Having issues with beginning balance for reconciliation in QB 2016 for Mac

scott8 · ‎December 10, 2018

I was attempting to reconcile this month’s checking account and the beginning balance was off. I used time machine to narrow down when the beginning balanced changed. I have a version of the company file from 10/13/17 where the beginning balance is fine when running the reconciliation report, and on the version of the company file from 10/14/17 it’s off when running the reconciliation report. If I try to undo previous reconciliations over and over the beginning balance remains off by the same amount all the way back to the beginning of the account. This would lead me to believe the error is very early in the register, however if I run a balance sheet report in both versions of the company file up to a date of 9/1/17, they are the same, but different from 9/31/17. This leads me to believe the error is in September. I do see where the mistakes are in September, but I don’t understand why this is affecting the beginning balance on old reports. Is there a way to fix this without having to go back to the last known good version of the file and re-enter all data for the past month or so?

lyndaartesani · ‎December 10, 2018

If you know the offending transaction, you can just change it and re-reconcile it. You don't have to undo all of them and redo them.

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lyndaartesani · ‎December 10, 2018

If you know the offending transaction, you can just change it and re-reconcile it. You don't have to undo all of them and redo them.

scott8 · ‎December 10, 2018

Sorry if my post isn't clear. I've edited the offending transaction, but the beginning balance is still wrong when I attempt to re-reconcile. I think my QB file may have a glitch.

GabyC · ‎December 10, 2018

I am having the same problem, did you solve it?

IntuitBrooks · ‎December 10, 2018

Usually if the account was reconciled previously and on the next reconcile the beginning balance is off it means you have either deleted or changed the amount of an already reconciled transaction, or you have marked a transaction that shouldn't be reconciled as reconciled.

Look at your register for that account.The transactions with a dark checkmark are reconciled. Are there any "off in the future" that are marked as reconciled? You may have clicked one of them by accident.

GabyC · ‎December 10, 2018

Thanks for you reply. An item previously reconciled on Sep 2017 was showing in the reconcile window. I went to the register and noticed it was unchecked, so I clicked on the checkmark to make it show as reconciled. After doing that, all previous reconciliations of that account are off by that amount, at least back to 2015, that is the oldest printed reports I have on hand. So there is obviously some kind of glitch o maybe the file got corrupted.

IntuitBrooks · ‎December 10, 2018

Maybe that amount was entered twice in the register? In that case you would delete the entry (or, to be safe, set it to $0 after writing it down and see if that straightens out the amounts - if it does then delete it).

A glitch here is unlikely. The opening balance is the sum of a ll reconciled transactions in the account. File corruption is possible but likely not the issue - running File->Utilities->Rebuild is something you can try.

GabyC · ‎December 10, 2018

I finally fix it... long to explain... What I don´t understand is why an error dated 2017 (I clicked a checkmark in the registry by mistake) carried that amount back to already reconciled statements in previous years.

Folkes06 · ‎January 31, 2019

Is there anyway you can explain how you found it I am having the same issue ?

Folkes06 · ‎January 31, 2019

Is there anyway you can tell me how you fixed this in detail? I am having the same problem but cannot see anything I have done wrong. It changed it all the way back to my original start date in 2015. Any help is appreciated :)

JamesDuanT · ‎February 01, 2019

Hello Folkes06,

Reconciliation Discrepancies are caused by modified transactions and adjustments from previous reconciliation. We can review reports to determine the transaction that's causing the problem. You can browse these articles for more information:

You might want to ask assistance from you accountant so they can give you further details on how to correct your data.

We'll be right here if you need anything else.

Folkes06 · ‎February 01, 2019

Thank you I fixed it

JScarb · ‎December 30, 2019

How to you "change" a deleted transaction (causing beginning balance to be off). I've added it back in manually, and account still won't reconcile showing beginning balance off by the same amount, regardless of my re-inputting the expense.

RaymondJayO · ‎December 30, 2019

Hello there, @JScarb,

I appreciate you for recreating the deleted expense. Doing this won't automatically reconcile your account. With this, you'll have to perform the special reconciliation process again, so it fixes the beginning balance difference. This also ensures your account in QuickBooks matches your bank statement. For detailed instructions, go through this article: Reconcile Bank and Credit Card Account.

You can always run the four reports below to trace your account activities every time you reconcile it. The reports help you fix any reconciliation differences in the future.

Reconciliation Discrepancy
Previous Reconciliation
Bank Account QuickReport
Audit Trail

For more information, check out this website: Find Reconciliation Discrepancies (Mac).

I'm always here to help if you have other concerns. Happy Holidays, @JScarb.

JustCurious · ‎January 29, 2021

This is the way it is supposed to be when QB is in order. But not what is happening for me. No reconciled transaction has been changed. Twice now I have had this problem on accounts for which I downloaded transactions from my bank/credit card. This seems to cause some data problem. Once I had my balance thrown off after a crash. Ruined my beginning balances going back three years.

JustCurious · ‎January 29, 2021

Your thinking is the reverse of my problem. It does not throw off all subsequent balances. It throws off all Previous balances. Going back years. This seems like a glitch. Usually my data tests as bad. But rebuilding data does not solve the problem.

JustCurious · ‎January 29, 2021

This does NOT solve the problem.

AlcaeusF · ‎January 30, 2021

Hello @JustCurious,

Welcome to the Community. I'm here to help you fix the data problem in QuickBooks Desktop.

Since there are no changes to your reconciled transactions and the problem persists after running Verify/Rebuild Data utility, I recommend running the QuickBooks Tool Hub. It also helps fix issues related to the program.

Here's how:

Close QuickBooks.
Download the recent version of the QuickBooks Tool Hub.
Follow the on-screen steps to install and agree to the terms and conditions.
When the install finishes, double-click the icon on your Windows desktop to open the tool hub.

To know more about the set of tools for addressing different types of problems when running the tool, check out this article: Fix common problems and errors with the QuickBooks Desktop Tool Hub.

If the problem persists, I suggest contacting our Customer Support Team. Our support can help you further with fixing your previous balances.

Let me walk you through how:

Go to the Help menu of the company file, then select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
Hit the Contact us link.
Click Search for something else.
Enter your concern, then tap Search.
Click on Start a Message.

For additional reference, I've attached a link you can use about how to repair the QuickBooks software: Repair your QuickBooks Desktop for Windows.

Please know that I'm just a post away if you have any other questions about the balances in QuickBooks. Take care.

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Having issues with beginning balance for reconciliation in QB 2016 for Mac