Learn how to review your beginning balance and look for issues for accounts you haven't reconciled before.
If you'rereconciling an accountfor the first time and the beginning balance is off, don't worry. Most beginning balance issues are caused by an incorrect opening balance. This is the account's starting point you set when you first created it in QuickBooks.
Correcting the opening balance should also fix your beginning balance issues.Here's what to review so you can start reconciling your account for the first time.
Step 2: Compare the opening balance with your real-life account
Now you know the date and amount of the opening balance in QuickBooks. Check it against your bank records:
Sign in to your bank's website, or find your bank statement.
Check the account's balance for the same day as the opening balance in QuickBooks.
Compare the two balances.
If the balances match, you entered the opening balance correctly. Move on to Step 3.
If the opening balance in QuickBooks doesn't match your bank records, correct it:
In QuickBooks, select the opening balance entry to expand the view.
In the Deposit column, edit the balance so it matches your bank records.
Select Save.
Step 3: Review your account register
When you reconcile an account for the first time, the opening balance is the only entry that is reconciled. No other transactions should be reconciled. To check:
Go to Settings ⚙, then Chart of accounts (Take me there).
Find the account on the list.
Select View register to get more details.
Search for the opening balance entry. It should have "Opening Balance Equity" in the Account column.
In the checkmark column, there should be an R.
Check the other transactions. The checkmark column should either be blank or have a C.
If there's an R on any other transactions, select the transaction to expand the view.
Select box in the checkmark column. Keep selecting it until the box is blank. Then select Save.
Next steps: Start reconciling the account
Once you know your opening balance is correct, you can start reconciling. If you see a message about an incorrect beginning balance when you start, here are other things you can review.
From the Gear icon ⚙ menu, select Reconcile (Take me there). Choose the account you want to reconcile and select Start Reconciling. Enter the ending balance from your bank statement and the ending date of the statement period. Check off all the transactions that appear on both your bank statement and in QuickBooks.
When the opening balance does not match the bank statement, there are two common reasons: There are previously reconciled transactions which were deleted OR. A transaction which was previously reconciled was unreconciled.
You'll see a message explaining that your account isn't balanced. Select the Add adjusting entry link. This creates an expense transaction if the difference is negative, or an income transaction if the difference is positive. It forces the account to balance.
How do I fix it? Open Reconciliation > Reconcile Bank Accounts to review the outstanding checks and deposits. If the outstanding checks and deposits are correct, run Recalculate to calculate the outstanding check and deposit totals again.
The relationship between QuickBooks Online and your bank is a real-time picture. What this means is that your bank balance and the balance in QuickBooks Online will only match if you don't have any outstanding checks. Think of the QuickBooks Online balance as the balance that would be in your checkbook register.
If your reconciliation doesn't balance, adjust the records to account for any missing data. For example, note uncleared checks and adjust the balance until the check clears.
Three conditions that can lead to an inaccurate beginning balance in a bank or credit card reconciliation are: deletion of a reconciled transaction, change in the amount of a reconciled transaction, and a change in the status of a reconciled transaction to 'not reconciled'.
When you create a new account in QuickBooks Online, you pick a day to start tracking transactions and enter the balance for your real-life account for that day. This starting point is the opening balance.
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