[GNC] Getting previous reconciliation closing balances?

[Stephen M. Butler]

On 7/9/19 6:41 AM, Adam Funk wrote:
> Hi,
>
> The problem is that I can't figure out what the missing transaction
> is!  I was hoping to be able to pin it down to one previous
> statement.
>
> Thanks,
> Adam
>
When this happens to me, I print out the entire annual checking account
(I presume this is checking, works for Credit card accounts, savings,
etc also) from GC and from the bank and compare them line by line.  I
usually fine one of the following:

A.  A transaction I had previously entered was removed by me by mistake.

B.  I updated an already reconciled entry and failed to notice it on the
reconciliation window.  [Usually I see it and then figure out my
beginning balance was off.]

C.  A new transaction was entered with a really old date.  Sometimes I
don't realize this and enter the same transaction again with the proper
date and then have to hunt down the "old" one.

D.  My dyslexia messed with either the current or prior reconciliation
and I read the numbers wrong or entered them wrong and that's why things
are off.

It is usually easier to let me wife do the detail work since I'm in the
habit of making the same mistake multiple times in a row before spotting
it.  She takes great pleasure in pointing that out!


--Steve


PS.  If both printouts have the running balance then I've been known to
cut the list in half and see if the running balance matches at the
half-way point.  That usually indicates which half has the problem.  Do
the same with the remaining half.  Iterate until you find the problem
transaction (or lack of one).

>
> On 2019-07-09, David Carlson wrote:
>
>> Since there is no way to view the reconciliation dates of transactions and
>> it rarely matters later, if at all, the easiest thing to do is to ignore
>> the error in the starting balance as long as you have entered the missing
>> transaction(s) and reconcile them in the current reconciliation to get to
>> the correct reconciled balance.
>>
>> The much more difficult solution would be to try to mark all of last
>> month's transactions as unreconciled and repeat last month's reconciliation
>> before doing this month's reconciliation.
>>
>> I think the choice is easy for most users unless they have severe OCD.
>>
>> David Carlson
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 9, 2019, 7:48 AM Maf. King <maf at chilwell.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On Tuesday, 9 July 2019 13:10:56 BST Adam Funk wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I have somehow managed to miss a GBP10 subtraction from my current
>>>> account (= American checking account), so I can't reconcile my latest
>>>> statement.  To make matters worse, the opening balance in the
>>>> reconciliation tool is GBP10 higher than the closing balance of last
>>>> month's statement.  I can't find a discrepancy between my GC account
>>>> and that statement, so I don't know how far back I made the mistake.
>>>>
>>>> Is there any way to get GnuCash to show me previous the opening or
>>>> closing balances of older reconciliations, so I can pin down the
>>>> monthly statement where I made the mistake?
>>>>
>>> Hi Adam,
>>>
>>> there's no way that I can think of to see previous reconcile start/end
>>> balances.  If you have sufficient backup files, you could look at those
>>> and see
>>> if they are back in time.
>>>
>>> do you know the rough date of the payment you missed recording?
>>>
>>> I can think of a couple of ways through this, of varying degrees of
>>> fudge...
>>>
>>> Maf.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>

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