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camperalex22
January 1, 2024
Question

Reconciliation beginning balance issues

  • January 1, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

Hello, I reconciled an account twice in one month. The ending balance ending on 3/20 was one number and the starting balance beginning on 3/20 is over $2000 more.

 

How is this possible and what is the solution? Thank you.

 

1 reply

AlcaeusF
AlcaeusF
January 2, 2024

Hi Camperalex22,

 

Welcome to the Community. I can help you fix the beginning balance in QuickBooks Online.

 

The opening balance is the starting point for accounts in QuickBooks. If it’s incorrect, it affects all future reconciliations. Make sure your opening balance is correct before checking your beginning balance.

 

Beginning balance issues happen when:

 

  • Someone entered an incorrect opening balance when they created the account in QuickBooks.
  • Someone added transactions older than the opening balance but didn't edit the original opening balance entry to reflect the change.
  • Someone edited, deleted, moved, or unreconciled an already reconciled transaction. It changes the ending balance of your last reconciliation, which impacts the beginning balance of the next one.
  • Someone manually reconciled a transaction, so it didn't appear on the next reconciliation.

 

We've compiled some steps you can follow to fix your beginning balance and get back on track with the reconciliation. Please refer to this link for the solution: Fix issues for accounts you've reconciled in the past in QuickBooks Online.

 

When you reconcile, you compare transactions in QuickBooks with the same ones on your bank statements. I've attached an article you can visit to learn what to do if QuickBooks doesn't match your bank statement at the end of a reconciliation: Fix issues at the end of a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online.

 

Feel free to post or interact about your QuickBooks concerns in this space. If you have additional questions about your reconciliation, let us know. We'll be here to lend a hand.

C
camperalex22Author
January 2, 2024

Thanks, I’ve gone through the basics and appreciate your response. 

My January and February and starting balance on March is correct. I reconciled on March 20th for March 1-20. That ending balance was correct. When I went to reconcile on April 1st for the rest of March. The starting balance was $2400 different. 

The ending balance and starting balance should be the same. 

Please let me know how this happened and the solution. 

C
CharleneMaeF
January 2, 2024

Hello, camperalex22. I'll make sure to provide the best resolution to your reconciliation concern.

 

Let's review the discrepancy report to identify and rectify the entry that affects your beginning balance and reconcile your account in QuickBooks Online (QBO) accordingly.

 

As mentioned, someone may have made changes (edited, deleted, moved, or unreconciled an already reconciled transaction) to your account. That's why the ending balance of your last reconciliation is affected, and the beginning balance of your next one is impacted. To identify the affected entries, here's how:

 

  1. Go to Bookkeeping and select Reconcile.
  2. Select the account that you want to reconcile from the Account drop-down menu.
  3. Click the We can help you fix it link to open your discrepancy report.

  4. Review the discrepancy report. Use it to decide if and how to make changes.
  5. Before editing anything, talk with whoever made the changes - they may be intentional.

 

Once you've identified which entries cause the discrepancy, make the necessary corrections. For the complete guide, check out Step 4: Review any discrepancy reports section in this article: Fix issues for accounts you've reconciled in the past in QuickBooks Online.

 

When you're done, reconcile your account. I'd recommend doing this every month to help monitor your income and expense transactions and detect possible errors accordingly. You may want to check out this article as your reference in doing and fixing reconciliations in QBO: Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

 

I'm all ears if you have other reconciliation concerns or questions about managing your accounts and transactions in QBO. You can drop a comment below, and I'll gladly help. Take care, camperalex22.

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