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Fix issues the first time you reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit•15• Updated 1 week ago

If you're reconciling an account for the first time in QuickBooks Online and the beginning balance is incorrect, it’s often due to an incorrect opening balance. This guide walks you through how to review, compare, and correct that balance so you can start reconciling your account for the first time. Correcting the opening balance should also fix your beginning balance issues.

Hi. This is Katheryn from the QuickBooks team. When you reconcile an account, you might see an alert saying your account isn’t ready to reconcile yet. This means something changed about your reconciled transactions since you last reconciled. Let’s go over how to correct your beginning balance. You may need to do this if the dollar amount of a transaction was changed, if a transaction was unreconciled from the register or reconciled from the register without a proper reconciliation, if a transaction was deleted, or if there have simply been too many changes and you’d like to undo a reconciliation. If you’re having trouble with your beginning balance during your first reconciliation, check out this video instead because you may need to enter or adjust your beginning balance journal entry. To start, select Settings, then Reconcile. This is where you’ll see an alert if you have a problem with your beginning balance. Select the link to look at your discrepancy report. Use the Change Type column to find out why the transaction changed your beginning balance.. You’ll see “Amount Changed” if someone changed the dollar amount after it was reconciled. To fix this, select the transaction and change the Amount to match the Reconciled Amount. On some transaction types you may need to select Edit to change the dollar amount. Then select Save. You could also see “Unreconciled in Register.” This happens if the transaction was reconciled and then someone unreconciled it - usually by mistake. To reconcile it again select the transaction then select this box until you see an R. Select Save and the transaction should disappear. The third change type is “Reconciled in Register.” This happens when someone clears a transaction without reconciling. To fix it, select the transaction. Then select the box until it's blank or you see a C. This unreconciles the transaction so you can include it in future reconciliations. Select Save and the transaction should disappear. “Deleted” appears when someone deletes a reconciled transaction. Select View to see this transaction’s history. If this was deleted by accident, then recreate the transaction exactly as it appears in the history. Select the “global create” button and then the type of transaction that was deleted. Complete the form with the correct amount and date. Then select Save and Close When you’re done, select Settings. Then select “Chart of Accounts” and then “View Register” next to the appropriate bank account. Find the transaction and select it. Select the box in the tick column until you see an R. This reconciles the transaction. If you see more changes than you’d like to fix, and you just want to start over from a previous reconciliation, ask your accountant to log in and undo a reconciliation from the History by Account screen. If you haven’t invited your accountant to your company, check out this video to learn how to add them. Those are the reasons you might receive a beginning balance alert and now you know what to do if you see one.
Tip: If the account was already reconciled, here’s a different list of things to review. Or, if you're new to the entire process, start with our reconciliation guide.
Find out how to undo or remove transactions from reconciliations and more.

Prerequisites

Double-check the opening balance for the account you're reconciling. Sometimes, the opening balance doesn't include transactions that were still pending when you created the account. The opening balance is the balance of your bank account on the day you choose to start tracking transactions.

Note: If you recently entered older transactions dated before your opening balance, here's how to reconcile them. Then continue with these steps.

Step 1: Review the opening balance in QuickBooks

When you create a new account in QuickBooks, you pick a day to start tracking transactions. You enter the balance of your real-life bank account for whatever day you choose. This starting point is the opening balance. We recommend setting the opening balance at the beginning of a bank statement. This makes your first reconciliation much easier.

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Follow this link to complete the steps in product Open this link in a new window

  1. If you recently entered older transactions dated before your opening balance, here's how to reconcile them. Then continue with these steps.
  2. Find the account on the list.
  3. Select Account history.
  4. Search for the opening balance entry. It should have "Opening Balance" in the Memo column.
  5. Take note of the date and balance.

Note: If you forgot to enter an opening balance, here's how to manually enter an opening balance later.

Step 2: Compare the opening balance with your real-life account

Now you know the date and amount of the opening balance in QuickBooks. Check it against your bank records:

  1. Sign in to your bank's website, or find your bank statement.
  2. Check the account's balance for the same day as the opening balance in QuickBooks.
  3. Compare the two balances.
  4. If the balances match
    • You entered the opening balance correctly. Move on to Step 3.
  5. If your balance doesn't match your bank records, correct it:
    • In QuickBooks, select the opening balance entry to expand the view.
    • In the Deposit column, edit the balance so it matches your bank records.
    • Select Save.
  1. In QuickBooks, select the opening balance entry to expand the view.
  2. In the Deposit column, edit the balance so it matches your bank records.
  3. Select Save.

Step 3: Review your account history

When you reconcile an account for the first time, the opening balance is the only entry that is reconciled. No other transactions should be reconciled. To check:

Follow this link to complete the steps in product Open this link in a new window

  1. Find the account on the list.
  2. Select Account history to get more details.
  3. Search for the opening balance entry. It should have "Opening Balance" in the Memo column.
  4. Review the tick column. There should have an R in the box.
  5. Check the rest of the transactions on the list. There should be a C or blank box in the tick column.
  6. If there's an R on any other transactions, select the transaction to expand the view.
  7. Select box in the tick column. Keep selecting it until the box is blank. Then select Save.

Next steps: Start reconciling the account

Once you know your opening balance is correct, you can start reconciling. If you see a message about an incorrect beginning balance when you start, here are other things you can review.

If you’ve followed everything in our reconciliation guide but still have questions, connect with your bookkeeper.

Have any other questions for our team?

If any of your questions were left unanswered, we'd love to hear them!
Pop over to our QuickBooks Community's discussion on bookkeeping processes where you can ask your questions, have them answered by qualified QuickBooks Online experts, and hopefully help others with the same questions out in the process.
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