[GNC] unexplained reconciliation dollar amounts

[Stephen M. Butler]

On 2/26/19 1:01 AM, jeffrey black wrote:
> On 2/25/2019 8:11 PM, David Cousens wrote:
>> Jeffrey,
> <snip>
>> 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.
> The previous statements reconciled perfectly when I finished them.  I 
> got lucky on one account and the account balance matched the previous 
> ending paper statement balance, there were no checks floating out in 
> hyper-space waiting to be cashed.  And the account balance still 
> matches.  The previous ending balance in the reconcile window is wrong 
> when I do the new statement.


This has happened to me when I make changes to the split (like fixing
the description) in that account.  It unchecks the reconciliation flag.

>
>> 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.
> <snip>
>
> Agreed, using the imbalance account is not an acceptable accounting 
> practice.  And the only time I use it is when I import an ofx or qif 
> file that contains a check or debit that has not been entered in my 
> physical ledger nor GnuCash (I love my wife but; would like to ring her 
> neck for her lack of record keeping). Once I receive my monthly 
> statement, I dig the offending receipt out of the black hole she carries 
> for a purse, correct the entry, then reconcile. [yes, I am also a 
> physicist, which makes Murphy my patron Saint]
Saint of computer professionals also!  The computer will do exactly what
it thinks you told it to do.
>
<snip
> Some how when GnuCash abruptly ceased to being a running program under 
> Windoze 10, some data was corrupted.  How much I have yet to discover.  
> I am still using the default xml data format.  And I have since 
> increased the number of copies GnuCash keeps for backups.


I would fear that the XML file itself is damaged.  Have you tried an XML
validator tool?

>
> I assume that somewhere there is a key and value for the previous 
> reconciled statement balance in the xml structure.  Would you by chance 
> know how to locate that key for a specific account?  I could then, in a 

Nope.  It appears to add up all the reconciled split entries to get the
balance.  So, if one got unchecked it would not be in that balance any more.

If the account balances are correct (without any fudge factors applied),
then I'd try to reconcile to the day after the last one.  Look at the
window for entries prior to that date.  Those are your likely culprits. 

> copy of my data file, change it to match my new statement and see if 
> everything agrees.  If it does not then I know for certain that there 
> are missing or inaccurate transactions, and can then enter a fudged 
> transaction that can latter be split to the proper accounts when I 
> eventually discover the offending transactions.  If it matches then 
> happy dance.  I can continue on my merry way with my bit bucket 
> (physics, love it).
Be sure you have an overflow drain for when the bit bucket fills up!

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