[GNC] Reconciliation is not adding up correctly - what to do??

[Colin Law]

On Tue, 29 Jan 2019 at 11:24, Finbar Mahon <mahon.finbar at neuf.fr> wrote:
>
> OK, let's go again.
>
> 1. I started using GNUCash with effect from 1.1.2018
>
> 2. For this particular a/c the figure €3986.22 is the balance in the a/c, taken from the bank statement on 28.12.2017, after the last transaction on that date.
>
> 3. I had a non-zero opening balance, in the sense that I created (named) the a/c in Gnucash and then started with the figure above, so that I could continue from the previous a/c into 2018. Should I have ignored the opening balance, the amount in the bank on 28.12.2017??


If I understand correctly then that is the correct way to do it.  You
entered an initial transaction so that the amount in the account in GC
matched that in the bank.

>
> 4. Having worked our the logic of 'view' (not a whole lot in the help about it, afaics.) I am working my way along another a/c tidying up things like cheques being entered on the date they were  written as opposed to the date they were cleared, etc. I am making good progress, learning that I should do reconciliations more often, some people take a long time to present the cheques ;-)


You should enter cheques with the date you write the cheque.  That is
the moment at which you take on that liability.  The fact that has not
yet cleared is irrelevant.  The fact that the balance in the account
doesn't match that in the bank does not matter.  That will not affect
the reconcile process as you are reconciling transactions on the bank
statement against those in the account.  Any cheques that have not
cleared will simply be left unreconciled till they do clear.  There is
no need to change the date when it clears.

>
>
> 5. The numbers on the screen grab are exactly what my problem is. In some of my (very simple, not many entries) a/cs the numbers balance out nicely, as they should. I appreciate that a 'perfect' reconciliation should have no 'loose' centimes, but if the figures are within that sort of limit, I don't worry, I am not auditing a multinational.


Have you previously been going through the reconcile process and
marking them off as reconciled, or is this the first time you have
done a proper reconcile?  If you think you have not previously
reconciled anything then check that you see nothing when you use the
view filter to only show reconciled transactions, if you think you
have already reconciled stuff then check that you don't see anything
unexpected when you view only unreconciled transactions.

>
>
> Maybe I should just work on the appropriate 'view' in this a/c, say, month by month, tidying up the issues, and see what happens?


If there are not a vast number of transactions then one option is to
unreconcile everything and start again, reconciling each month against
the statements.  Then you will find the problem.  Reconciling each
month as the statements come in is, I believe, the way most people
work.

Colin