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sgreathouse
Level 3

Reconciliation

I am trying to reconcile the bank and credit card accounts as they have never been reconciled before. Previously QBO was really only used to create estimates and invoices. A few years ago the credit cards and bank were linked, but not much was done beyond that. I just recently relinked/updated these accounts and now am not sure what statements to pull or how far back the transactions go. I started with the bank account today and the opening balance does not match any opening balances from 2020 statements. (I looked through all of this year bc when I relinked these accounts, I pulled all transactions through the beginning of the year) Thanks in advance for all of the help!

3 Comments 3
Jessica_young
Moderator

Reconciliation

I'm happy to help with this, @sgreathouse.

 

Although I can't give specific recommendations on reconciling your account, I'm happy to walk you through the process.

Reconciliations can be tricky. If you’re new to reconciliations or need more help, we highly recommend you reach out to your accountant.

 

Once you have your monthly bank statements, you can reconcile your accounts. You'll compare each transaction in QuickBooks with what's recorded on your bank statement. At the end, the difference between the account in QuickBooks and your bank statement should be $0.00.

  1. Review your opening balance. If you’re reconciling an account for the first time, review the opening balance. It needs to match the balance of your real-life bank account for the day you decided to start tracking transactions in QuickBooks.  Or, if you forgot to enter an opening balance in QuickBooks in the past, don't worry. Here's how to enter an opening balance later on.
  2. Start a reconciliation. Once you have your monthly bank or credit card statement, you can start reconciling. If you're reconciling multiple months, do them one statement at a time starting with your oldest statement.

  3. Compare your statement with QuickBooks.  To reconcile, simply compare the list of transactions on your bank statement with what's in QuickBooks.

To view this process in more detail, or to see it done in a video, check out this article: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

 

I'd love to hear how this goes! Please don't hesitate to reach back out with any other questions you may have.

sgreathouse
Level 3

Reconciliation

Right. I do not know if the beginning balance is that from the last time the account was linked or from this time. Could you tell me how to determine this?

ChristieAnn
QuickBooks Team

Reconciliation

Hi there, sgreathouse.

 

Thank you for coming back and for providing additional clarification on the concern.

 

The beginning balance is the total amount of all reconciled transactions, regardless of the date. That said, this is the complete amount of your previous reconciled account. This is also the amount in the account on the first day of the time you're reviewing. 

 

To determine this beginning balance, I suggest running the reconciliation report. Then, customize this with the correct period so you're able to pull up the exact data. This report summarizes the Beginning and ending balances and lists which transactions were cleared and which were left uncleared when you reconciled.

 

Here's how to view a reconciliation report:

 

  1. Go to the Reports menu at the left panel.
  2. Type Reconciliation Report in the search bar.
  3. Select the Account for the reconciliation report you want to view.
  4. From the Report period drop-down arrow, choose the reconcile period.
  5. Hit View Report.

 

For additional information, you can click this article: How do I view, print, or export a reconciliation report?.

 

Please refer to the following articles below that outline the complete instructions on how to resolve when the beginning and ending balances are off. Each one contains screenshots for visual reference.

 

 

If you need further assistance with any of these steps, post a comment below. I’m more than happy to help. Have a good one.

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