Starting balance off

[David Carlson]

On 8/12/2012 9:03 AM, Fuchs Ira wrote:
> Thanks for the advice. I will check the logs. I have not reset the warning (I like having it lest I make exactly this mistake). I am perplexed as to how this (albeit small) discrepancy has appeared.
>
>
> On Aug 12, 2012, at 9:27 AM, Derek Atkins wrote:
>
>> A long shot, but search your .log files for entries with recn=y and see if
>> any correspond with this account?  Note tat this is definitely going way
>> far under the covers but might point you in the right direction.
>>
>> I highky recommend you reset the warnings.  Gnucash will warn you if you
>> try to modify a reconciled txn, but you can override and make the warnings
>> go away in the future.  This probably is what bit you.
>>
>> Good luck,
>>
>> -derek
>>
>> On Sun, August 12, 2012 8:33 am, Fuchs Ira wrote:
>>> Not a silly question. Yes, it is an interest bearing account and yes I did
>>> enter the interest (it would not have reconciled without it…the Finish
>>> button will not be enabled unless the difference is 0.00). The only thing
>>> I can think of is that somehow one transaction (and unfortunately it
>>> doesn't have to be the previous month) was changed and that the starting
>>> balance changed as a result. However, to find this change I would need to
>>> go back and recheck every transaction for this account (over one year)
>>> which is not feasible. It would be great if there were a log entry for a
>>> reconciled transaction which was changed i.e.,  if the user overrides the
>>> warning). Of course, I don't recall making any such change so this is just
>>> speculation but I don't know how the balance could be off otherwise, given
>>> that I reconciled the account last month.
>>>
>>> On Aug 12, 2012, at 1:08 AM, David Carlson wrote:
>>>
>>>> It is difficult to give a short answer to a question like this.
>>>> Actually, it is easier to ask a few questions.
>>>>
>>>> Can you look at the register balance and see the same error amount
>>>> there?  If so, how about a month or more earlier?
>>>>
>>>> When you look at the reconciliation lists of unreconciled deposits and
>>>> withdrawals do you see any transactions with  dates earlier than the
>>>> current month?
>>>>
>>>> Are there any reconciled transactions with dates after the
>>>> reconciliation date?
>>>>
>>>> If you look under Actions:Reset Warnings.. do you find any warnings that
>>>> have been disabled?  That can make some errors easier to make
>>>> accidentally.
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps other users can think of more questions.
>>>>
>>>> David C
>>>> From: Fuchs Ira <irafuchs at gmail.com>
>>>> To: gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>>>> Sent: Sat, August 11, 2012 10:48:04 PM
>>>> Subject: Starting balance off
>>>>
>>>> I reconciled my checking account last month and now when I go to
>>>> reconcile the account for this month, the starting balance differs from
>>>> the ending balance of the previous month by $.30. How is this possible?
>>>> Given this discrepancy, I can no longer reconcile the account unless I
>>>> enter a fictitious transaction (or change a reconciled transaction) to
>>>> make it balance, obviously not a good idea.  I double-checked all of the
>>>> reconciled transactions from the previous month to make sure that
>>>> nothing had changed after the reconciliation and they are correct. I
>>>> just don't understand how the starting balance can differ from the
>>>> previous month's reconciled ending balance.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for any help you can provide.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>> -- 
>>       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
>>       derek at ihtfp.com             www.ihtfp.com
>>       Computer and Internet Security Consultant
>>
>

Is the error positive or negative?  If positive, it is more likely to be
an extra transaction, possibly a double entry.  If negative, it is more
likely to be a deletion.  That depends somewhat on the types of
transactions that are more common in your case.

With some fonts it is possible for 8 to look like 5, or 2 to look like
5, for example.  An error of 0.30 suggests checking carefully for this
possibility.  Before I had cataract surgery I made that mistake many times.

If you have copies of previous statements available, checking your
register running balances against those statements a few months back
might help to find when the balance error appears.

David
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