Cleared balance showing an amount in reconcile window

mrkittyd

I've been using Quicken for 33 years-I do not download my transactions -I reconcile from the paper statement. When I attempted to reconcile my Discover card it shows I already had a cleared balance of 29.38. This has never happen to me before! Where did this amount come from?

CaliQkn

@mrkittyd - there could be cleared but not reconciled transaction(s) from the prior period, or outside the date range of the reconciliation window.

I would check your account register for any transactions from the prior period that may be been changed from reconciled [R] to cleared [c].

Chris_QPW

The Cleared Balance is calculated from all the reconciled transactions (even if they are past the statement date entered), and the cleared transactions, that are on or before the statement date entered.

I would check your account register for any transactions from the prior period that may be been changed from reconciled [R] to cleared [c].

Even though the problem probably is with a changed Reconciled transaction, it won't be a change from Reconciled to Cleared, because all uncleared and cleared transactions on or before the statement date entered would appear in the Reconcile window. There isn't any "start date" for a given reconcile, it goes all the way back to the start of the register.

So, more likely causes are change in the amount of a reconciled transaction or deleting a reconciled transaction. Another possibility is adding a reconciled transaction that hasn't really been reconciled, which includes changing a cleared transaction to reconcile by mistake.

Also, like I said above unfortunately (at least in my opinion) Quicken will include "future reconciled" transactions in the Cleared Balance, but since the Reconcile Windows never shows reconciled transactions you won't see them there. Note because Quicken includes "future reconciled transactions" in the "Cleared Balance" it is impossible to reconcile past date ranges if you have already reconciled more current transactions. As in, you can't reconcile June and then reconcile May because when you would go to reconcile May the June reconciled transaction would be included in the Cleared Balance.

Back to the calculation of the Cleared Balance.

Since you are pointing out the $29.38, you seem to think that this literally the sum of the cleared transactions (which I can't blame one for thinking that given the term). And since you have no transactions on or before the statement date entered (as in they don't appear in the Reconcile Windows) you assume that this number should be zero. That isn't correct.

Example:

Notice it is the $1,000 that is in the Cleared Balance, not zero.

Adding in a cleared transaction (leaving the uncleared transaction) and changing the statement amount.

Finding what changed can be very time consuming, if you have backups (and I hope you do) it might be faster to use them to see where things went wrong. I would start with comparing the balance on the date you last reconcile in a backup from that time, to the current data file.

Chris_QPW

Extra note, in the distant past Quicken would include future transactions cleared and uncleared in the Reconcile Window. I don't remember exactly when they changed it to only include cleared and uncleared transactions from the statement date or older. So, Quicken 2010 might or might include them in the reconcile windows (I don't see that in this case), but it certainly not include future reconciled transactions in the reconcile window (but it will include them in the Cleared balance in all cases).

CaliQkn

@Chris_QPW you are probably right that it could be a missing transaction or even a future dated transaction. But no matter the cause, would it be then just as easy to go back and compare prior statements to the Quicken account register? It might be tedious, but you would then most certainly find which transaction(s) is missing.

Chris_QPW

Yes, comparing to a statement is better.

Steven Latus

The first thing that I would do would be to do a search on the amount $29.38.

If that turns up nothing, I would then look at the opening balance listed in the account register.

Steven Latus

Another possibility is

for a payment or a credit for $14.69 (one-half of $29.38) that was erroneously entered as a charge—

Steven Latus

Test.

Steven Latus

For whatever reason, I cannot edit my last comment.

Anyway, another possibility is a transposition error—a payment or a credit for $14.69 (one-half of $29.38) may have been erroneously entered in Quicken as a charge and somehow marked as reconciled.