[GNC] Redo account reconciliations
Derek Atkins
derek at ihtfp.com
Sat Sep 4 10:18:02 EDT 2021
Ah... But that's NOT how you are supposed to recover from that.
If you reconciled up for 31 Aug 2021, and you un-reconcile a transaction,
it doesn't matter what date the transaction has -- you should re-reconcile
31 August! You just need to re-check the February transaction.
-derek
On Sat, September 4, 2021 9:10 am, Christopher Lam wrote:
> Derek,
> Consider a well-used bank account. You reconcile every end of the month
> successfully up to 31 Aug 2021.
> Accidentally you unreconcile a Feb 2021 split.
> You retrieve your 28 Feb 2021 bank statement, try to re-reconcile and fail
> because the reconciliation end balance also tallies splits from March 2021
> onwards.
> C
>
> On Sat, 4 Sept 2021 at 13:01, Derek Atkins <derek at ihtfp.com> wrote:
>
>> Chris,
>>
>> On Sat, September 4, 2021 8:36 am, Christopher Lam wrote:
>> > I agree that if an account reconciliation is done periodically
>> correctly
>> > every time, then it works well. If an old reconciled split is
>> unreconciled
>> > and we need to re-reconcile a previous reconciliation date, then the
>> code
>> > falls apart.
>>
>> I'm curious why you say it falls apart?
>>
>> > It may be an idea to allow batch unreconciliation of all splits whose
>> > reconcile date is after the reconciliation date in the Reconciliation
>> > dialog, thereby allowing the user to re-do reconciles.
>>
>> That could be a good idea.
>>
>> -derek
>>
>> > On Sat, 4 Sept 2021 at 06:34, Borden via gnucash-user <
>> > gnucash-user at gnucash.org> wrote:
>> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> > 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
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>>
>> --
>> Derek Atkins 617-623-3745
>> derek at ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com
>> Computer and Internet Security Consultant
>>
>>
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--
Derek Atkins 617-623-3745
derek at ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com
Computer and Internet Security Consultant
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