Top 5 Questions: Reconciling

Hello Community! I enjoyed our Top 5 Questions: Invoices so much that I had to come back with another one. This week I’m focusing on reconciling! I already have an article on how to reconcile, and even some common troubleshooting tips, but what are customers asking in the Community? Let’s take a look!

1. I just converted from QB desktop to QB online and I’m trying to reconcile accounts. My beginning bal...

First, some housekeeping items: It’s important to know that when converting from Desktop to Online, there are limitations to what comes over into your new account. When it comes to reconciling, your reconciliation reports won't convert to QuickBooks Online, but all reconciled transactions in the register will have an "R" in the cleared column in QBO.

Now, if your beginning balance is incorrect after your migration, you'll want to run a Profit and Loss report and a Balance Sheet report in both Desktop and Online to compare the transactions. If you find missing entries, you can recreate them in your account. Then, manually mark them as reconciled in the bank register to correct the opening balance. I'll show you how:

1. Go to Accounting on the left menu, then Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the account on the list, then select View register to get more details.
3. Click the transactions you've added to expand the view.
4. Review the check column, then click the checkbox until you see a letter R.
5. Save, then repeat steps for any other newly added transactions.

2. Why don't I have a reconcile “undo” option?

The only customers with an “undo” option are those who use the QuickBooks Online Accountant version. If you don’t use that product, don't fret! You can still undo a reconciliation, just with a few more steps. 

These are the same as in question #1 but with a different option in the checkbox:

1. Go to Accounting on the left menu, then Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the account on the list, then select View register.
3. Click on the transaction to expand the view.
4. Review the check column, then click the checkbox until you see the box is blank.
5. Repeat steps for other transactions for that reconciling period.

3. How do you fix missing bank transactions when trying to reconcile an account?

There are a few reasons some bank transactions may be missing from your bank register in QBO:

• Some banks and credit card companies don't post transactions for download until later in the day or the next morning.
• Some banks will show a transaction on their website but won't download the transaction until it posts.
• Transactions are showing up in the For Review page but were not categorized or matched.

To make sure you have the most up-to-date bank transactions, go to the Transactions tab on the left menu and click on the Banking page. From there, pick your account, select Update, and look at the For Review tab to match and add your transactions.

4. Can I reconcile my check register without syncing to my bank?

Although syncing your bank is a useful feature, it is not required to reconcile in QuickBooks Online. Any prompts you see on the reconcile page are just to make you aware of this option in your account. If you manually add your transactions, click on Get Started on your reconcile screen to start.

5. How should I handle payments recorded into the wrong account when reconciling?

Sometimes a transaction is attached to the wrong account, duplicated, or in this case has already been recorded as a journal entry. Because QuickBooks loves keeping records, there’s a fantastic option to leave the transaction out of your reconcile screen but still have it for your information.

1. Go to Transactions on the left menu.
2. Click on the Categorized tab and find the transaction.
3. Choose Undo so that the transaction is back in your For Review page.

Once you have done that, you can head over to the For Review tab and exclude that transaction. It will now be in your excluded tab, still available for your records!

I hope this Top 5 was just as helpful as the last. Keep your eyes open because I have a feeling that Top 5 will be part of our regularly scheduled programming…. stay tuned!

I want to end with a reminder that the Community is here for you and so are your fellow business owners. Take advantage of our search option and see what others are asking. You may find exactly the help you’re looking for!