[GNC] Redo account reconciliations

[Borden]

> The starting balance is computed from all the reconciled transactions "to
> date".  It *can* be safe to ignore the starting balance if, for example, a
> transaction became unreconciled.  For example, let's say you reconcile
> from some starting balance X to a final balance of $1000.  Then you
> accidentally unreconcile a $100 transactions.  If you try to re-reconcile
> that same statement/date/ending-balance of $1000, it won't show X as the
> starting balance, but something else (PROBABLY $900, but I'm not 100%
> sure).  But that's okay -- just ensure the ending balance is correct and
> all the transactions that SHOULD be reconciled ARE reconciled.
>
> There is no way to get a transaction to reconciled status (y) manually --
> the only way is through a reconcile process.  So if you have reconciled
> transactions, that must've happened through a reconcile.
>
> I would recommend you just go ahead with March, ignore the starting
> balance, enter the correct March ending balance, and see if the
> reconciliation works (ensure you re-reconcile anything from earlier that
> might have become unreconciled).
>
So I just want to build a bit on this answer. GNUCash doesn't have QBs reconciliation system - so don't equate the two. As an accountant who doesn't need to be handheld or leashed, I  find GNUCash's system better than QBs - albeit there is room for improvement. However, I wouldn't recommend GNUCash to someone less comfortable with bare-ledger accounting - controls exist for a reason.

I don't know how the backend works, but my experience is that the "Opening balance" is basically a running total of all the transactions marked "Reconciled" in that account. Whereas QB will _prevent_ you from attempting to reconcile August if July's reconciled balance differs from what it previously reconciled, GNUCash doesn't care - it just says "The transactions marked 'Reconciled' for this account total to $X." And that's good for when you have to go back and fix things... and know what you're doing.

When you reconcile a transaction, again based on  my experience, GNUCash toggles the "Reconciled" flag on the account _and_ inserts the reconciliation date. I personally like this because  I can, say, start a fresh reconciliation for March having reconciled through August  to pick up the transactions that _should_ have been in the March reconciliation but weren't because I readded them (or whatever). However, I need  my calculator with me because I need to adjust the "closing balance" to reflect not the statement balance but what GNUCash's "running total" balance should be. Contrast this to having to undo every rec in QB back to March and redo every rec again.

Still, as I said, there's room for improvement in GNUCash:1) Since the rec date gets stored with the Rec flag, GNUCash can  have a function that unreconciles every transaction before a given rec date. This would be analogous to QB's batch rec undo.
2) One should be able to rec from the ledger  as QB lets you do - and prompt for a rec date. Yes it's dangerous, poor practice, etc., but the GNU philosophy is not to leash the user. If a user wants to sudo rm -rf / their installation, GNU warns them first, but ultimately lets them. User knows best. If you want your computer to dictate what you're allowed to do with it, that's what Apple's for.

I hope that helps a bit