Uncleared, very old bank reconciliation items

Hello there, MJC2021.

Thanks for turning to the Community about your reconciliation concern. Let’s perform a mini-reconciliation to clear your transactions.

Before performing the troubleshooting steps, allow me to share some reasons why reconciled entries show up as unreconciled in your account.

• Someone changed or deleted the reconciled transactions.
• Cleared transactions were unchecked (uncleared) in the account register.
• Someone undid the last reconciliation.
• Funds were transferred from a previously reconciled bank account to a sub-account.

Once you’re ready, create a backup of the company file to keep a record of your previous data. After saving a copy, follow the steps below to correct your record.

1. Go to the Banking menu and select Reconcile to open the Begin Reconciliation window.
2. In the Account drop-down, choose the bank or credit card you wish to reconcile.
3. From the Statement Date field, enter the date for an "off-cycle reconciliation” (the date between your last reconciliation and the next scheduled one).
4. In the Ending Balance field, type the balance of your last successful reconciliation and choose Continue.
5. From the Reconcile window, check off the transactions you are fixing and re-reconciling.
6. Then make sure the Difference field shows $0.00.
7. When everything looks good, tap the Reconcile Now button.

For more in-depth information into this process, check the following article: Reconcile previously deleted and re-entered checking or credit card transactions.

Additionally, this resource will guide you on how to review your opening or beginning balance: Fix issues when you're reconciling in QuickBooks Desktop. You’ll also learn to look for changed, deleted, and added transactions.

Keep me posted if you have any other reconciliation concerns or questions about clearing transactions. I’ll be right here ready to answer them for you. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, there are no credit entries to offset these two debit entries. Therefore, if I checked them on the bank rec as cleared - there would not be a $0 balance for the reconciliation.

I'm assuming that when the returned check happened it was not linked to the returned check entry. Therefore, there was the original check (returned) and then later the new check both sitting on the bank rec in Quickbooks, but only the later check was reconciled as that is the one that cleared.

How do I address this?

Thanks,

Michelle

Thanks for getting back, @MJC2021. I understand you'll want to make sure your book is balanced. I'll be your guide today in clearing out old transactions.

You can perform a special reconciliation to correct these problems. Here's how:

1. Go to Banking, then click Reconcile.
2. Select the bank account you want to correct, then enter a date in the Date of Statement field for an off-cycle reconciliation. You can choose between your last reconciliation and the next one.
3. Type in the balance of the last successful reconciliation in the Ending Balance field.
4. Hit Continue, then review and uncheck the transactions you want to correct.
5. Make sure the difference is $0.00, then click Reconcile Now.

For additional insights, check out this article to learn more about reconciling previously deleted and re-entered checking or credit card transactions in QBDT.

I also encourage reaching out to an accountant to help determine this for you. They can also assist you in making adjustments or corrections with the reconciliation discrepancies whenever necessary.

Let us know if you have additional concerns. We're always around to help.

I don't need to "uncheck" anything. I need to clear off two checks totaling $630. If I "check" these than the bank rec difference is $630 - not $0. Is there an entry I need to make or a way to link these to the returned check entry that got missed so these two checks no longer show up as unreconciled items?

Appreciate the details, @MJC2021.

I'll share some information to get your returned checks sorted out. You'll want to record them to a clearing or wash account. This way, you can clear the transactions in the register.

Before recording, let's set up a clearing account first. Here's how:

1. Go to the Lists menu, then choose Chart of Accounts.
2. Scroll towards the Account drop-down, then tap New.
3. In the Add New Account window, tick the Bank radio button.
4. Select Continue.
5. In the Account Name field, enter Clearing Account, Barter Account or Wash Account. Do NOT enter an opening balance.
6. Click Save & Close.

After setting up the account, create a journal entry to move the amounts of the returned checks. For details, check out these guides:

• Set up a clearing account

• Create a journal entry in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows or Mac

When everything is fixed, you can finish reconciling your account.

Also, here's a link that'll help you manage bank-related tasks. It contains topics with articles that'll guide you along: Banking.

Please know that you can always reply to this thread anytime if you have follow-up questions about bank reconciliations. I'll be around to help. Take care and have a good one.