[GNC] The "purpose of reconciliation" [was: Re: Reconciling PayPal]

[Michael or Penny Novack]

>
>> My understanding is that the purpose of the reconciliation is to 
>> enable one
>> to compare that the balances of two sets of accounts are in 
>> agreement....
>
> Interesting. I have slightly different purpose when I do 
> reconciliation: to compare the _transactions_ of the two sets of 
> accounts, and confirm they are in agreement.


When I reconcile a checking account with the bank statement for that 
account I never expect them to agree. I expect my account will have 
checks that were written but that are still outstanding (my account has 
transactions not on the bank statement) and I expect the bank statement 
to have at least one transaction not yet in my books (I make no attempt 
to calculate the interest)

So the term "reconcile has two meanings, the part taking place within 
gnucash and the more general process where the discrepancy between the 
balances is explained (and found to be correct). In other words, my 
account balance (in gnucash) as of the statement date + the total of all 
checks written but still outstanding (not on the statement) + the 
interest = the statement balance << might enter the interest transaction 
instead of adding it.

But yes, also confirm that all transactions match (no bank errors, a 
check cleared for an amount different than what it was written for, etc.)

Michael D Novack