Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
Well, it took some time, but the problem seems to be solved. I went back a couple of years and eventually found some errors associated with some fraudulent activity on my account. I also did some work fixing errors in an associated savings account. When I finished that, all my previously correct reconciled balances were wrong. So, I continued searching for errors, until all those reconciled balances agreed with my bank statements. I was finally able to balance my account for the current month, but the beginning balance in the reconcile window still showed a false, negative amount. Until this morning when I finally balanced last month (Oct 2023). Suddenly, that beginning balance is now correct. I still have no idea just what caused that false value to show up, but things are working correctly now. Thanks for all your help! :>) John Reagan On 11/21/23 4:39 PM, John Ralls wrote: Oops, I guess you don't *quite* get how to use the mailing list: Always use reply-all so that your reply goes to the list, not just to the person you're replying to. Regards, John Ralls On Nov 21, 2023, at 4:23 PM, sailing wrote: Great! Thank you. +} Original message From: John Ralls Date: 11/21/23 6:49 PM (GMT-05:00) To: Elven Decker Cc: gnucash-user@gnucash.org Subject: Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect. On Nov 21, 2023, at 12:35 PM, Elven Decker wrote: Not sure how to use this help thread, but I have had a similar problem years ago which recently started happening again. I solve it by exiting the reconciliation window and then re-opening it. When the small reconcile information window opens, I click on the "Statement Date" drop-down and choose the correct date by hand. This forces some kind of re-computation of the beginning and ending balances. You seem to have figured out the mailing list. No need to quit and restart the reconcile, though: You can edit the reconcile information with Reconcile>Reconcile Information... from the reconcile window's menu. Regards, John Ralls ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
Oops, I guess you don't *quite* get how to use the mailing list: Always use reply-all so that your reply goes to the list, not just to the person you're replying to. Regards, John Ralls > On Nov 21, 2023, at 4:23 PM, sailing wrote: > > Great! Thank you. > > > > +} > > > Original message > From: John Ralls > Date: 11/21/23 6:49 PM (GMT-05:00) > To: Elven Decker > Cc: gnucash-user@gnucash.org > Subject: Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is > incorrect. > > > > > On Nov 21, 2023, at 12:35 PM, Elven Decker wrote: > > > > Not sure how to use this help thread, but I have had a similar problem > > years ago which recently started happening again. I solve it by exiting > > the reconciliation window and then re-opening it. When the small reconcile > > information window opens, I click on the "Statement Date" drop-down and > > choose the correct date by hand. This forces some kind of re-computation of > > the beginning and ending balances. > > You seem to have figured out the mailing list. > > No need to quit and restart the reconcile, though: You can edit the reconcile > information with Reconcile>Reconcile Information... from the reconcile > window's menu. > > Regards, > John Ralls > ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
> On Nov 21, 2023, at 12:35 PM, Elven Decker wrote: > > Not sure how to use this help thread, but I have had a similar problem years > ago which recently started happening again. I solve it by exiting the > reconciliation window and then re-opening it. When the small reconcile > information window opens, I click on the "Statement Date" drop-down and > choose the correct date by hand. This forces some kind of re-computation of > the beginning and ending balances. You seem to have figured out the mailing list. No need to quit and restart the reconcile, though: You can edit the reconcile information with Reconcile>Reconcile Information... from the reconcile window's menu. Regards, John Ralls ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
Not sure how to use this help thread, but I have had a similar problem years ago which recently started happening again. I solve it by exiting the reconciliation window and then re-opening it. When the small reconcile information window opens, I click on the "Statement Date" drop-down and choose the correct date by hand. This forces some kind of re-computation of the beginning and ending balances. +-} ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
On 2023-11-07 12:26 PM, John Reagan wrote: > ... but the starting balance for that period was $299.46 > which is the reconciled balance at the end of July. Instead, Gnucash is > showing a starting balance of $ -200.54. > > I tried entering a correction transaction of $200.54, but it didn't > change anything. I would think that correction would have to be: $299.46 - (-$200.54) = $500.00 Instead, maybe there is just a $500 transaction to clear/fix. On 2023-11-07 01:03 PM, John Reagan wrote: ... When I use the */actions/reconcile/ *menu choice to reconcile my account, that false beginning balance is factored into the final balance. ... How is that beginning balance calculated? If I can check on the numbers that are used to calculate the beginning balance, I should be able to find the mistake that is generating that error. John If the ending balance in the register matches the ending balance on the statement, have you tried just checking off all transactions and seeing if that works? Calculating the beginning balance: For some reason I can't get the reconciliation report (or totaling by Reconciliation Date) to work well right now, but try out a Transaction Report. Reports > Transaction Report Set up thusly: Accounts Bank account you're trying to reconcile Currency Ignore this tab Display CHECK Date CHECK Reconciled Date CHECK Number CHECK Description Detail Level: One transaction per line CHECK Other Account Name Amount: Single Column CHECK Grand Total Running Totals: Grand Total Only Filter Reconciled Status: Reconciled Only General Report Name: Transaction Report QUICK RECONCILIATION Start date: BEFORE YOUR FIRST TRANSACTION EVER! End date: Today Add options summary: Always Sorting Primary Key: Reconciled Date Primary Sort Order: Ascending Primary Subtotal for Date Key: None Secondary Key: Register Order Secondary Sort Order: Ascending UNCHECK Secondary Subtotal Run report, SAVE CONFIG AS and name it something like "Transaction Report QUICK RECONCILIATION" so you don't have to set this up again if it gets closed by mistake. My options summary looks like this: Sorting / Primary Subtotal for Date Key : none Sorting / Primary Key : reconciled-date General / Add options summary : always General / Start Date : absolute . 2009-01-01 Filter / Reconciled Status : reconciled Display / Running Totals : grand Display / Enable Links : Disabled Display / Amount : single Display / Reconciled Date : Enabled Accounts / Accounts : Checking Account This report should give you the reconciled balance in the account as of each period end date. If you want a guide for finding the time period of the issue quickly: Pull out your bank statements. Check the ending balance for last month against the bank statement. If those don't match, maybe check the balance for two months ago. Then the end of last year. If that still doesn't match, check the end of three years ago, or five, or ten. Keep checking balances until you narrow down a range of before the difference happened. If you find that the reconciled balance did not match at the end of 2022 but did match at the end of 2020, split the difference and try the end of 2021. And then you know which year it was, so take June of that year and check that balance. Then you know if it was the first or second half of that year, etc. Your goal is to quickly narrow down which month the issue appears without checking every single month. Then you can run a separate transaction report for that month and check it against your bank statement. ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
One of the things (amongst many) I used to do when trying to track down reconciliation problems - such as yours in this case - was to look for the running balance total of the account in question that matched the start balance shown. This often flagged up errors of one sort or another that when corrected resulted in a correct start balance. Other things I looked for were: correct date for the entry, correct statement date, correct amount, correct side of the ledger, duplicated transactions and had any transactions been unreconciled or reconciled in error. You might also run the 'Reconcilliation report'; I have found that very handy for checking errors - and if you printed it off you could check it against the bank statement line by line; I always found paper to be better than looking at the screen. When I had multiple errors - in a business where too many people, for my liking, had access - I would download the bank into Excel and export from Sage (as was the case) into the same sheet and sort the columns with a short comparison script that flagged discrepancies between the columns. You will find the error if you look for it, but it can be a tedious job. G On Tue, 7 Nov 2023 at 18:51, David Carlson wrote: > John, > > If you review which transactions you are marking as reconciled while you > perform the reconciliation, you will note that the list does not exactly > match the list on your bank statement. The transactions that do not match > will make up the difference, which could be missing from either list, > depending on the source of the error. That information should aid in > finding the error. > > It is possible that some old transactions in your data are no longer marked > as reconciled or more recently marked transactions are, or worse yet, some > transactions or split lines have disappeared or been added as a result of > some other error. > > You can make the effort to find and correct whatever caused the discrepancy > or allow GnuCash to create a correcting transaction if necessary to offset > an error that is too difficult to track down. > > On Tue, Nov 7, 2023, 12:04 PM John Reagan wrote: > > > Thanks for replying. However, it doesn't work out as being okay. When > > I use the */actions/reconcile/ *menu choice to reconcile my account, > > that false beginning balance is factored into the final balance. Where > > it should be zero difference between cleared and reconciled balances, > > there is a false number. > > > > > > How is that beginning balance calculated? If I can check on the numbers > > that are used to calculate the beginning balance, I should be able to > > find the mistake that is generating that error. > > > > > > John > > > > > > > > > > On 11/7/23 9:39 AM, Gyle McCollam wrote: > > > AS long as the ending balance is correct, you are good. Delete the > > > correction transaction and procedd as normal. > > > > > > Thank You, > > > > > > *Gyle McCollam* > > > > > > Gyle McCollam > > > > > > gmccol...@live.com <mailto:gmccol...@gyleshomes.com>email > > > > > > > -------- > > > *From:* gnucash-user > > > on behalf of John > > > Reagan > > > *Sent:* Tuesday, November 7, 2023 12:26 PM > > > *To:* gnucash-user@gnucash.org > > > *Subject:* [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance > > > is incorrect. > > > Hello! > > > > > > > > > I have been using Gnucash for years to keep track of my personal > > > finances and it has always done a good job for me. However, recently I > > > was trying to reconcile my checking account and the starting balance in > > > Gnucash's reconciliation popup window was not only wrong, but showed a > > > negative balance. (I attached a screenshot of that popup window FYI.) > > > I'm reconciling my August 2023 statement that shows an ending balance > of > > > $1378.00 (the correct amount, so this should have just been a slam-dunk > > > reconciliation) but the starting balance for that period was $299.46 > > > which is the reconciled balance at the end of July. Instead, Gnucash is > > > showing a starting balance of $ -200.54. > > > > > > I tried entering a correction transaction of $200.54, but it > didn't > > > change anything. > > > > > > So, any ideas as to what went wrong and how to fix this? Thanks. > > > > > > John > > > > > > > > ___ > > gnucash
Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
John, If you review which transactions you are marking as reconciled while you perform the reconciliation, you will note that the list does not exactly match the list on your bank statement. The transactions that do not match will make up the difference, which could be missing from either list, depending on the source of the error. That information should aid in finding the error. It is possible that some old transactions in your data are no longer marked as reconciled or more recently marked transactions are, or worse yet, some transactions or split lines have disappeared or been added as a result of some other error. You can make the effort to find and correct whatever caused the discrepancy or allow GnuCash to create a correcting transaction if necessary to offset an error that is too difficult to track down. On Tue, Nov 7, 2023, 12:04 PM John Reagan wrote: > Thanks for replying. However, it doesn't work out as being okay. When > I use the */actions/reconcile/ *menu choice to reconcile my account, > that false beginning balance is factored into the final balance. Where > it should be zero difference between cleared and reconciled balances, > there is a false number. > > > How is that beginning balance calculated? If I can check on the numbers > that are used to calculate the beginning balance, I should be able to > find the mistake that is generating that error. > > > John > > > > > On 11/7/23 9:39 AM, Gyle McCollam wrote: > > AS long as the ending balance is correct, you are good. Delete the > > correction transaction and procedd as normal. > > > > Thank You, > > > > *Gyle McCollam* > > > > Gyle McCollam > > > > gmccol...@live.com <mailto:gmccol...@gyleshomes.com>email > > > > > > *From:* gnucash-user > > on behalf of John > > Reagan > > *Sent:* Tuesday, November 7, 2023 12:26 PM > > *To:* gnucash-user@gnucash.org > > *Subject:* [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance > > is incorrect. > > Hello! > > > > > > I have been using Gnucash for years to keep track of my personal > > finances and it has always done a good job for me. However, recently I > > was trying to reconcile my checking account and the starting balance in > > Gnucash's reconciliation popup window was not only wrong, but showed a > > negative balance. (I attached a screenshot of that popup window FYI.) > > I'm reconciling my August 2023 statement that shows an ending balance of > > $1378.00 (the correct amount, so this should have just been a slam-dunk > > reconciliation) but the starting balance for that period was $299.46 > > which is the reconciled balance at the end of July. Instead, Gnucash is > > showing a starting balance of $ -200.54. > > > > I tried entering a correction transaction of $200.54, but it didn't > > change anything. > > > > So, any ideas as to what went wrong and how to fix this? Thanks. > > > > John > > > > > ___ > gnucash-user mailing list > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > - > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. > ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
Thanks for replying. However, it doesn't work out as being okay. When I use the */actions/reconcile/ *menu choice to reconcile my account, that false beginning balance is factored into the final balance. Where it should be zero difference between cleared and reconciled balances, there is a false number. How is that beginning balance calculated? If I can check on the numbers that are used to calculate the beginning balance, I should be able to find the mistake that is generating that error. John On 11/7/23 9:39 AM, Gyle McCollam wrote: AS long as the ending balance is correct, you are good. Delete the correction transaction and procedd as normal. Thank You, *Gyle McCollam* Gyle McCollam gmccol...@live.com <mailto:gmccol...@gyleshomes.com>email *From:* gnucash-user on behalf of John Reagan *Sent:* Tuesday, November 7, 2023 12:26 PM *To:* gnucash-user@gnucash.org *Subject:* [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect. Hello! I have been using Gnucash for years to keep track of my personal finances and it has always done a good job for me. However, recently I was trying to reconcile my checking account and the starting balance in Gnucash's reconciliation popup window was not only wrong, but showed a negative balance. (I attached a screenshot of that popup window FYI.) I'm reconciling my August 2023 statement that shows an ending balance of $1378.00 (the correct amount, so this should have just been a slam-dunk reconciliation) but the starting balance for that period was $299.46 which is the reconciled balance at the end of July. Instead, Gnucash is showing a starting balance of $ -200.54. I tried entering a correction transaction of $200.54, but it didn't change anything. So, any ideas as to what went wrong and how to fix this? Thanks. John ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
AS long as the ending balance is correct, you are good. Delete the correction transaction and procedd as normal. Thank You, Gyle McCollam Gyle McCollam gmccol...@live.com<mailto:gmccol...@gyleshomes.com> email From: gnucash-user on behalf of John Reagan Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 12:26 PM To: gnucash-user@gnucash.org Subject: [GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect. Hello! I have been using Gnucash for years to keep track of my personal finances and it has always done a good job for me. However, recently I was trying to reconcile my checking account and the starting balance in Gnucash's reconciliation popup window was not only wrong, but showed a negative balance. (I attached a screenshot of that popup window FYI.) I'm reconciling my August 2023 statement that shows an ending balance of $1378.00 (the correct amount, so this should have just been a slam-dunk reconciliation) but the starting balance for that period was $299.46 which is the reconciled balance at the end of July. Instead, Gnucash is showing a starting balance of $ -200.54. I tried entering a correction transaction of $200.54, but it didn't change anything. So, any ideas as to what went wrong and how to fix this? Thanks. John ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
[GNC] Account reconciliation -- Gnucash's beginning balance is incorrect.
Hello! I have been using Gnucash for years to keep track of my personal finances and it has always done a good job for me. However, recently I was trying to reconcile my checking account and the starting balance in Gnucash's reconciliation popup window was not only wrong, but showed a negative balance. (I attached a screenshot of that popup window FYI.) I'm reconciling my August 2023 statement that shows an ending balance of $1378.00 (the correct amount, so this should have just been a slam-dunk reconciliation) but the starting balance for that period was $299.46 which is the reconciled balance at the end of July. Instead, Gnucash is showing a starting balance of $ -200.54. I tried entering a correction transaction of $200.54, but it didn't change anything. So, any ideas as to what went wrong and how to fix this? Thanks. John ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
