Bank account reconciliation a complete mess way too many deleted and changed transactions

Glad to have you here on the Community page, MiddleClassValues.

I'm here to help correct the opening balance so you can reconcile in QuickBooks Online. 

You'll have to check the beginning balance in QuickBooks every time you start reconciling an account. It's the amount in your account at the beginning of the time period you're viewing at..

For the same start day, the beginning balance amount should match what's on your bank statement. That being said,  you can fix the opening balance by entering the balance of your real-life bank account.

You need to set the opening balance at the beginning of a bank statement. Then follow these steps to review it:

1. Select the Accounting menu, then select Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the account on the list.
3. Select View register.
4. Search for the opening balance entry. It should have "Opening Balance Equity" in the Account column.
5. Take note of the date and balance.
6. Next, you need to compare the opening balance with your real-life account.
7. Sign in to your bank's website, or find your bank statement.
8. Check the account's balance for the same day as the opening balance in QuickBooks.
9. Compare the two balances.

You can check out this article if the opening balance in QuickBooks doesn't match your bank records: Fix issues the first time you reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

When you're ready to reconcile in the future, here is an article link: Reconcile bank accounts in QuickBooks Online.

That should do it! Please know that I'm just a post away if you have any other concerns about Opening Balance. Have a good one. 

No thats not going to help Ive deleted and messed up tons of transactions for 8 months I need to start over

There are a few ways you can take to start the bank balance from the beginning of the year, @MiddleClassValues.

I'd be happy to provide details on how you can do it.

You can create a new bank account in your QuickBooks Online (QBO) company and import or download the transactions from there. 

To do so, you can first disconnect the old one and connect the new bank account in QBO.

On the other hand, if you want to start with a newly QBO company, you can cancel your current subscription and signup for a new account. You may want to check this article for more information: Delete your data and start over in QuickBooks Online.

Once everything is fine, you can visit our Reconciliation hub to guide you in reconciling your accounts. This also includes instructions on how you can fix reconciliation issues. 

Also, reviewing your previous reconciliation to prevent errors in the future is necessary. To do this, you can pull up a reconciliation report in QBO. 

I'm just around the corner to help if you have any other concerns about managing your account. Just leave a reply below and I'll circle back to assist you.

I made a mess of our reconciliation and have spent hours trying to figure it out. Is there a way to wipe out everything and start over for the year?

Hi there, borstjz.

Thank you for visiting the QuickBooks Community. I'll ensure you'll be able to wipe out all the reconciled entries and start a new beginning in QuickBooks Online.

Yes, there is a way to wipe out everything in your reconciliation and start over for the year if you have an accountant who uses QuickBooks Online accountant or if you are the one who is using the said version. To do this, I suggest going to the Reconcile section and you can view a particular option from there to begin the procedure. Please know that you may want to download any attachments tied to the reconciliation because undoing a reconciliation deletes all existing attachments.

Here's how to undo:

1. In QuickBooks Online Accountant, signed in as an accountant user and select the client from the drop-down list on the Tool belt to open the client's company file.
2. Go to the Accounting menu. Then, choose the Reconcile tab.
3. Select History by account.
4. Select the account you want to reconcile and date range from the dropdowns.
5. Find the reconciliation on the list.
6. Select View report to open the Reconciliation Report.
7. Check any discrepancies and changes your client wants to make.
8. When you’re ready, select the dropdown arrow in the Action column, and select Undo.
9. Click Yes and Undo to confirm.

However, if you're using the regular version of QBO, the only option to delete or wipe out a reconciliation is to undo each transaction manually. You may refer to this article to see the steps on how to perform the process: Undo or remove transactions from reconciliations in QuickBooks Online.

Lastly, you may refer to this article to view various guidelines that might help you in fixing any reconciliation issues: Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

If there's anything else I can help you with, aside from reconciliation, please let me know by leaving a comment below, borstjz. I'm always here to help. Have a great day!