Top 5 Questions-Reports/Closing the Books

Hey everyone, welcome back to another Top 5! Are you curious about how to handle month-end closing, fix beginning balance issues, or unreconcile a monthly statement that has already been reconciled? If so, then you're in the right place! I'll be covering some of the most commonly asked questions on Reporting & Closing the Books.

 Let's dive right in!

1. How do I perform a month-end close?

Thanks for asking, let me go ahead and walk you through it!

Here's how to close the books:

1. Choose the Gear icon and select Company Settings.
2. Choose Advanced.
3. In the Accounting section, click the Edit icon.
4. Check the box labeled Close the books.
5. Enter a closing date. Transactions dated on or before the closing date cannot be changed without warning.
6. Decide what you want users to see if they try to save a transaction that is dated prior to the closing date:

• Choose Allow changes after viewing a warning to make a warning message appear.
• Choose Allow changes after viewing a warning and entering a password to require the user to enter a password as well. Then enter the password in the fields below.

7. Click Save, then Done.

You’re set!

2. How do I fix beginning balance issues in QuickBooks Online?

I’m happy to point you in the right direction and help you fix this opening balance concern.

There will be a beginning balance in the system if there are reconciled transactions. If you've created changes to the reconciled entries, this will affect your opening balance. This is the reason you're seeing a negative amount.

To fix this, you'll need to undo the reconciliation. After that, go to your bank register and remove the R status of your transactions to zero out the amount.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Accounting menu.
2. Select Chart of Accounts.
3. Find the account holding the transaction. Then select View register.
4. Select the transaction you want to unreconcile to expand the view.
5. Review the check column. If the transaction is reconciled, you’ll see an “R.”
6. 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.
7. Select Save.
8. Close the account register.

For more details about this process, please see this link: Learn how to unreconcile an individual transaction from a completed reconciliation.

This link also provides complete steps about handling balance issues: Learn what to review so you can start reconciling.

3. How do I import bank statements into quickbooks online? under reconciliation tab I only see 3 statem...

Let me show you how!

If you're using QuickBooks Online Plus, Advanced, Accountant, and QuickBooks Live, you can enjoy the feature of being able to get bank statements directly from your bank when you reconcile.

If you're using QuickBooks Online Simple Start and Essentials, you'll want to manually upload your bank entries into QBO.

Here's how:

1. Click Banking from the left navigation panel.
2. Pick File Upload from the Update drop-down menu or Upload Transactions Manually if there isn’t any bank connected to QBO.
   
3. Select Browse and choose the file you downloaded.
   
4. Choose an account from the list, then Next.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to map the fields.
6. Select the transactions to import.
7. Click Yes.
8. Hit Let’s go.

Here's an article for more information and steps on importing these files, see this article: Manually upload transactions into QuickBooks Online.

You might also want to keep these articles handy for your reference about the process of reconciliation:

• Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online
• Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks

4. How do I unreconcile a monthly statement that has already by reconciled?

I’m glad you asked!

We can undo a reconciled statement by manually unreconciling each transaction. Here’s how:

1. Go to the Gear icon and select Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the appropriate bank, then click View register.
3. Select the transaction to edit.
4. Under the Check column, click the box repeatedly to change the status. ("C" - Cleared, "R" - Reconciled, and "Blank" - Not cleared or reconciled)
5. Click Save.

You can learn more information on how to undo from reconciliation in this article: Undo and remove transactions from reconciliations in QuickBooks Online.

If you want hands-on help, you can get a QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper to show you how to do reconciliations and other tasks, check out QuickBooks Live.

You may also consider looking for an accountant to Redo the reconciliation process.

Here's how to invite an accountant:

1. Click the Gear Icon > Manage Users.
2. Go to the Accountants section and click Invite Accountant.
3. They will be asked to create a User ID before signing for the first time unless they already have an account with Intuit Business Services.
4. Until your accountant signs in, their status on the Manage Users page is "Invited." After accepting the invitation, their status changes to "Active."
5. Click Next and Finish.

You can also refer to this article for the detailed steps: How to invite your accountant to QuickBooks.

5. Can I print a prior month's bank reconciliation that has been completed?

Yes! 

After completing a bank reconciliation, QuickBooks Online (QBO) automatically creates a reconciliation report. 

Let me walk you through the easy steps: 

1. On the left navigation panel, select Reports. 
2. In the Find report by name search bar, type Reconciliation Report. 
3. Select Reconciliation Reports. 
4. Choose the Account and the Report period for the reconciliation you want to print. 
5. Under the ACTION column, click the View report link. 
6. Then choose the Statement ending date.
7. Once the reconciliation report is pulled up, click the Print icon at the upper-right side of the report. 

You'll want to read through this article for more information on how to view, print or export a reconciliation report. 

That’s all for today! I hope you found these Top 5 Q & A’s helpful and got some valuable resources when it comes to closing your books. Like always, if you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to ask us here in the Community.  Until next time!