Quicken Doesn't Seem Able to Do Math Right

kna_augustson

I do NOT use auto reconcile, I do it manually. I just tried to balance my checking account, which balanced properly on the previous statement; however, in trying to reconcile the most recent statement, it is saying I'm in the black by a significant amount, even though all transactions are cleared. Adding to this, I found a debit transaction I failed to log; upon correcting this, the amount I'm in the black should have decreased. It *increased*. I have already tried clearing the cloud data and creating a fresh one, but the problem persists. When I log into Quicken online, there are no error messages of any kind. What is going on? I would like to figure this out before getting my CU involved because we have no idea where to start looking.

[Deleted User]

Did you try "File" > "Validate and Repair File" > "Validate File" already, just to be sure nothing is wrong there?


If you look at the balance column in your checking account, and go back to the end of your previous statement - is that balance still correct? Or has it changed (was a transaction with an older date perhaps entered by mistake)?

To generalize this a bit: can you find some point in time where the account balance still appears correctly? If so, can you find another point in time where it doesn't? Then are you able to narrow this further on either side, until you can find the first transaction where the balance seems to be wrong?

UKR

kna_augustson said:

I do NOT use auto reconcile, I do it manually. I just tried to balance my checking account, which balanced properly on the previous statement; however, in trying to reconcile the most recent statement, it is saying I'm in the black by a significant amount, even though all transactions are cleared. Adding to this, I found a debit transaction I failed to log; upon correcting this, the amount I'm in the black should have decreased. It *increased*. I have already tried clearing the cloud data and creating a fresh one, but the problem persists. When I log into Quicken online, there are no error messages of any kind. What is going on? I would like to figure this out before getting my CU involved because we have no idea where to start looking.

Please check to see if your checking account register is correctly sorted by Date in ascending order.

To sort the register by Date click the "Date" column title. Clicking "Date" again toggles the sort order between ascending (newest transaction at bottom of register) and descending (oldest transaction at bottom)

It's quite easy to change a register's sort order to some other column by accidentally clicking the mouse while moving it across the column header line.

While the register is sorted by some column other than Date, the Running Balance column may be meaningless. Only the Ending Balance at the bottom of the register will be correct.

kna_augustson

Thank you for your answers. I have already tried all of the actions you mentioned, and the problem still exists. "Validate and Repair" found no issues at all. I already sort all my transactions by date. When I try to balance other accounts, a similar problem occurs. I enter the new statement date and all the pertinent information, but it brings up already cleared transactions, then tells me I am in the black by the amount of the finance charges (for a credit card). This is happening on a bimonthly basis for the checking account, and just started happening with my credit card accounts, and I have no idea why. I'm about ready to kick Quicken to the curb.

kna_augustson

P.S. - I sort by date, ascending.

[Deleted User]

> If you look at the balance column in your checking account, and go back to the end of your previous statement - is that balance still correct? Or has it changed (was a transaction with an older date perhaps entered by mistake)?
>
> To generalize this a bit: can you find some point in time where the account balance still appears correctly? If so, can you find another point in time where it doesn't? Then are you able to narrow this further on either side, until you can find the first transaction where the balance seems to be wrong?

What was the result of this? Is the account balance correct at any point in time? Is it wrong from the very beginning?

Mark1104

there are reports in a number of posts taht Quicken is changing the opening balance of some accounts.  If you go back a few months, is each month consistently off by the same amount.. If yes, adjust the opening balance by that same amount 

kna_augustson

> @dpward said:
> Did you try "File" > "Validate and Repair File" > "Validate File" already, just to be sure nothing is wrong there?
>
>
> If you look at the balance column in your checking account, and go back to the end of your previous statement - is that balance still correct? Or has it changed (was a transaction with an older date perhaps entered by mistake)?
>
> To generalize this a bit: can you find some point in time where the account balance still appears correctly? If so, can you find another point in time where it doesn't? Then are you able to narrow this further on either side, until you can find the first transaction where the balance seems to be wrong?

As I mentioned in my previous response, the previous cycle was balanced correctly, and my issue is occurring on a bi-monthly basis. Each time it occurs, it is by a different amount. If I adjust my account by the 'difference' I end up with a negative balance by the end of the next statement period. I'm on a fixed income and this is not a game I can afford to play with Quicken. I'm just going to call customer service this coming week and deal with it that way because it has become too frustrating to figure out. I appreciate everyone's suggestions, hopefully they will be helpful to another Quicken user.