Fix beginning balance discrepancies before reconciling

If you signed up to try a new way to reconcile in QuickBooks Labs, you're in the right place. If you didn't, click here to learn about fixing beginning balance discrepancies with the current QuickBooks reconciliation.

Depending on the reconciliation history of your account, you can fix your beginning balance discrepancy with one of the following:

• Fix the beginning balance for a new account (or an account that has never been reconciled)
• Fix the beginning balance when QuickBooks does not show an alert
• Fix the beginning balance when QuickBooks shows an alert

Want to learn more about beginning balance discrepancies and how they happen? Are you wondering where to start? Find beginning balance discrepancies before reconciling

Fix the beginning balance for a new account (or an account that has never been reconciled)

1. Click the Gear icon > Chart of Accounts.

2. Find the account and click View register.
3. Check the account's opening balance.

   1. If it's incorrect, you may need to edit it.

   2. If there isn't one, you may need to enter it.
4. If the account is a bank feed account, look for downloaded transactions that cleared the bank before the statement's beginning date. You may need to delete those.

Fix the beginning balance when QuickBooks does not show an alert

If your QuickBooks beginning balance didn't match your statement's but there was no alert, try these steps:

1. In the Start reconciling page, make sure the ending date of the statement you're reconciling now is exactly (or close to) a month after the last statement ending date. If it isn't, you need to find the earlier statement.
2. Check for transactions that are dated before this statement period but were reconciled in the register since the last reconciliation. The fastest way to do this is to create your own discrepancy report.
3. If you find any, you can go to the register to change their reconciliation status back from reconciled (R) to cleared (C). Learn how to edit a transaction in the register.

Fix the beginning balance when QuickBooks shows an alert

If there was a beginning balance discrepancy alert when you started to reconcile an account, the best place to start is in its discrepancy report. It lists previously reconciled transactions that were changed since the last reconciliation. There is a link to the discrepancy report in the discrepancy alert in the Start reconciling page.

What does the discrepancy report find?

The discrepancy report finds most of the transactions that changed to cause the discrepancy with your beginning balance. Each changed transaction includes information about the transaction including the type of change that caused the discrepancy. The types of transaction changes that the discrepancy report lists are:

• The amount of a previously reconciled transaction was changed.
• The account assigned to a previously reconciled transaction was changed. For example, the transaction's account was changed from one credit card account to another one.
• The reconciliation status of a previously reconciled transaction was changed from reconciled (R) to cleared (C) or uncleared in the register.
• A previously reconciled transaction was deleted.

What won't the discrepancy report find?

The discrepancy report won't find transactions that were reconciled in the register by changing the reconciliation status to reconciled (R).

How to use the discrepancy report

You can edit most transaction change types in the discrepancy report, except for deleted transactions. As you edit and save each transaction:

• The transaction disappears from the discrepancy report.
• The discrepancy difference at the top of the page adjusts for the resolved transaction.

To fix deleted transactions, close the discrepancy report and:

1. Recreate the deleted transaction in the register. Learn how
2. Before you save the recreated transaction, change the reconciliation status to R for reconciled.
3. Click Save. The deleted transaction remains in the discrepancy report but the difference at the top changes to reflect the amount of this recreated, reconciled transaction.

Once you resolve all the changed transactions that caused the discrepancy, the alert stops appearing and you can start reconciling.

See also

Reconciliation overview

Reconcile a bank, credit card, or petty cash account

Find beginning balance discrepancies before reconciling

Find reconciliation errors