[GNC] unexplained reconciliation dollar amounts

[David Cousens]

Jeffrey,

Any entries in the Imbalance or Orphan accounts, they really need to be
fixed. Their purpose is simply to highlight transactions which didn't have a
transfer account either when created or through some form of editing or
where an account has been deleted without deleting the transactions to it or
transferring them to another account.

If the previously reconciled balances are off, then somehow you have created
transactions either before or in the period that was previously reconciled. 
This can happen sometimes when you enter a date incorrectly, e.g entering a
4 digit year as GnuCash only recognises a 2 digit year in the register
entry. Selecting the wrong account when entering a transaction is another
possibility. Incorrectly entered transacactions are unlikely to be
reconciled. Initally ignoring the ending balance and then opening the
reconcile window and look for transactions which are before the reconcile
period which should occur at the top of the window. The default ordring is
usually ascending date order.  Another possibility is you may have edited
transactions going to this account and changed the account to another
account accidentally removing  transactions which should have gone to this
account. The value of the ending balance may give you some clue as to which
of the above is likely.

If you find any transactions which are incorrect, you can double click on
them in this window to open them in the account register and correct them.
They should then disappear from the reconciliation window or  at least
appear at a correct date position in that window. Once you can get the
starting balance and ending balances to agree you can finish the
reconciliation normally

Another strategy is to go back to the last previously reconciled period
where you have agreement with the starting and ending balances and reconcile
forward fixing errors as you go. This is more time consuming but can be a
method of last resort.

Adding transactions to the Imbalance account is not  an advisable strategy
to fix a reconciliation. It just means you have introduced one more error to
fix existing errors. 

If you import data for two accountssay for a cheque account and a credit
card where there are transactions between them, i.e you pay off the credit
card check the importer hasn't created a transaction twice, once when you
import the check account and again when you import the credit card data. The
importer should match transactions corresponding to those originating from
the first import when you perform the second import and flag them not to be
imported second time around. 

Good luck

David Cousens




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David Cousens
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