sorting by Clr might help.

Manofaction!

I'm having the same issue. Although I have changed a reconciled transaction but do not recall what the amount was or why I needed to change it. Is there a report that would show that change? If not is there a way to get the account to balance again?

NotACPA

@Manofaction!  There's no "change log" in Q, so that option's out.

By "get the account to balance", I assume that you mean RECONCILED, and the only way to do that is to review your bank statements, month by month, until you find the point where a statement and Q DON'T agree (as to date and amount)  and re-reconcile from there forward.

q_lurker

@Manofaction! I am going to say you have to know more to have much hope of properly correcting this. 

Need to know - When did you change this reconciled transaction?  Yesterday, last week, a month ago, a year ago?
Good to know - how long ago was this changed transaction dated?  Last week, a month ago, a year ago, 5 years ago?
Interesting to know - Why did you change the amount of a reconciled transaction?  I can only imagine accidentally, but maybe I am missing something. 

If you know when you made the change, you can restore a backup and compare balances. If you know the approximate date of the changed transaction you can focus on balances around that time. 

Manofaction!

Yep, Restoring a back up will be the only way to proceed. I figured that would be the path but was hopeful there was another approach. Thank you.

Manofaction!

Oh yeah, it was about 6 weeks ago that I think I accidently clicked on the yes, I want to change a reconciled transaction so I have the unfortunate task of recreating 6 weeks of data.

splasher

You could do a restore (making a copy with different name to preserve your current file) and then take some screenshots of the register about that point in time to find out what you changed and then undue that change in your current file.
Make a backup first just for safety.