[GNC] I just don't understand reconciliation

Adrien Monteleone adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net
Tue Jun 18 19:27:51 EDT 2019



> On Jun 18, 2019, at 6:11 PM, ToddAndMargo via gnucash-user <gnucash-user at gnucash.org> wrote:
> 
> On 6/18/19 3:41 AM, Maf. King wrote:
>>  Things these days are generally much more instant, although sometimes not as
>> instant as we might like.
>> HTH,
>> Maf
> 
> Not really.
> 
> By law, folks that take credit crds in the USA are not allowed
> to charge you until the item ships or gets processed.  Sometimes
> that is the same day and sometimes that is weeks away, depending
> on back orders.  Parts I purchase through my distrubutors for
> my business often get posted four or five days AFTER I receive
> the parts.

Understood. Thousands of businesses operate this way. I’m familiar with it.

> 
> So, I need to know when the charge was made and I need to "C" it
> off when it posts.  I need to only check that my beginning
> balance and my ending balance on my statement agrees, meaning
> I did not typo or forget to enter anything.

You can do that. Some people are in the habit of checking their accounts daily. When doing so, you can ‘c’ those transactions that have settled and they will be automatically ‘checked’ for you when you reconcile.
> 
> So far I think reconcile is useless, except for the box in
> the lower right corner, which tells me I am balanced.  That
> is useful!

Reconciliation is a final ‘verification’ *when you receive your monthly/period statement* that previously cleared transactions are WHY the balance changed from opening amount to closing amount.


> 
> Adding a stupid entry for a charge that I can not "C" off
> is really mind splitting.

You shouldn’t need to enter a balancing transaction unless you aren’t balanced. And if you need to enter it, you *must* check it off (either via ‘c’ in the register or the checkbox in the reconciliation window) in order to Finish the Reconciliation.

If you are ‘balanced’ after checking all ‘cleared/posted’ transactions, then DO NOT CLICK THE `Balance` BUTTON. (you didn’t read the manual did you? nor waited for the tool-tip when you hovered over the button)

If you are ‘balanced’ then click the `Finish` button.

But you can’t “Finish” if you are not balanced. (bottom right figure for ‘Difference’ is $0.00)

Regards,
Adrien


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