How to fix your beginning balance during your first reconcile in QuickBooks Online

[0:00] Hi, this is Jason from the QuickBooks team. If you start reconciling an account in QuickBooks for the first time... and notice that your beginning balance in QuickBooks doesn’t match the balance you have in your bank statement, then you’ll need to change it. Let’s go over how to fix this issue so you can start reconciling.

[0:17] To start, go to Settings and Reconcile and select the account you want to reconcile. If this beginning balance doesn’t match your bank statement then select Bank Register. Select the filter button. Then change Reconcile Status to Reconciled. And select Apply. The beginning balance in the reconciliation screen is the sum of all the transactions you see with an “R” in this column.

[0:48] If the beginning balance didn’t match your statement, and you only see one transaction here, select it… …change the dollar amount and date to match the beginning balance on your statement. Then save. And select Yes. If you don’t see anything at all, select the drop down arrow to enter a new transaction.

[1:13] To set up a beginning balance for a credit card, you’ll usually enter it as a credit card expense… or if you’re setting up a beginning balance for a bank account, select Deposit. Then enter the date that the statement begins on… …the amount of the beginning balance or previous balance on the statement… …and in this menu, select Opening Balance Equity. Then select this box until it reads, “R”.

[1:40] Finally, Save the transaction. If you filtered your register and found multiple transactions with an “R” in this column... ...you, or someone else on your team, may have reconciled this account sometime in the past. Check out this video on how to undo reconciliations and deal with other common reconciliation problems. After you’ve corrected, or set up your beginning balance, select Reconcile.

[2:06] Select the account again… …and your beginning balance should now match what you see on your bank or credit card statement. Then enter the ending or new balance that you see on your statement. And the ending date you see on your statement. Then select Start Reconciling. If you want to see how to Reconcile an account in QuickBooks this video will show you how.

[2:30] Be sure to come back to the Reconciliation screen any time you receive a statement from your bank or credit card provider. Now you are ready to reconcile your account.