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GrayCat99
March 13, 2025
Question

Enigmatic Reconciliation Discrepancy

  • March 13, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

Hi! I'm a book keeper for a small non profit and could use some advice trying to balance our credit card account in QBO.

 

External to quickbooks, my organization’s bank generates a master account, through which we can pay off all (2) of our credit card accounts. This account reflects all transactions made with both of our credit cards. This creates (3) accounts which link to our QBO: One for card 1, one for card 2, and one for the master account. 

 

For the past few years, these (3) accounts have been separately linked to our bank. Per our accountant’s suggestion, I recently turned the master account into a parent account, then turned the two cards into sub-accounts (and unlinked them from the bank).

 

The master account had been reconciled through the previous month, but the ‘Quickbooks Balance’ was off by about $30,000. I believe this is because of the period of time when the master and card accounts were both separately linked to the bank. To remedy this discrepancy, I looked through the register and voided around 40 duplicate transactions which had been cleared but not reconciled, starting back in 2021 (although there are many more).

 

QBO then alerted me that the master account could not be reconciled due to a starting balance discrepancy of $44,000. Alarmingly, the reconciliation discrepancy page is empty. I can’t think of how the balance could be off, when all reconciled transactions remain unchanged and all other starting and ending balances accurately reflect the bank statements. 

 

I'm no expert when it comes to QBO and could use some advice on what could be causing these discrepancies and how to go about fixing this credit card account. Thanks in advance! 

 

 

    1 reply

    M
    MoiraskyeT
    March 13, 2025

    We appreciate your effort in using the reconciliation discrepancy report to correct the beginning balance as this is the standard process as stated in this article, GrayCat99. Given your situation, it is helpful to work with your accountant. Especially since correcting transactions from closed periods can be complex.

     

    There are two potential reasons why the initial balance might be inaccurate, despite only voiding the cleared transactions:

     

    1. The rearrangement of main and sub-accounts could have changed how we track and record reconciled transactions or discrepancies, possibly explaining why there is a blank discrepancy in reconciliation.
    2. It's also worth considering that there might be reconciled transactions that might have been inadvertently voided as well.

     

    To begin correcting your credit card balance after the restructuring of the master and sub-accounts, you may want to review the Journal report to see if the reconciled transactions in question have been assigned to the proper accounts. Additionally, running an Audit log could help you verify whether any reconciled transactions were mistakenly voided.

     

    Here is also a guide for you to run Reports in QuickBooks Online (QBO): 

     

    1. Navigate to Reports.
    2. Use the Find report by name dropdown to look for a specific report by name, or simply scroll through the list to browse.
    3. Click on the report you want to open.

    Note: In QuickBooks Online, you have the option to customize your reports.

     

    If you want to check more details on how to run a report in QBO, feel free to check this article: Run a report in QuickBooks Online.

     

    Additionally, you can check this article. It provides details in memorizing reports in QBO: Create, access, and modify memorized reports. 

     

    Our team is diligently working on enhancing the correction feature to better suit your needs. If you have any more questions or need further assistance in your reconciliation. Please click the Reply button to continue our discussion on this thread, I hope you have a pleasant day!

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    GrayCat99Author
    March 21, 2025

    Thank you for your response!

    I’m still having some difficulty diagnosing the issue, but I now have more context. When the sub-accounts were linked to the master account, it seems that all the transactions were merged, which explains the duplicates for every transaction. Before setting up the parent and sub-accounts, our master account recorded expenses from both cards and our credit card payments, so I only reconciled the master account. I never reconciled the individual card accounts, even before they were converted into sub-accounts. When I was voiding duplicates, I only voided those from the sub-accounts, not the master account—specifically, the ones that had already been reconciled.

    I checked the audit log, but it didn’t provide any new information, only that I had edited transactions to zero them out, which I was already aware of. I'm happy to answer any questions if more context is needed.

    Do you have any additional advice or suggestions for resolving this issue?

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    LollyNino_C
    March 21, 2025

    Reconciling accounts without any discrepancies is necessary so you can get back to business, GrayCat99. I appreciate you sharing your additional concerns regarding your reconciliation. I know reconciliation is crucial, and I'm here to help you achieve that and ensure accurate bookkeeping figures.

     

    The transactions you deleted may have already been reconciled, which can affect the accuracy of your financial records and reports. I recommend checking your records or financial statements to verify their status, then recreate the deleted transactions.

     

    After that, you can manually reconcile these entries directly from the register. Here's how:

     

    1. Go to Transactions and select Chart of Accounts.
    2. Find the account you’re reconciling and click View register.
    3. Locate the transaction and select it to expand the view.
    4. If the box in the checkmark column is blank or has a C, ensure the transaction is accurate.
    5. Click the box in the checkmark column until you see an R. If there's already an R in the checkmark column, leave it alone.
    6. Once done, select Save.

     

    Then, proceed to Step 3 in this article to compare your statement with QuickBooks: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

     

    Furthermore, I recommend consulting your accountant for more guidance. They can help you resolve the discrepancy, making future account reconciliations easier.

     

    Finally, you can learn the reconciliation workflow in QuickBooks and view, print or export a reconciliation report.

     

    If you have any further issues or need clarification regarding reconciliation, please don't hesitate to contact us. I'm available 24/7 to assist you.

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