Sorry, but what you are not getting is that we DON'T WANT this "automatic" feature. It MUST BE TURNED OFF so we, the professional accountants that have worked with QB for over 20 years, don't have to waste our time and our clients money fixing all the broken ways QBO is handling the downloaded bank and/or credit card transactions. And I've submitted this numerous times via the feedback link and still nothing. 

My problem is not the bank transactions "entering themselves" - they show up as to be updated, with how QBO guesses how they should be categorized.  Rules have worked well for me so far, although there are few transactions that always follow a rule.

My issue is the bogus adjusting entry QBO made once I synced the bank to the app to reconcile the account.  After over a year of manually entering and reconciling bank transactions without problem, when I asked QBO to sync the bank GOING FORWARD, an entry was forced to reconcile the bank account after the sync.  There's no rhyme or reason to indicate how the reconciliation discrepancy amount was determined.  I need a way to get rid of that entry because it shows up on the financials and it is NOT valid.

So reporting this for future updates does me no good with this client.  Very frustrating.

I completely understand your desire to maintain precise financial statements, LibbyVB. I am committed to assisting you in resolving this matter.

In QuickBooks Online, an adjusting entry is made to correct discrepancies between your bank statement and the company's records. This forces your accounts to balance so you can finish the reconciliation. It ensures that your books accurately reflect the actual financial position of the business.

If the adjustment was intended to resolve a difference, deleting it may reintroduce the variance, potentially affecting future reconciliations and leading to additional inaccuracies. Hence, it's important to carefully assess the purpose behind its creation and its potential impact on your accounts.

If the transaction was indeed incorrect or invalid, and its removal doesn't compromise the accuracy of your records, we can proceed with the deletion. I'll walk you through the process:

1. Go to Business overview, then select Reports.
2. From the For my accountant section, choose Transaction List by Date.
3. Click the Customize button, then set the appropriate report period.
4. Scroll down to Filter and tick the Memo checkbox.
5. Enter Reconcile Adjustment in the field.
6. Hit Run report, then open the adjusting entry.
7. Click More and choose Delete.

I'm also adding these articles to learn how to resolve common reconciliation mistakes in the program:

• Fix issues the first time you reconcile
• Fix issues for accounts you've reconciled in the past
• Fix issues at the end of a reconciliation

Should you require any further assistance or have additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. Your satisfaction is our top priority, and we're here to support you in achieving your goals.

I know HOW to delete it.  But when I do, it throws my bank reconciliation out of balance again.  The entry came out of nowhere AFTER I reconciled the bank successfully for 15 months, the problem came up when I synced the bank to QBO.  It adjusts this large number to the P/(L).  

The issue is with syncing a bank account after manual transactions have been entered.  I set up a bank account when I set up the company.  Then I entered 02/01/2022 transactions manually through 04/30/2023.  I successfully reconciled those months with no problem.  Then, I synced the bank, specifying a start date of 05/01/2023.  QBO created a NEW bank account, downloaded all prior transactions.  After an hour on the phone with support, I was told there was no way to merge those two accounts.  So I had to manually move all the transactions I had entered into the QBO-created bank account.  When I tried to reconcile the account, a large adjustment was required.  I have no idea where the amount came from.

@LibbyVB 

Only reason I can think of that QBO won't allow you to merge the accounts is if they are different types.  So, check they are both bank type accounts - checking or whatever first.   If they aren't the same, then you will need to edit that before you can attempt to merge.   BEFORE you attempt to merge them, check there are no duplicate entries and either delete or exclude them from the register.

Assuming they are both the same type of account (or you can edit them to be the same), then edit and rename one of these accounts.  Usually, I copy the name of the account that is connected at the bank and make the other account name the same to merge them. Once you do that and hit 'save', QBO should ask you about merging them.  Say yes and then save.  Double check that you don't have duplicate entries and then reconcile.

As for the rogue JE...   sounds like the adjustment was made for you at the end of reconciling?  the system suggests an entry to force reconcile when you hit the finish now button during reconciliation.  I'm not aware of an automatically adjusting JE to reconcile the account.

When I have clients in this situation, it's very tedious but often worthwhile starting back at a logical starting point like Jan 1 and undoing all the reconciliations and starting over to make sure you have all the entries that the bank has.   Check if you are using bill pay that you don't have duplicates with the bank feed.   If you do, delete the one that does NOT have the green boxes that denote downloaded from the bank.  If you delete the ones downloaded from the bank from your register, it will pop back up in the bank feed to be categorized again.   Another frequent culprit of duplication is credit card payment entries, so look for those.  Also payroll if you are running that can sometimes not tie out properly with the bank feed if the account name you have in the accounting section is not correct.  

Let us know how you are doing!

Plum

@ LibbyVB Oh, another thought for this rogue entry - by chance when you look at it in your register, is it marked as "opening balance"?   that DOES occur when a new account that is attached to the bank is created...  once you merge the accounts, you'll be able to void/delete that entry if that's the case.

Plum

Thanks for the response.  I was unable to merge the accounts after trying all of the things you suggest, and I was on the phone with tech support the whole time I tried these things.  Tech support was unable to help or tell me why I couldn't merge them.

I have taken your suggestion about undo-ing all the reconciliations and trying to start over.  The bank account was opened 3/1/22 so it's only 15 months of recs.  When I undid all reconciliations and went back to start with 3/31/22 there is a beginning balance of $16949.50!  Which doesn't appear in the bank register as an opening balance.  The bank register, at least for the first month of transactions, is as it should be.  I have no idea how QBO came up with a starting balance that doesn't exist.  The starting balance should be 0.00.  I'm seriously at my wit's end over this and about ready to re-start this client in desktop.  It's ridiculous!

Hard to advise without seeing what you are seeing (happy to do a zoom if you’d like). I have found copy/paste of the account name having checked the account type is the same has fixed “stubborn” merges for me. 

As for the beginning balance, sounds like a JE to zero that out might be the way to go as this point. 

i have some clients whose books seem to often go adrift. I do have one who likes to “take care” of things sometimes himself and that always leads to trouble (lol) and a couple of cases where it does just seem like QBO does something to send it out of whack as there are no entries in the audit log but the reconciliation starts with an out of balance warning.   Over time I’ve found this often is payroll or QB payments (or deposits) being duplicated vs matching and so I sort the register by transactions that didn’t come through the feed first to see what’s there

Thank you for your help.  I went back and redid all reconciliations from day one (only 15 months as it is a new organization).  And I deleted the entry made by "online banking administration" and was able to solve the problem.  I appreciate your advice.  STILL don't like QBO though

Glad you got it resolved!!!

Plum

All my clients that used QBO or switched to QBO from Desktop bought in to people telling them how easy the banking would be and the program in general.

The only thing in my opinion that QBO banking did was give accountant consultants a way to charge clients a ton of money in order to correct the terrible messes clients create when trying to do online banking.

Clients don't take the time to learn how to do it and just jump in.  They set up all these rules wrong for automatic posting and they just want to approve everything without a clue of if it is going to the right location.  They also don't do their side of receive payments etc and then match the income deposit to it.  They don't do their part so there is nothing available to match to.  The automatic match of invoices with payments also is a nightmare especially with clients that have tons of invoices that could be for the same amounts.  I never use that feature even in desktop.  Most clients can't even wrap their head around what undeposited funds feature is for and then have tons of deposits sitting in that account and they can't figure out why, 

I also encourage my clients that had problems not to use the online banking feeds, but they were so caught up in knowing the current balance of their accounts regardless of how bad it was screwing up their accounting records.  They had soooooooooooooooooo much on the EXLUDED tab.  Essentially nothing should be excluded unless you already entered it in your sytem and ignored the bank feed. 

Awful, awful, awful.  In my opinion the whole program is awful for people that don't want to take the time to learn how to use it before they jump right into it.  They other problem is the QBO is nothing like QBD and the people that convert to QBO have a learning curve to learn QBO.  It is nothing like QBD. 

One more thing that is a nightmare is that QBO data can be completely wiped out if you have a disgruntled employee.  I did see that there is an add on developed that will give you the option of getting a form of a backup. 

Do you not have the auto classification issues in desktop?  I am looking for an alternative.  Support does not seem to understand your requests when you call with a question.  They have features to turn off the auto assigning but they don't work.  

In Desktop the auto match is much simpler and doesn't rematch all entries to the one I'm adjusting. Each one is handled separately without the system making it harder to work.

In the UK we were forced to move to QBO before 30/6/23.

I'm a charterered accountant, QB desktop was great. QBO is a nightmare. I have all the problems discussed above, and am grateful for the explanations from users, rather than the qb staff.

Is anyone aware of any better software? I hate the online stuff, but need classes, VAT filing online etc.

I'm not even seeing my deposits. QBO has categorized all under one G.L.  After a couple of weeks, I have to look up every deposit that I have by the amount and change the category.  It is costing me huge amounts of time and I hate it.

Kathy

I empathize with the struggles you must have faced, kdodds.

Deposits may automatically match with QuickBooks Payments transactions, streamlining your workflow by eliminating the need for manual reviews. Nevertheless, we advise you to double-check the matches in the Categorized or Reviewed tab to ensure accuracy.

Here's how:

1. Go to Banking.
2. Choose the tile for the account you want to review.
3. Select the Categorized or Reviewed tab.
4. Click the link in the Added or Matched column to review the transaction.
   
   

Furthermore, should you need to make changes or modifications, you can undo the categorization and then re-categorize as needed. Another option is to disable the Auto-match feature, preventing bank transactions from automatically aligning with your QuickBooks payments transactions. I'll guide you on how to do it.

1. Go to the Categorized or Reviewed tab.
2. Select Settings ⚙ at the top of the transaction list.
3. Turn the Automatic matching switch Off.
   

Let me know in the comment below if you have other questions. I'm always willing to help. Take care!

And the option to turn off automatic matching does NOT exist in QBO. I've tried multiple times to find these links you and others have suggested and they don't exist in the version my client is using. WRONG AGAIN!

I am just trying to find a way to get past Quickbooks Online's ad to enable matching, which I get every time I try to reconcile an account.  I did not have the issue when I last reconciled at the end of August, I just clinched 'reconcile' and reconciled as I have more or less in various versions of Quickbooks for 20+ years.  I had so many bad experiences with linking personal accounts in Intuit's consumer product, Mint, and don't want to run the risk of making my business bookkeeping go from pretty simple to the nightmare Mint became.  How can I just get back to clicking 'reconcile' from inside my checking account, and reconcile without having to sign up for automation?

Hello there, @john2001.

I recognize the importance of having a smooth process in reconciling your bank accounts. I'm here to help you out so you can reconcile your accounts easily without having to sign up for automation.

Recently, QBO has been releasing some updates in the functionality and interface of some features. The changes could be why you see the screen that prompts you to match your books to the bank records.

To avoid seeing the prompt, you can try the alternative way of opening the Reconciliation page.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Under Tools, select Reconcile.

If you still see the screen, you can proceed with your reconciliation by simply clicking the Get started button. Then, click Let's get reconciled.  

You should now be able to reconcile your accounts with ease. 

Furthermore, you don't have to sign up for automation to reconcile your accounts. QBO suggests you to connect your bank to make reconciliation easier.

Here's an article with information on QBO's latest features and updates: QuickBooks Online new features and improvements—October 2023.

Let me know if you have any other concerns regarding bank reconciliation. I'm just one post away to help you out.

I HATE the advance mode which I am required to use.  I have had nothing but issues with this mode for the last two years, I have complained numerous times about this with no responses. Issue - downloading credit cards transaction, I have lost count of the number of times I have had to disconnect the cards from the connection and re connect, this goes for both Chase and American Express.  I have Multiple employee cards on both and when I have to disconnect and reconnect it ALWAYS seems to go back 60- 90 days and pulls in transactions that have already been pulled in.   I just had issues were the main chase card pulled in all the sub cards except for a few transactions on the sub cards and then when pulling in the sub cards it pulled in the same information 4 times except for the few transactions that were sub card specific that were not pulled in on the main card.   I have had this happen before, and sometimes it matches those transactions that were already posted and sometimes it does not, this time it did not.  I had over 200 transactions to look at.   I am once again struggling to pull in AMerican Express, and I know when I do, I will have 300-500 transactions to go through which takes hours.   The other issue is the matching - if it doesn't match exactly, it does not recognize.   I have fuel, hotel, airline and amazon transactions that will always come in different, and I always have to type these in.  You NEVER had to do that in the classic mode.  Last issue, Coding Jobs, everywhere else in QB's you can pull up a job number by the number, payroll, Invoicing, payables, in the classic mode for credit cards, but in the Advance mode, it is by customer only - do you know how many multiple jobs I have under customers.  I find nothing of value in the advance mode, its tedious and time consuming.

The answer is not enough!  A customer pays an invoice through QBs online but  QBs is applying that payment TO THE INCORRECT INVOICE!!!!!

I absolutely agree.  The automatic matching is horrible.  Time-consuming and frustrating!!