New Top Five Questions: Reconcile

Spring is well underway, and it feels like the perfect time to come back to the much-frequented topic of reconciliation. Just like balancing your checkbook, it’s critical to reconcile your bank and credit card accounts in QuickBooks frequently to make sure they match your real-life bank accounts. If you need a refresher on how to reconcile, you can always check out this article.  Let’s take a look at some of the chatter around reconciliation in our Community!

1.I need to edit some transactions that have already been reconciled. How do I do this without undoing...

Good news! Changing anything but the amount and the account on any given transaction won't change its reconciliation status. You can edit the reconciled transaction right in your chart of accounts. Here's how:

1. Click Accounting from the left menu, then select Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the bank account from the list and click View register.
3. Locate and select the transaction you want to change, then click Edit.
4. Change the category or description, then click Save. 
5. Click Yes to confirm the changes.
6. Repeat the steps for the rest of the transactions you want to edit.

2.I deleted a reconciled transaction. How can I  correct this?

If you've deleted transactions that have already been reconciled, you will need to re-create them. To find the information from the transaction you deleted, you can check out the Audit Log. It's super easy and only takes a few clicks. Here's how:

1. Go to Gear icon, then Audit Log.
2. Click the Filter drop-down, pick the dates when the transactions were deleted, then choose the Show only these events radio button.
3. Check the Transactions checkbox, then select Deleted/Voided Transactions from the Show drop-down.
4. Hit Apply.
5. The Audit log will now be filtered to only show deleted transactions based on the filters you applied. Find the transactions that were deleted in the list and click View.
6. You can use the information displayed here to re-create the transaction. Be sure to change the transaction's status in the register back to R for Reconciled.

If you aren't sure how to change the transaction's status back to Reconciled from within the register, I can show you how.  Check it out: 

1. From the account register, locate the transaction you just recreated.
2. Change the reconciliation status to "R" by clicking on the blank box in the column marked with a checkmark. Once your transaction has an R next to it, it's reconciled. 

That's it!

3.I just started reconciliation on the month of January, what happens if the received payment shows in...

If the payment hasn't cleared the bank yet, you can delete the payment that is recorded in your bank account in QuickBooks Online and receive the payment again then change the payment and deposit it to Undeposited Funds account. Here's how:

1. Go to the bank where the payment is recorded, then click the transaction to expand the view.
2. Hit the Delete button, and click Yes.
3. On the left panel, select Sales.
4. Choose the Customers tab.
5. Look for the customer who has the invoice on that payment, and click Receive payment from the right portion of the invoice section.
6. Click the Deposit to drop-down arrow and change the account to Undeposited Funds.
7. Select the Save and Close or Save and New.

Once the payment is already recorded in your real-life bank statement, you can just deposit it from the undeposited funds to your bank account in your QuickBooks Online.

I've also added an article that helps you print or export your reconciliation report, check out this link: How do I view, print, or export a reconciliation report.

4. How do I delete a check when in reconciliation? I found I have a duplicate.

There are different ways to delete this check, depending on how the check was created in QuickBooks.  If this was a downloaded transaction, then we can go to the Banking page and undo the duplicate check. There are different ways to delete this check, depending on how the check was created in QuickBooks.

1. From the left panel, click the Banking tab.
2. In the Banking page, check the box for the duplicate check.
3. Click the Batch actions drop-down arrow and select Exclude Selected.
4. Then, let's go to the Excluded section.
5. Mark check inside the box for the duplicate check.
6. Hit the Batch action drop-down arrow once again. Now, you have an option there to delete this duplicate check.

On the other hand, if this transaction was entered manually, you can follow the steps below:

1. From the left panel, click Accounting.
2. In the Chart of Account lists, select the appropriate account by clicking the View Register under the Action column.
3. Click the duplicate check and hit Delete.
4. Then, let's select Yes to confirm.

5.I had to merge two bank accounts but then lost my bank reconciliations. Is there a way to get them b...

When merging accounts that have reconciliation reports, they will be deleted from the account that was merged. However, its reconcile status (R) will remain on the merged transactions. 

If you want to reconcile the accounts as one, you'll need to manually un-reconcile each transaction and proceed to reconciliation.

1. Go to the Accounting menu.
2. Select Chart of Accounts.

1. Find the account holding the transaction. Then select View register. 
2. Select the transaction you want to unreconcile to expand the view.
3. Review the check column. If the transaction is reconciled, you’ll see an R.

1. Select the checkbox. This changes the letter in the box. Keep selecting it until the box is blank. This removes the transaction from the reconciliation.
2. Select Save.
3. Close the account register.

That’s it for this top five. The Community is a great place to find the support you need if you have additional questions about reconciling in QuickBooks. Here’s to your allergies and bookkeeping being manageable this season, see you around!