[GNC] Reconciling different periods?

[Stephen M. Butler]

On 12/13/18 11:25 AM, Phil Hays wrote:
> I download transactions from credit cards weekly. These are downloaded
> up to today's date, and I want to reconcile all downloaded
> transactions. After downloading transactions up until today's date, the
> reconcile date needs to be today.
>
> I usually use today's date and today's balance. 'Today' is the usual
> 'closing date' of the 'statement'.
>
> I note that the credit cards also have monthly statements that I rarely
> look at... Is there a reason why I should?
>
>
> Phil Hays


Phil,

I also reconcile as soon after the download is finished loading. I do 
this with credit cards and bank accounts.  For credit cards, my account 
also sends down the pending transactions, so I have to ensure they are 
not checked in order to balance to the account balance reported by the 
credit card.

I never look at statements as they are too far out of date for me!

--Steve

>
> On Thu, 2018-12-13 at 11:58 -0600, Adrien Monteleone wrote:
>> You should always use the ending balance, never the “latest" or
>> “today’s" balance. (unless ’today’ just happens to be the actual
>> closing date on the statement - highly unlikely)
>>
>> Reconciling March ‘18 using the balance as of today, 12/13/18 (or any
>> other date) is impossible, meaningless and makes no sense.
>>
>> If you want to reconcile March, enter 3/31/18 as the date and the
>> ending balance on the statement.
>>
>> Then to reconcile April, enter 4/30/18 and the ending balance on the
>> statement.
>>
>> repeat through November ’18.
>>
>> You are then reconciled ’to date’ until you get your December/end-of-
>> year Statement.
>>
>> ‘Reconciling’ is matching the activity on your statement with the
>> entries in your books. That is always ‘as of a closing date’ (in the
>> past), *not* as of ’the day you happen to perform the
>> reconciliation.'
>>
>> Regards,
>> Adrien
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Dec 13, 2018, at 11:13 AM, Finbar Mahon <mahon.finbar at neuf.fr>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Thanks, Michael, I have been trying that using end March of this
>>> year as the last 'OK' date but doing it up to latest balance seems
>>> to catch other errors, so I  was wondering if  I could 'stage' the
>>> process.
>>>
>>> Looks like D's reply indicates I could do it by varying the closing
>>> balance to coincide with one I am happy with. Maybe a slight
>>> problem if the closing balance is duplicated elsewhere? Maybe
>>> unlikely.
>>>
>>> In fact by a combination of the two replies I can go back to the
>>> last 'good' situation and use the closing balance there as a
>>> starting point?
>>>
>>> I'll give the ending balance a try.
>>>
>>> F
>>>
>>> On 11/12/2018 17:56, Michael Hendry wrote:
>>>>> On 11 Dec 2018, at 16:40, Finbar Mahon <mahon.finbar at neuf.fr>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> My reconcile is a bit erratic. So, I thought of trying to find
>>>>> the error by reconciling for different periods. If I put in the
>>>>> date for the last statement for the period I want to check, can
>>>>> I just put in an amount as the ending balance that coincides
>>>>> with the starting period and that way check on a period by
>>>>> period basis?
>>>>>
>>>>> I know it sounds complicated but I cannot think of a better way
>>>>> of doing it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>> Afternoon, Finbar.
>>>>
>>>> As a user of GC since 2010 for my personal accounts, I would
>>>> advise that you step back from this precipice before you jump
>>>> over it!
>>>>
>>>> I urge you go back far enough in your accounts to get to a bank
>>>> statement that is in exact agreement with your accounts, then
>>>> work your way systematically forward from that date, correcting
>>>> any erroneous entries in your accounts as you go.
>>>>
>>>> Ideally, you should mark everything beyond the reconciliation
>>>> date as “unreconciled” and go forward from there - it’s very easy
>>>> to click on a duplicate transaction and mark it as reconciled, or
>>>> to miss digit transpositions and other typing errors.
>>>>
>>>> Best of luck!
>>>>
>>>> Michael
>>>>

-- 
Stephen M Butler, PMP, PSM
Stephen.M.Butler51 at gmail.com
kg7je at arrl.net
253-350-0166
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