Recocile checking account with OFX file

[David Carlson]

On 3/15/2015 4:58 AM, Michael Hendry wrote:
>> On 15 Mar 2015, at 03:07, David T. <sunfish62 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> Import and reconcile are two different procedures. Try importing, then reconciling. It works for me.
> I’m not sure why importing would help with reconciliation, assuming that Dave (Boland) is saying that he’s entered transactions relating to his bank account, but has failed to go through the process of reconciliation.
>
> The purpose of reconciliation is surely to make sure that the transactions that you’ve entered through GnuCash agree with those in your bank statement, allowing you to pick up errors at either end, and detect fraudulent activity.
>
> Unless the entry of bank-related transaction has been long delayed, there are bound to be duplicates after the import has taken place, which will have to be weeded out. If there has been a big gap in recording, then the reconciliation will be a futile one, between the bank statement and the bank’s records.
>
> Am I missing something here?
>
> Michael
>
>> David
>>
>> On Mar 14, 2015, at 11:31 AM, dave boland <dboland9 at fastmail.fm> wrote:
>>
>>> All,
>>>
>>> I have gnuCash 2.6 and use it do do personal accounting.  I got behind
>>> on reconciling my checking account, and was wondering if it is possible
>>> to import/reconcile the account with the OFX file I downloaded from my
>>> bank?  If so, how do I do that?  I saw one post on this subject, but the
>>> person said that the description he entered was being replaced by the
>>> generic bank description ("CHECK").  I want to avoid that problem.  The
>>> online documentation and FAQ doesn't address this specifically, thus the
>>> question.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Dave
>>> -- 
>>> dave boland
>>> dboland9 at fastmail.fm
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> http://www.fastmail.com - Access all of your messages and folders
>>>                         wherever you are
>>>
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I think that the OP is worried that GnuCash will overwrite his manually
entered text with text from the OFX file. 

When I am worried about that I make sure that I do not allow the import
to "Update..."  I change each one to either match exactly or enter new
and plan on manually deleting duplicates after the import.  Yes, that is
often overkill, but it makes me more comfortable.

David C