My Monthly Cash Flow Statements do not roll properly from month to month (beginning does not equal ending).

Thank you for providing the details regarding the issues with your Cash Flow statements, @pintadrew. I truly appreciate your effort in sharing this information. No worries, I'll help you understand the factors that are causing discrepancies in your ending cash balance.
 

Just a quick reminder: the Cash Flow report uses information from reconciled transactions recorded in QuickBooks, not from online balances. It relies on historical data from your bank accounts listed in the All Accounts section of the cash flow hub.
 

Here are a few potential causes for the discrepancies:
 

1. Duplicate transactions or transactions that were entered incorrectly. 
2. Transactions that aren’t properly categorized or are left uncategorized. 
3. Any bank errors or discrepancies that could be affecting your cash flow.
 

I recommend reviewing the transactions in QuickBooks to ensure they are accurately categorized and to check for any bank errors.  
 

Additionally, I'm sharing a helpful resource for future reference if you encounter issues while reconciling: Fix issues when you're reconciling in QuickBooks Desktop.
 

If you have any questions or need assistance with running a cash flow statement in QuickBooks, please don’t hesitate to ask. I'm here to help you with any challenges you might face. 

Thanks but this doesn't really explain it.   I can't find what transactions are causing the issue. 

Let me describe another side effect of this issue: 

Using Fake numbers again:

• If I print a Statement of Cash Flows for 09/01 - 09/30 my ending cash balance is $1,650,000, which is incorrect. 
• If I print a Cash Flow statement for 09/29 - 09/30 my ending Cash balance is $1,000,000, which is correct.  (The $650,000 part of this number is a real number).
• There should be NO REASON why my ending cash balance is different in these two reports.  They both have the same end day.  Their beginning amounts will be different, sure, but their ending should not be. 
• Now, if I keep printing reports going backward one day at a time:
  • 09/28 - 09/30
  • 09/27 - 09/30
  • 09/26 - 09/30
  • etc
• My ending balance stays the same as $1,000,000 until my report for 09/19 - 09/30.  Where it is shown as $1,100,000. (The $100,000 part of this umber is a real number). 
• I thought I had isolated part of the problem.  Whatever $100,000 transaction happened on 09/19 is causing the issue.  Right?  Well, there is no $100,000 transaction on 09/19.  And no, there is not a combination of transactions that add up to $100,000 (There are very few transaction on this day.   I also check 09/18 and no explanation for this $100,000 there either. 

Do you have any idea what can cause this?

The reporting period of the reports can be why those ending balances don't match, @pintadrew. I'll lay down some troubleshooting steps below.

To ensure that the balances match on both reports, you'll want to run them with the same reporting period, 09/01-09/30, for statement cash flows to see if they have the same problem.

If the ending cash balance isn't equal, I recommend utilizing the Verify and Rebuild Data tool to identify and resolve the most commonly known data issues.

Before proceeding, let's ensure we always have our QuickBooks Desktop to the latest release to keep your software up-to-date, so you always have the latest features and fixes. Then, create a backup company file to secure your data if you ever encounter problems. 

Here's how:

1. Choose Window, then Close All.
2. Go to the File menu, and then click Utilities.
3. Select Rebuild Data.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to back up your data.
5. When the tool finishes, select OK.
6. Navigate to the File menu, then click Utilities.
7. Click Verify Data, then choose Rebuild Now once QuickBooks finds an issue with your company file.

To learn more about tracking your cash flows in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), check out this reference: Cash Flow Hub for QuickBooks Desktop.

Moreover, you can also combine reports in QBDT to have an organized and better overview of your company’s financial behavior. Please refer to this article: Combine reports from multiple company files.

Feel free to get back to this thread if you still have questions about the cash flow hub in QBDT. I'll do everything I can to help here in the Community. Keep safe always.

@pintadrew 

Try running a SOCF through today.  Then, double-click on the amount next to "Cash at beginning of period".  That pulls up the Transaction Detail by Account report.  On the 'Total by' drop-down, select 'Total only'.  That should then organize the report by date so you can see your cash balance since the beginning of the business.  AFAIK, that's the report that QB is using to determine your cash balance at the beginning and end of the period.  See if you can find the $650K, $100K, etc. there.    

Thank you for this advice.  I didn't do EXACTLY this, but it inspired another idea that got me to discover which transactions are causing this issue.  I found the transactions.  They are all the same in the sense that they:

1. Are checks written to the same vendor.

2. The debit side of the transaction hits the same GL asset account. 

I did the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Thinking the issue might have to do with an improper setting for the Vendor used on the check, I deleted the check entry and I made the same journal entry as a general journal entry and not a check.  This removed the use of a Vendor.  This did not result in any change.  I was still off by the same amounts. 

2. Testing the General Ledger Account used in the check,  I created a new General Ledger account as a subaccount of the old one being used on the checks.  I edited the checks to use this new GL account.  This produced a positive result!   My SoXF balances now roll properly and these problematic entries are now being reflect on both the ending and beginning balances for both period's reports. 

Now -

I have updated these entries and my reports are fine.  However.  I still would like to understand what was wrong with the problematic General Ledger account that was being used.  This is bound to happen again. I am doing a side by side comparison with the old one and new one and the only difference is that the good one is a subaccount of the bad one.  I can't see any setting on the bad one that would tell me why this was not being reflected on the ending balances of the cash flow statements.    Any ideas of what I caa look into?  Thanks. 

@pintadrew 

All I can think of is to go to Edit > Preferences > Reports & Graphs > Company Preferences.  Click on the 'Classify Cash...' button in the 'Statement of Cash Flows' box.  There, you will see a list of all your GL accounts.  Make sure the bad GL account has a checkmark next to it and is in the proper SOCF section.