Reconciliation problem

[Ken Heard]

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Last May I started a thread which ultimately ran to 18 posts, 4 of which
were mine, about how GnuCash handles reconciliations.  The problem I had
then stemmed from inadequate on-screen information as to the data to
enter in the "reconcile information" window.

In short, I learned that in that window the date to enter is the date of
the statement from the external source, such as a bank or credit card
company, and that the balance to enter is the balance on that statement
as of the date of that statement.  After the individual entries in the
window showing all the debits and credits appearing in the ledger
account which have a corresponding entry in the external statement are
checked off, the "Ending Balance" at the bottom of the window will show
the ending balance on the external statement, and the "Reconciled
Balance" is the balance in the ledger for the account being reconciled.
 Finally, if the  "Starting Balance" which is provided by the
application, is correct, the "Difference" should be zero.

But what if the "Starting Balance" is not correct?  For example, I am
trying to reconcile my Visa account for 2009, which was the first year I
started using GnuCash.  To begin the year I set up a dummy Balance sheet
for the end of 2008 which included a Visa payables account where I
entered all my Visa credits outstanding as of the beginning of 2009.
When I reconciled the Visa account for the first time I entered as the
starting balance the balance in the Visa payables account and I was able
to reconcile the Visa payables account with the first three Visa
statements of 2009, dated 9 Jan, Feb and Mar.  On those three occasions
the "Difference" was zero.

My trouble began yesterday when I tried yesterday and today to complete
the reconciliation as of 9 April 2009.  The ending balance on the Visa
statement as of that date was $32.09.  After checking off the
corresponding entries in the reconciliation window, the "Reconciled
Balance" shows -$20.07, which is indeed the balance of the Visa payables
account as of the date of the statement.

However, the "Difference" is given as $52.16, which is wrong.  All the
entries are correct and accounted for; I checked them umpteen times.  I
was also able to reconcile the account manually.

The application gave the "Starting Balance" as $53.55.  Where would this
number come from?  It does not correspond to any number -- or a multiple
or a dividend of it -- in either the Visa payables account or the Visa
statements.

Would anybody know what caused this problem and how to solve it?

Ken Heard
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