Reconciliation balance does not match REGISTER balance

Thank you for adding a post and for the detailed information, @omanager43.

The register balance reports everything, while the reconciliation balance shows the reconciled transactions in your QuickBooks Desktop. The unreconciled transactions are the possible reasons why you're getting this behavior.

To check for the unreconciled transactions, run a quick report of your account and look for the unreconciled transactions from there. 

1. Select Chart of Accounts from the Lists menu.
2. Look for the account, right-click then select QuickReport.
3. Customize the report and add the Clr column to check the status of the transactions.

Once done, make the necessary changes in your transactions to attain the correct balance.

Also, clearing your transactions from the account register is not the correct way to match your statement to your register. It's recommended that you'll reconcile your account by choosing Reconcile from the Banking menu and follow the process from start to finish.

For more information about how reconciliation work in QuickBooks, you can use these articles for reference:

• View Previous Bank Reconciliation Reports
• Resolve Common Issues on Previous Reconciliation Report
• Zero or Incorrect Beginning Balance in the Begin Reconciliation Window

Keep me posted if you have any other questions. I'm a post away to help. Have a great day!

Ma'am, I did use the Banking>> Reconcile feature to do the 'adjusting' bank reconciliation on 12/31/2018 I was discussing.  Hence my statements "I have done a bank reconciliation" and "complet[ed] the reconciliation with the 'adjusting entry' option".  You know, the options that come up at the end of a reconciliation?  To go back and fix or to enter an adjusting entry??  Yeah, that.

Further, as I stated, I did so by "selecting ALL un-reconciled transactions prior to that date", therefore, any transactions that are unreconciled, as you suggest, are future transactions which would not be a part of that reconciliation, and would be posted after that date in the register.

The issue is: if I reconciled, and completed the reconciliation with an adjusting entry to adjust the balance, then the ending balance should match the register balance!  It does not.  Not even close.

What am I missing?  Are there transactions which would effect the register that would not show up during reconciliation?

Thank you for the additional details, omanager43. Let's check to see why your balances aren't matching.

The adjustment entry is expected to offset the difference in your reconciliation. It will also be posted as a journal entry dated on the day you reconcile. Therefore, it is included in the reconciliation period. Your register balance on that date will also be equal to the entered ending balance on the Reconciliation page. That’s the happy path.

Your balances will not match if:

• There are transactions within the reconcile period that are were excluded in the reconciliation.
• There were un-reconciled, dated incorrectly, deleted or added transactions in the past-reconciliation period.
• Adjustment entries remain in the record after making corrections.

In a perfect scenario, there shouldn’t be adjustment entry. It is only used to temporarily balance a reconciliation while there are missing or incorrect  transactions in the record. Once the missing or incorrect transactions are fixed, that entry has to be deleted.

What we can do is run the reconciliation discrepancy report to look for changes in the past reconciliations. Then, you'll want to make a correction on them. You can also check your transactions in the register and compare them with your bank statements. Then, correct the wrong ones.

1. Go to Reports.
2. Choose Banking.
3. Select Reconciliation Discrepancy.

Feel free to go back to this thread if you have additional questions with your reconciliation.