A bank reconciliation not done since 2011

[DLayson]

Is there a "quick" way to reconcile a bank account that hasn't been reconciled in QB since November 2011?  A tax client finally wants help with his QB (you think?) and I need good figures for 2018.  Is there a way I can reconcile thru Dec 2017, mark everything cleared and post difference to reconciliation discrepancies to be dealt with at a later date, then start fresh with Jan 2018?  Not ideal, but I don't have time (and he doesn't want to pay me enough) to reconcile 8 years.

[john-pero]

You certainly can do a single reconciliation as of 12/31/17. I did a single 6 or 7 year recon for a client last year. Rather than allowing QB to post the discrepancy on its own to who knows where I would (after making sure I leave the actual uncleared from 2017 items that cleared in 2018) post an entry to owner equity for the discrepancy

[tkelly_uk]

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@DLayson wrote:

Is there a "quick" way to reconcile a bank account that hasn't been reconciled in QB since November 2011?  

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Yes, absolutely. In fact, you just do exactly what you describe:

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@DLayson wrote:

Is there a way I can reconcile thru Dec 2017, mark everything cleared and post difference to reconciliation discrepancies to be dealt with at a later date, then start fresh with Jan 2018?  Not ideal, but I don't have time (and he doesn't want to pay me enough) to reconcile 8 years.

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Yep, it's as simple as that. It's the same as normal but as if you were working with a bank that only issued a statement every 6 or 7 years. So statement date is 31-Dec-2017, but with a starting balance from back in 2011 (and maybe not even correct!) Once in the recon wizard itself, I'd check the "Hide transactions after the statement's end date" box, and then just click the Mark All button. Breath, pray, breath and then check the result in the panel on the bottom right. If you don't get a match then it sounds like you're happy to proceed with an adjustment being made, so fine. Hit the Reconcile Now button and let it do its stuff.

That's all I do anyway, and I've done it several times. That said, it has always where I've been over the backlogged transactions with a fine-toothed comb and so I know I'll get a match with no need for an adjustment. All I'm doing is then saving myself from getting RSI through clicking Banking->Reconcile etc a jillion times.

Is that in any way what you were asking?

t

P.S. But I note your comment about the adjustments: "...to be dealt with at a later date...", and it raises a question.If all of this is just a temporary measure and at some later date someone will come in and do it properly, then why bother reconciling at all right now? The big catchup recon, plus all subsequent recons done into 2018 and 2019 will have to be undone if the adjustment is to made good. And so why not just make the adjustment yourself directly, without bothering with the formal reconciliation procedure? What benefit does the reconciliation process give you other than entering the adjustment for you (which, done manually, is a 10 second job tops).