Query regarding reconciliation

[Alex Hill]

The reconcile function is simply a way to double check your workings. If 
your bank balance is what gnucash says it should be, then things are great, 
but if not then either your bank has charged you for something that you 
didnt spend, or you spent something and forgot to get a receipt and enter 
it.

I find that I have bills direct debited from my account and sometimes I 
forget to enter these entries into gnucash, so reconciliation helps me to 
catch these instances.

Alex
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ankur Sinha" <sanjay.ankur at gmail.com>
To: <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 6:28 PM
Subject: Re: Query regarding reconciliation


> hi,
>
> On Tue, 2010-07-06 at 05:37 -0400, jcard21 xxxxxxx wrote:
>
>> NOTE: 1) I ALWAYS get a paper receipt – everywhere!
>
> I do too! :)
>
>>
>> NOTE: 2) I manually enter each and every transaction the same day it
>> occurs, usually in the evening. This process takes less that 5-10
>> minutes. (For those of you who don't like this process, read Benjamin
>> Franklin's Autobiography. He has a guideline/template of how he spends
>> his time each day, hour by hour.)
>
> I enter it every evening when I'm done spending and back at home.
>
>>
>> NOTE: 3) I NEVER use (import) my Banks' or CreditCards' downloaded txn
>> files. I believe this defeats the purpose of reconciliation: what I
>> think I have in each account versus what each financial organization
>> believes is in each account.
>>
>
> I started with "opening balance" for my savings account and continued
> from there manually. I don't import these either. But that's probably
> because I don't need it yet. Even if I transfer funds from an account
> online, I manually enter it into my GNUCash accounts.
>
>> Once a month, but not on the same day, I reconcile all my "Current
>> Assets" accounts:
>> • Savings
>> • Checking
>> • Money Market
>> • Certificate of Deposits
>> • Cash in Safe
>> • Cash in Wallet
>> • Gift Cards (I HATE Gift Cards! I prefer Cash!)
>> <http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/10-reasons-gift-certificates-make-horrible-gifts.html>
>> • etc.
>>
>> Reconciling an account usually takes 1-2 minutes.
>
> Since I'm doing all this, and entering it all everyday, aren't the
> accounts already reconciled?? That's where I was confused. When I update
> my GNUCash data, I put down everything into it (and check my wallet etc.
> to see if things match up, they generally do). What use is
> reconciliation? Does it come handy when I forget something? Or am I just
> basically reconciling *every night* (without knowing it and using the
> GNUCash reconcile option)? :)
>
>>
>> My Cash accounts: I just count what is actually in that
>> account/location. If it differs from what is in gnuCash, I add an
>> adjusting entry so it balances. I obviously spent that amount
>> somewhere I didn't record. This rarely happens, since I ALWAYS get a
>> paper receipt!
>>
>> I hope this helps.
>>
>
> Yes, that does.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ankur
>
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