Check box for manual reconciliation

exofriend

When reconciling an account, it shows me account entries up to the date specified for the statement.  Items that are in a “cleared” status after having been accepted via downloaded update are indicated with a green check mark.  However, if I’m reconciling against a paper statement, it can be difficult to check them one by one, especially if they appear in an order different from the statement.  Please add an additional column in the reconcile window that can be used on the spot to manually check off items. 

On a similar topic, sometimes there are entries in an account (especially an investment account) that have a date in Quicken prior to the end of the statement date but that did not end up on the statement.  To reconcile the account in that instance, I have to figure out which entry is causing the problem, temporarily change the date on it so I can verify the number of shares in the Holdings window, unclear the entry so it doesn’t mess up the reconcile window, reconcile the account, and then put it all back.  A more effective way to do that would be helpful.

UKR

A single click on the checkmark box of a transaction in the Reconcile window will do what you ask.

If a transaction did not clear the bank on time to make it into this month's statement, you do not need to change the transaction itself. Just make sure you do not check the transaction in the Reconcile window. Unchecked transactions are removed from the calculated balance, reduce the balance difference towards 0.00 and carry over to next month's reconciliation.

NotACPA

It's not at all unusual for me to write a check on the same day, or even slightly before, my bank statement drops … well before that check clears my bank.

SO, as @UKR indicates, that item simply gets included in the next month's reconciliation.

exofriend

Thanks for the responses, but maybe I'm not explaining myself well enough. It's really two different suggestions, both relating to reconciling.

I am aware that I can check and uncheck the cleared or not cleared green check marks in the reconcile window. What I'm saying is that I don't want to use those because they represent whether the entry has or has not been matched with a downloaded transaction. With a paper copy of a statement I could use a pencil and mark off each transaction that matches one in Quicken. If I mark off everything on the statement, and something still doesn't reconcile, I would like to do it the other way and mark off in Quicken each transaction that matches one on the statement. This is usually only an issue when I have multiple pages of charges in a period and something's not right. I'd like another column next to the Clr column where I can mark items without affecting matched transactions. If you don't want such a feature, great; don't use it. I do.

The other issue typically only occurs with investment accounts. I am completely familiar with the concept of some transactions not clearing within the reconcile period. It's usually not a problem. In the example of the issue, one mutual fund in particular generates ReinvDiv transactions on the last day of the month. I use the Holdings button to view the account's holdings as of the end of the month (i.e. the statement end date), and compare the number of shares for each asset with what's on the statement. In Quicken, the downloaded transaction for this particular mutual fund occurs on the last day of the month; on the statement, the transaction hadn't fully cleared, so it isn't shown on the statement until the following month. So the share balance in Quicken for that asset doesn't match the statement. If there are no other transactions on the same day, I can change the Holdings date to view what the holdings would have been had the transaction for the mutual fund in question not occurred. However, often, there are other transactions on that last day that have cleared both in Quicken and on the statement. In that case, the only way to get what I see in Holdings to match what's on the statement is to change the date on the transactions for the mutual fund in question so they're past the end of the month, unclear the entries, reconcile the account, re-clear the entries, and then change the dates back to what they should be. Just because a transaction in Quicken matches a downloaded transaction from the brokerage firm and is therefore "Cleared" in Quicken, it does not guarantee that the transaction has settled as it pertains to the statement. I see this as limitation in Quicken that I would like I better way to address than first having to figure out where the problem is and then having to trick Quicken into showing me what I want.

q_lurker

What I'm saying is that I don't want to use those because they represent whether the entry has or has not been matched with a downloaded transaction. 

I would offer that is NOT what those checkmarks (‘c’s in the register) represent. They only represent that the transaction has cleared the bank. Whether the ‘c’ got applied via a download or a user action is immaterial.

If I mark off everything on the statement, and something still doesn't reconcile, I would like to do it the other way and mark off in Quicken each transaction that matches one on the statement. 

When I have found myself in that situation, I have not hesitated to clear all the checkmarks and then work through the statement. I don’t see the checkmarks (‘c’s) as inviolable sacrosanct entries. I have also on occasion printed off a section of register to use in that type of cross-checking.

exofriend

I can see your point on the first question, but I still disagree. If I'm reconciling an account, and I clear all the check marks so I can go through them manually, and one of the transactions that HAS been matched with a downloaded transaction DOES NOT appear on the statement for the period, once I'm done reconciling, I have to somehow remember which transactions were previously checked and re-check them so they're cleared in the register like they're supposed to be. There really should be a distinction between "cleared" as it pertains to a matched downloaded transaction and "cleared" as it pertains to a transaction that Quicken, the statement, and I agree has been cleared. While that does sound like the point of the status "Reconciled", there is an interim step when whether or not a transaction has been reconciled is being determined. I want a check mark for that interim step.

On the second comment, the suggestion does nothing to fix the fact that the number of shares don't match.

Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought this was a suggestion box, not a help line. While the discussion can be helpful, and even as long as I've been using Quicken there are surely many things about it I don't know, my primary interest here is to get these ideas to Quicken so they can be considered for future feature updates, not to debate them except to the extent that Quicken understands what I'm suggesting.

q_lurker

Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought this was a suggestion box, not a help line. 

This site is primarily users helping other users. More help line than suggestion box. Thus many more active posters may respond to points like yours with comments like - that feature isn’t available but here’s what you might do instead.

There is a Product Ideas grouping of posts for user generated ideas to be passed on to the Quicken development team.