[GNC] Reconciling different periods?

[Phil Hays]

Adrien,

Not always true that I have the same data as the bank/credit card
company. Many transactions are scheduled or otherwise entered. These
should match what was downloaded. They don't always do so, usually
because something changed or because I made an error.

I'm using a weekly statement generated by a download of transactions at
the time of the download. I don't care about monthly statements because
I use a week for accounting, not a month.


Phil Hays

On Thu, 2018-12-13 at 14:14 -0600, Adrien Monteleone wrote:
> Phil,
> 
> What are you reconciling against? If you download transactions, you
> have the same data as the bank/credit card company. Reconciling is a
> process of checking your own entries against what your bank/credit
> card company shows.
> 
> So in your case, you are simply verifying that you downloaded
> everything.
> 
> But otherwise, yes, if you check ‘as of today’ then the
> reconciliation date does need to be ’today’ as I noted in the
> parenthesis after my first sentence. But this is not ’normal’ as you
> usually receive statements after the actual closing date, not *on*
> the actual closing date.
> 
> What you are describing is more of ‘clearing’ transactions pre-
> reconciliation than reconciliation itself. (though you can use
> GnuCash in a way that you reconcile on a short period basis if you
> want)
> 
> Concerning the monthly statements you rarely look at, that’s what the
> reconciliation feature is for. Of course, you don’t have to reconcile
> monthly at all if you don’t want to. Use the software as you wish.
> 
> Regards,
> Adrien
> 
> > On Dec 13, 2018, at 1:25 PM, Phil Hays <phil_hays at ieee.org> 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
> > 
> > 
> > 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
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > gnucash-user mailing list
> > > > gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> > > > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
> > > > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> > > > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see 
> > > > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more
> > > > information.
> > > > -----
> > > > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> > > > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > gnucash-user mailing list
> > > gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> > > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
> > > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> > > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see 
> > > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
> > > -----
> > > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> > > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
> > 
> > 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> gnucash-user mailing list
> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see 
> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
> -----
> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.