[GNC] Correcting reconciles

[Adrien Monteleone]

On 12/27/21 9:54 AM, Mahon Finbar wrote:
> Thanks all,
> 
> "Un-reconciling doesn't delete anything. I'm not sure what you are 
> describing there"
> 
> - I am describing an obvious error, such as an entry in the wrong a/c, 
> it happens.

Unreconciling shouldn't be expected to delete a transaction. You can of 
course delete it if it is erroneous and then proceed with 
reconciliation. (or assign the proper account, which will move, rather 
than delete the transaction, though it may disappear from the 
reconciliation window accordingly.)

> 
> "If ALL transactions are reconciled that doesn't mean your balances are 
> 0.00, it just means that whatever the balance happens to be, you have 
> verified it to be correct"
> 
> 0.00 means for me, in the, in the difference column, that I have checked 
> the data I have entered against the bank a/c, for example. If I have 
> sorted out all the invoice sent out against the receipts. and don't have 
> 0.00  maybe someone hasn't paid, or deducted a discount, or....

Okay, I understand now where you expect to see 0.00. And that would be 
what you would see if every transaction that you've entered in that 
period matches your statement.

If you are using the business features, lack of payment or other 
adjustments should *not* be reflected when reconciling a bank account. 
There is no reason for them to. They haven't been entered yet. (they 
exist in the AR/AP accounts, not the Bank accounts)

If for example, you entered a payment as received, but the Bank 
Statement isn't showing it, then it hasn't 'cleared' yet, and so you 
would not mark it reconciled.

If someone didn't even send you payment yet on an invoice you issued 
them, none of that would in any way affect the bank account or the 
process of reconciling it and so would not even factor into the 
'Difference' value. That value shows you the variance between what you 
*have* marked as reconciled and what *should* be marked reconciled to 
reach a particular Closing Balance when beginning at a particular 
Opening/Starting Balance.

> 
> I am aware of what reconciling is supposed to do. My question is what is 
> the meaning of 'unreconcile selection' in the context of trying to reach 
> 0.00 instead of

It removes the reconcile flag from that transaction or transactions.

If you haven't marked *every* transaction that matches the Bank 
Statement, then the total amount will be added/subtracted BACK to the 
'difference' so you'd be moving farther away from Zero, not towards 
it.(±based on if the transactions in question were debits or credits)

If you had already 'over reconciled' transactions which you have in your 
file, but the Bank Statement doesn't show then un-reconciling will get 
you closer to Zero Difference.

> 
> for example, in the difference column, as I presume is what reconciling 
> is supposed to achieve. I gather from the replies it doesn't mean much.

Reconciling to zero difference means you have verified that you have all 
of the same transactional data which accounts for a balance on a 
specific date as the statement from the financial institution. You may 
have additional transactions not-yet cleared the institution. You would 
not want them to be marked 'reconciled'. (yet)

> I assume that un-reconciling a suspect transaction such as a transaction 
> in the wrong column should show up as an anomaly. But what about a 
> 'selection' ?

A transaction in the wrong column means you entered a debit rather than 
a credit or vice versa. Simply edit the transaction to fix it, then 
reconcile it. If more than one transaction has that problem, edit each 
of them.

The term 'selection' is used because the feature can operate on more 
than one transaction at a time if you want it to. So every transaction 
you have selected(highlighted) at that moment when you click the button, 
will become 'un-reconciled'.

> 
> The other issue is one that has been well aired in these columns, 
> opening balances that don't look right. I can appreciate why this is 
> untouchable, but it is, to, me, always a suspicious matter.

"Opening Balance" would come from your last reconciliation closing 
balance. If it is wrong, your most immediate reconciliation is wrong. 
(or you've been reconciling to the wrong balance for some time, but then 
each period would have been off and you should have caught and fixed 
this sooner.) If you ever encounter this problem, you'll need to 
investigate backwards to find the source of the error and then 
re-reconcile to get the next Opening Balance correct.

(or just enter a correcting entry, reconcile it, and move on)

Regards,
Adrien