fix beginning balance issues in QBO

Hello there, Setsun.

It's good to know that you've already checked and reviewed the register. I appreciate you for doing that.

Since there's no opening balance entry, you'll have to use your bank statements to make sure the opening balance is correct. Then, take note of the date and amount of the oldest transaction in the account. Once done, you'll need to create a journal entry for this. 

1. Go to the +New button.
2. Select Journal entry under Other.
3. Enter a date that comes before the oldest transaction in the account. This will be the opening balance date.
4. On the first line from the Account drop-down menu, select the account you want to enter the opening balance for.
5. We recommend adding a note in the Description field so you know what the journal entry is for.
6. On the second line from the Account drop-down menu, select Opening Balance Equity.
7. Use your bank statements to enter the opening balance. Note: Enter the balance of your real-life account for the date you picked as the opening balance.
8. Enter the debits and credits based on the type of account you entered on the first line.
   

Afterward, go back to the Chart of Accounts tab to reconcile the journal entry. This prevents it from showing up on your future reconciliation. Here's how:

1. Go to Accounting on the left panel.
2. Within the Chart of Accounts, find the account and select View register from the Action column.
3. Search for the journal entry you just created.
4. Select the box in the checkmark column until you see an R. This reconciles the journal entry.
   

Also,  I'd recommend reaching out to your accountant for further advice on fixing the beginning balance issue in QBO, especially when creating a journal entry.
 

For additional details and tips, feel free to check out these resources:

• Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.
• Learn how to review your beginning balance and look for issues for accounts you haven't reconciled b....

If you still need help with the process, please let me know by commenting below. Always take care and have a great day!

Thank you for the reply.  I'm not sure I understand completely.  There's 12 years of data.  You want me to post an entry in 2008 with the offset to equity.  How does this balance get cleared?  What about the equity account?  I not be grasping your logic completely, please help me understand.

BTW, when I try to reconcile, there are no uncleared transactions for the prior periods.

SarahannC,

I'm replying a second time as I didn't see my first reply appear in the comments.  

I'm not sure I follow the process.  If I post an entry in 2008 with an offset to equity, how does the adjustment get resolved?  Wouldn't it remain overstated?

BTW, there are no uncleared transactions for any prior period.

Setsun,

Did the last information from QB help you with what you needed or did you have to take a different course of action?  Im dealing with something very similar and was told by QB to contact my accountant to resolve.  If you did something different, would you mind sharing?  

Hey there, 

Someone had accidently reconciled a statement with the wrong ending balance. Thus, when I went to reconcile the next statement my beginning balance was wrong. Can I undo the previous reconciliation or adjust the beginning balance some how?

Thanks!

Hey there, Morganjrpayne.

Thanks for joining this thread. I'd be glad to provide some info regarding reconciling in your QuickBooks Online account.

If you have a ProAdvisor added to QuickBooks as an accountant user they have a specialized tool that allows the entire reconciliation to be undone. However, you can un-reconcile individual transactions. Additionally, you also have the ability to adjust the beginning balance. 

The following linked articles provide the steps to get this done: 

• Undo or remove transactions from reconciliations in QuickBooks Online

• Fix issues the first time you reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online

I recommend talking it over with your accountant to be sure which option is best for your unique business setup. Feel free to reach back out here if you have any other questions. Take care!

The same thing is happening to me.  No opening balance entry anywhere and the bank says the opening balance is 220.6K.  This is online, of course, and I have wasted hours trying to figure out what to do.

This is a potential new client.  I have 20 bank recs to do and I am in huge trouble here.

I really hate a lot of things about this online version.

Hi there, Unicomp!

QuickBooks is a blank canvas. It helps you organize your business finances all in one place so you can complete your frequent tasks in fewer steps. The potential use of its features depends on how well your transactions are recorded. The right opening balance will help you move forward and I'm here to guide you through entering it.

To enter an opening balance, you can follow SarahannC's steps above, or you can record it as a bank deposit in the account register.

1. Go to Accounting or the Gear icon and choose Chart of Accounts.
2. Hit View register on the account in concern.
3. Click Add [whatever transaction name is shown], select Deposit.
4. Enter the date, choose Opening Balance Equity for the category, enter a memo and enter 260,060 in the DEPOSIT field.
5. Click the Reconcile (checkmark) column until the status changes to R (Reconciled) and click Save.
   
   

Here are a couple of articles for your additional reference:

• Enter and manage opening balances in QuickBooks Online

• What to do if you didn't enter an opening balance in QuickBooks Online

Please let me know if you have other questions in mind. I'm just here to assist you again. Take care!

I appreciate the answer, but know how to enter an opening balance and how to get rid of one that is there.

This is seemingly coming out of space, as there is no opening balance, no P&L balance or balance sheet balances as of the beginning date, just this 220.6K opening balance when you go to reconcile.

It does not appear anywhere but in the reconciliation opening balance.

Hi, @Unicomp.

Thanks for getting back to us here in the Community. Allow me to join in and help make sure everything is taken care of for you.

To check if the browser is already full of frequently accessed page resources (cache and cookies), causing this unusual response, let's sign in to your QuickBooks Online (QBO) using a private browser (incognito).

Here's how:

• Press Ctrl + Shift + N (Google Chrome).
• Ctrl + Shift + P (Firefox).
• Control + Option + P (Safari).

Once logged in, double-check if you can now see the opening balance. If everything looks good, return to your default browser and perform a clear cache to refresh the system. However, if the issue persists, try using other supported browsers.

I'm also adding these articles about managing opening balances in QBO:

• Enter and manage opening balances in QuickBooks Online.
• What to do if you didn't enter an opening balance in QuickBooks Online.

For tips and other resources, I recommend visiting our website for future reference: QBO self-help articles.

Please post again or leave a comment in this thread if you have additional questions about opening balances or anything else. I'm always ready to lend a hand. Keep safe.

Hey there Unicomp!

Try my solution here. It happened to me too and what I found was this:

Even when I unreconciled/undid the reconciliation of everything from 2017. When I checked the bank register, there were transactions in the later years that were still "reconciled" status because they were matched to my Credit card transaction and my Credit Card was already reconciled. Those transactions created a wrong beginning balance which made me confused because at first I thought "The beginning balance of 2017 should be zero". I, then, removed the "R" status from those and my beginning balance went back to where it was supposed to be. 

You can try this and reconcile again. Long story short, there were ACTUALLY some reconciled transactions even though you thought there were none. And they threw your balance off. Just remove the R status and the problem will be fixed.

Great response, @BettyJaneB! Your reply has been helpful to many on this thread, so I'm going to go ahead and mark your response as accepted so that it appears at the top of this thread. This will help others who may have similar questions. Thanks again!

Thank you for marking my peer's response as an accepted solution, @cody_a.

We're happy to see BettyJaneB's answer has been helpful to this Community thread. We also appreciate how much you see her answer valuable.

As always, please let us know if you have other QuickBooks concerns. We're always ready to help anytime. Stay healthy and safe!

After I reconciled my initial transaction, I realized I entered the information incorrectly.  I, then deleted the reconciled transaction.  I am now having trouble with the beginning balance.  It seems I need to recreate the initial transaction.  Do I enter the information as before, incorrectly?  It seems the initial transaction is a transfer type transaction instead of a deposit transaction.  Can I just do a journal entry instead?

Thank you!! Thank you!! Such a brilliant and easy fix!