Reconcile an account that hasnt been done in over a year

Thank you! Because it has been done in the past how do i change the beginning balance? Or is that part of the rec discreprancy? lol

And there is nothing that says you have to reconcile any account only one month at a time.  Some accounts with minimal activity I reconcile just once or twice per year

Hi John, 

I have a similar issue that I am hoping you could give me some advice on. You seem knowledgeable. I have a client who has been in business since 2017. It has taken me 3 months just to get the 2019 statements from him just to get his books in order. He filed his taxes through a CPA for 17 & 18 so I am not worried about taxes. It's like pulling teeth to get this guy to give me the documents and information that I need (very busy and not worth his time). Obviously I could reconcile if I had statements but I do not and do not want to even try to get them. I'd like to start with 2019 since I know taxes have been done. Would you recommend putting the previous 2 years of transactions in Rec Discrepancy (maybe journal it out with the CPA's #'s later?) and continue with 2019?

Facing similiar issue. Wondering if you got the solution to your query?

How did you reconcile?

Hello, Kavita Karnani. 

I'd like to help you with your reconciliation in QuickBooks.  

When you reconcile an account, you compare transactions in QuickBooks with the ones on your bank statements. In the end, the difference between the two records should be $0.00. 

To learn more about the things before you reconcile your account, please overview this article to help you understand the procedure of reconciling an account in QuickBooks: Reconciling your accounts.

Then, let's go ahead and start the reconciliation process. Here's how: 

1. Go to the Banking menu, then select Reconcile.
2. In the Account field, select the bank or credit card account you want to reconcile.
3. The Statement Date is automatically filled in. Usually, it's 30 or 31 days after the statement date of the previous reconciliation. Change it as needed to match your bank statement.
4. QuickBooks also automatically enters the Beginning Balance. It uses the ending balance from your last reconciliation to get this number.
5. Enter the Ending Balance based on your bank statement.
6. Enter the Service Charge and Interest Earned based on your bank statement. Don't enter charges you've already entered in QuickBooks.
7. Review the fields. If the info is correct, select Continue or OK. 

For more details, please refer to this article: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Desktop.  

You may also consider reaching out to your accountant. This way, they'll be able to guide and help you ensure your book is accurate. 

Incase you don't have an accountant, you may visit our ProAdvisor site to get in touch with our accountants: Find an accountant or bookkeeper who loves your business as much as you do.

To add up, you can always scan through these resources for more insights about fixing reconciliation issues in QBDT: 

• Fix issues when you're reconciling in QuickBooks Desktop
• Resolve common issues on Previous Reconciliation report 

Let me know if there's anything else I can assist you with in terms of reconciling your account. I'll be around for you. Have a nice day!

This response offers little/no assistance with annual reconcilation vs monthly. 

Users posted they already know how to do standard reconciliation using QB.

QBD & QBO or any other version should offer option to complete an annual bank/cc reconciliation without ridiculous limitation of monthly.

In QBO cleared entire year of transaction on bank recs from completed month of March forward through December and crappy system acts as if out of balance for months and unable to move forward to next month. 

Ridiculously incoherent methods in all areas across all versions of QB, as if drunk drivers created these barely functional systems with bargain basement "features" at premium prices.

Also many users may be on QuickBooks online and advice is often offered for other versions.

Hello there,

I understand the importance of seamlessly reconciling your accounts monthly or anually. I’m here to ensure that you're able to get this sorted out.

Can you please share more information about your concern? I’d appreciate it if you elaborate any issues you may have. Any clarification will help me provide the accurate resolution to you.

Please get back on this thread, I'll be looking forward to helping you more. Stay safe.

How do you reconcile an account that has never been reconciled since the starting the business (2 1/2 yrs) or filed taxes?

@rwbs2021  The same way you usually do it.

If the bank account owner in question did not keep a proper written check register, you should still be able to access the relevant information through the bank's website, assuming said owner either has an online account, or is willing to have one set up for this purpose.

Most banks will have a history going back at least a few years. Just this past year, I was facing the same problem with a couple dozen bank accounts, and was able to see the activity all the way back to July 2021. Many of them will allow you to print statements as well, though the available time frame will vary.

At worst, if the expenses were not entered into QuickBooks through the years, you might miss out on checks that somehow weren't cashed for two and a half years. If the bank feed doesn't go back very far, and there are is no paper trail anywhere for you to find the events that went through the bank account, then you'd be better off asking your accountant about it, or begging the bank to show mercy if you are the accountant.

In my experience, bankers tend to have access to older records than they let on.

I'd be glad to help you reconcile your account in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), @rwbs2021.

You can reconcile your account one year at a time since it has been unreconciled for two years. This will ensure that the adjustments, service fees, and interest you enter during the reconciliation are applied to the year in which those transactions happened.

To do the reconciliation, here's how:

1. Go to the Banking menu, then choose Reconcile.
2. Select the account you want to reconcile.
3. Enter the statement date and ending balance.
4. Compare the beginning Balance field with the opening balance on the oldest statement you want to reconcile. If the beginning balance does not match, refer to the following steps in this article: Reconcile the window beginning balance as zero or incorrect.
5. After that, enter the total service charge and interest earned.
6. Click Continue, then select Hide transactions after the statement's end date in the upper right corner of the window.
7. Select the checkmark column next to each transaction on the financial statement.
8. Repeat this step for each prior statement in the period you are reconciling.
9. Review the difference amount. If the amount is 0.00, select Reconcile Now. Otherwise, start again at step 4 to ensure that all amounts and transactions have been recorded correctly, or select Reconcile Now and then enter an adjustment to force reconcile them.
10. Repeat the same process for the next years.

You can also seek assistance from your accountant if you need further guidance reconciling your account. If you don't have one, you can use our Find-an-Accountant tool to look for an expert near you. 

Additionally, you can browse through our Reconciliation page to have more tips on reconciling your account.

Lastly, to have more insights fixing reconciliation issues in the future, I'm adding these resources for you:

• Fix issues when reconciling in QuickBooks Desktop.
• Resolve common issues on the Previous Reconciliation report.

Keep me posted if you still need further assistance doing reconciliations in QBDT or anything else about QuickBooks. I'd be glad to assist you at any time. Stay safe there.

I didn't. No one ever responded. They do keep responding to other threads that have nothing to do with me though. LoL. 

However, I did end up just putting it into a discrepancy account. At the end of the day, the only reason it would matter is if the client was audited. IF that happened, then you'd be able to explain. 

@rwbs2021 You would need to get statements for this account and reconcile each month. I know it's time consuming but this is the best way to ensure that the books are correct. If taxes have not been filed, you would want to file them one by one which you can do right away. There will be fees incurred from the IRS but they are minimal. There also may be taxes due. Is this your account? If you need someone to do this for you, I am happy to help. If you need specifics on how to actually reconcile, I can help with that too. 

Shauna

Thank you

Thank you!

Thank you Sherrie_F

It's great to see you found the answers you were looking for here in the Community, rwbs2021. You know where to come if you ever need a hand again in the future. Take care!