I incorrectly entered the ending balance in the previous month's reconciliation so now the beginning balance for next one is wrong. How do I fix it?

You can edit the opening balance of your current reconciliation to fix this, @swiftrivermeghan.

Before you edit, make sure to review and compare the balance to match with your real-life account. Once you're done, you can edit the opening balance by following these steps.

1. In QuickBooks, go to Accounting then select Chart of Accounts.
2. Look for the opening balance entry and expand the view.
3. In the Deposit column, Edit the balance so it matches your bank records.
4. Click Save.

Want for details? Check out these guides below:

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

• Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

Additionally, you can invite your accountant to undo an entire reconciliation in just a few clicks. Refer to this article for more information: Undo a client’s reconciliation in QuickBooks Online Accountant.

I'll be adding this link here in case you need help with other QBO tasks. Just look for topics that suit your concern.

Keep me posted if you still have questions or concerns with your account balance. I'm always here to help. Take care and have a great weekend.

I don't know how to explain this so that it's clear what the problem is.  It is NOT the opening balance that is the issue.  It's that I reconciled April 2020 and input the wrong ending balance in the reconciliation screen, thinking that would correct the $1.17 difference of the excluded transactions, which it did when I went on to April 2020's reconciliation, but then it just carried the wrong balance into May's reconciliation.  So now on the reconciliation screen for May 2020, it shows that the last statement reconciled was April 2020 and the opening balance (which I can't seem to edit anywhere) is off by the $1.17.

I have since gone back and included the 2 excluded deposits into April's QBO, and went in and changed the register to have those 2 transactions marked with an R, and the Reconciliation screen now shows an error that says:

"Your account isn't ready to reconcile yet.

Your beginning balance is off by $1.17. We can help you fix it."

I try to go through those steps to fix it but can't seem to find anywhere that allows me to edit the Beginning Balance for May's statement or the ending Balance for April's statement so that it's correct.

The attached screenshot shows the highlighted value that I'm trying to correct.  Where/how do I do this?

I don't know how to explain this so that it's clear what the problem is.  It is NOT the opening balance that is the issue.  It's that I reconciled April 2020 and input the wrong ending balance in the reconciliation screen, thinking that would correct the $1.17 difference of the excluded transactions, which it did when I went on to April 2020's reconciliation, but then it just carried the wrong balance into May's reconciliation.  So now on the reconciliation screen for May 2020, it shows that the last statement reconciled was April 2020 and the opening balance (which I can't seem to edit anywhere) is off by the $1.17.

I have since gone back and included the 2 excluded deposits into April's QBO, and went in and changed the register to have those 2 transactions marked with an R, and the Reconciliation screen now shows an error that says:

"Your account isn't ready to reconcile yet.

Your beginning balance is off by $1.17. We can help you fix it."

I try to go through those steps to fix it but can't seem to find anywhere that allows me to edit the Beginning Balance for May's statement or the ending Balance for April's statement so that it's correct.

The attached screenshot shows the highlighted value that I'm trying to correct.  Where/how do I do this?

Hi there, swiftrivermeghan.

Thank you for coming back to QuickBooks Community to add additional information about editing Beginning Balance for May's statement or the ending Balance for April's statement. 

Currently, there's no option to directly edit the Beginning Balance for May's statement. You can reach out to your accountant and check if they have a QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) account. This way, they can undo multiple reconciled transactions to fix the beginning balance for May and the ending balance for April. For additional information on how to undo a reconciliation using QuickBooks Online Accountant, you can provide this article to your accountant to see the detailed steps: How to undo a reconciliation using QuickBooks Online Accountant.

Once done, you can reconcile your previous statements so they always match your bank and credit card transactions and to avoid discrepancies. To see the detailed steps, you can click this article: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online. 

I'm also adding this article to see different information on how you can fix any issues about reconciliation and how it works in QuickBooks: Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

Feel free to add a comment below if you have any other reconciliation concerns. Wishing you continued success!

I have this same problem.  Is there really no way to fix this?

Thanks for joining in on this thread, Sherri F.

I'd like to share some steps to help you fix the balances.

If you've made any changes on the account that has been reconciled, it affects your beginning balance. To resolve this, please make sure you have the correct original opening balance before checking your beginning balance. The opening balance is the starting point for accounts in QuickBooks. If it’s incorrect, it affects all the following reconciliations.

To review the original opening balance, you can follow these steps:

1. Go to Accounting > Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the account on the list and select the View register link.
3. Search for the opening balance entry. It should have "Opening Balance Equity" in the Account column.
4. Take note of the date and balance.

Here's a sample screenshot for reference: 

Once done, compare the opening balance with your real-life account. If it doesn't match with your bank records, you can correct the amount by following these steps:

1. In the Bank register page, select the opening balance entry to expand the view.
2. In the Deposit column, edit the balance so it matches your bank records.
3. Click Save.

After the steps, you can reconcile the account again. 

I'm also adding this article for the other solutions: Fix issues for accounts you've reconciled in the past in QuickBooks Online.

In case you need help with other task in QuickBooks Online, you can visit our general help topics page. Just type your concern in the search field and this page will route you to the related help articles, Community discussions, video tutorials and more.

Should you have any follow-up questions or other concerns, please feel free to leave a reply below. I'll be around to help you out some more. Take care. 

I have the same problem. So awful that you can't edit it.

So here is the hack I just used for my credit card.  No, it doesn't follow GAAP principles because you are going to incorrectly post expenses in the wrong month.  If you can live with that....

I found the two transactions from the previous month that should have been included in the rec but I missed them because I had put in the wrong closing balance on the rec.  I adjusted those expenses to the current month I am trying to reconcile (just deleted them and reentered them with the new date). So now my opening balance on the new rec still doesn't match my statement but by the end of the current rec it balances by including the two expenses I changed to the next month.

Hope this helps.