Reconcilliation - cleared balance is incorrect

Hi, a reconciled transaction was probably changed or deleted. What I would do is calculate the difference in the beginning balances and search for such an amount in your bank, and verify if it was deleted or changed in QuickBooks.

Hello, CScotty.

I'll add something to the mix and help you fix the balances when reconciling. 

As what RachelRubin1 pointed out, a balance discrepancy can be caused by an edited or deleted transaction. You can review your Reconciliation Discrepancy report to check if this is the case: 

1. Go to the Reports menu,
2. Hover on Banking,
3. Select Reconciliation Discrepancy.
4. Choose the bank account, then click OK. 

If there are transactions that cause the discrepancy between your balances, edit them with the correct details (or recreate deleted ones). Before doing this, back up your company file. 

Next, undo the previous reconciliation: 

1. Go to the Banking menu.
2. Select Reconcile. 
3. Choose the bank account, then click Undo Last Reconciliation. 

Finally, correct the previous period by reconciling it again.

Other solutions can be found from these articles: 

• Fix beginning balance issues in QuickBooks Desktop
• Fix issues when you're reconciling in QuickBooks Desktop

After fixing the balance discrepancies, you can work on the next period's transactions. If you need help managing them, you can take a look at our articles in our articles list page. 

I'll keep this thread open if you have any other concerns regarding QuickBooks. Just tell us the details here and we'll help you out. 

I think you may have misunderstood. The beginning balance is correct.

The cleared balance is = starting + credits - debits.

So, when starting the reconciliation,  cleared = starting. Or at least it should be. It's not :(.

There are no entries in the discrepancy report and since the starting balance is correct, I would not expect there to be any.  Therefore there is no point in undoing the previous reconcile as it is correct.

So, why is the cleared balanced wrong?

Hello @CScotty,

You're on the right track with how the opening balance is determined. Since it's still incorrect even after reviewing the accuracy of your last reconciliation, I'd recommend contacting your accountant.

They have the tools needed to help resolve your reconciliation and understand why the balance is incorrect. If you haven't yet, here's a link you can use to find a bookkeeper near you: Business is better with a ProAdvisor.

Additionally, I've also included this reference for a compilation of articles you can use while working with us: Reconcile your bank account with QuickBooks Desktop.

If there's anything else that I can help you with, please let me know in the comments below. I'll be here to lend a hand.

OK, a bit more info. I tried running Quickbooks file doctor on the file and it crashes.  This suggests to me Quickbooks file is corrupt and unrecoverable.

Mondays...

Thanks for adding additional information, Scotty.

I also appreciate you for performing some troubleshooting steps to fix the issue with your beginning balance.

I can provide you some steps to get around this issue and reconcile your accounts. Let’s repair your QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) to fix this. Here’s how.

1. Back up your company file.
2. Restart your computer.
3. Open the Windows Start menu, then select Control Panel.
4. Click Programs and Features then Uninstall a Program.
5. Select QuickBooks from the list of Programs, then Uninstall/Change.
6. Click Continue, or Next.
7. Select Repair, then Next.
8. Once it's done, select Finish.
9. Then Update your QuickBooks to the latest release to ensure you have the most recent fixes and security update.

You can also check this link for more details: Repair your QuickBooks Desktop for Windows.

Once done, you can now reconcile your accounts seamlessly. To be guided through the process, you can refer to this article: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Desktop

If the issue persists, you can proceed to the Step 4 section in this article for more troubleshooting steps: Fix company file and network issues with QuickBooks File Doctor.

You can always get back to me if you need further assistance reconciling your accounts or managing your QuickBooks. You’re always welcome to tag me in your reply. I’ll be more than happy to work with you again. 

As Quickbooks is functional I'm a bit surprised that a 'repair' might be the solution but I did it anyway, as instructed. This has not solved the problem.

I mentioned earlier that File Doctor did not help either. it simply crashed. Same result after the repair.

I've worked my way chronologically backward through all my backups. All are bad except, perhaps, the very oldest from Feb 20. If that is no good I'll have to go to my end of year backup and then re-enter almost three months of work. That is a LOT of work. This is beyond  depressing. I would have thought that Quickbooks would have better data integrity testing built in to it so you could never get into a situation like this where it's gone undetected for so long.

Hi there, CScotty.

Thanks for coming back to QuickBooks Community and I appreciate you for performing the troubleshooting steps to resolve the issue with reconciliation Discrepancy.

I suggest contacting our QuickBooks Support Team since the problem continues to occur. They have the tools to pull your account and investigate the cause of the issue.

Here's how to contact them:

1. Press F1 to open the Help window.
2. From the search icon, type Contact Support.
3. Click Contact us at the bottom part.
4. Give a brief description of your issue about reconciliation balance and click the Search button.
5. You'll be routed with How to connect with a QuickBooks expert and you choose which one is best for you.

• Message an Agent – Allows you to chat directly with a support agent.
• Talk to a Specialist – Arranges a callback from a support agent.

Please refer to the articles below to see several steps on how you can resolve an issue in reconciliation and how it works in QBDT.

• Fix issues when you're reconciling in QuickBooks Desktop.
• Fix beginning balance issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need clarification. The Community and I are here to cater to your needs at all times. Take care and keep me posted.

Thanks for sticking with me on this.

I spent a good chunk of today talking to support, without a resolution. Maybe I'm dumber than a rock and just missing something so I'll throw something up as a starting point for discussion. You can tell me if I've gone off the rails. BTW I've had to fix discrepancies and accidentally deleted transactions in the past so I've had a bit of experience of that, but this is new.

So here is what I'd like to start with. A screenshot of my reconcile

The points are

Beginning bal 13,092.13

Deposits cleared 0

Check cleared 0

Cleared balance 13,894.63

But, since there are no deposits or credits, the cleared balance should be 13,902.13. Right?

You can see there is an difference of 802.50 meaning QB "thinks" that 802.50 worth of credits less debits have been cleared. The screens shot says otherwise, none have been cleared. Have I understood correctly?

Thanks for getting back to us and for sharing additional information, Scotty.

Please know I don’t want you to feel that way. I can add some insights on how we can fix this issue and reconcile your account. Let‘s run and review your reconciliation report to check if there are deleted or modified transactions. I'll show you how in your QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) software:

1. Go to the Reports menu.
2. Select Banking, then Previous Reconciliation.
3. Click the appropriate Account and Statement Ending Date. 
4. Select Display.
5. Compare this report to past statements from your financial institution.

If there are, you may need to re-enter or edit the transactions to offset the balance. If there aren’t you have the option to ignore the discrepancy and let QuickBooks enter an offsetting adjustment. To be guided through the process, you can read the To fix an incorrect balance section in this article: Fix beginning balance issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

I’d also recommend working with your accountant for additional guidance. Your accountant can provide you their expert advice on how to record it properly and ensure your accounts are accurate. If you’re not affiliated with one, you can visit our ProAdvisor page and look for one from there.

Once everything is all in place, you can now reconcile your account seamlessly.

Know that you can always get back to me if you have other follow-up questions about reconciling your accounts or with QuickBooks. It’s always my pleasure to help you. Keep safe!

Hi JasroV,

Thanks.

I mentioned earlier that I had run the discrepancy report and it's empty. Also, crucially, the beginning balance is correct.  The article you mentioned is for fixing the beginning balance so this appears to me to be on the wrong track. I reserve the right to be wrong

Just for grins I redid last month's reconcile with no issues.  It just goes wrong for the current month.

In order to check my understanding, would someone be so kind as to respond to my questions in my post above.  This is central to the issue, I think. Ta.

Thank you for coming back to the QuickBooks Community, @CScotty.

Since the issue persists after the recommended solutions above, this time, I recommend contacting an accountant. They can provide recommendations to fix the reconciliation process and to make sure everything is correct on your books.

If you don't have one, you can find an accountant near your place through this link: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/find-an-accountant/.

Please know that you're always welcome to post if you have any other concerns. Wishing you and your business continued success.

Just to close this up the problem was, as suspected, the QB file was corrupt. In fact all backup versions for this year were also bad. The last good copy seems to be my end of year version, before condensing.    When I talked to support they were not able to offer any tools to fix the file, as might have been hoped. We've got a lot of work to do to recover this situation. Wish us luck.

Thanks to all who made suggestions.

What did you end up doing to fix this problem?