[GNC] Wells Fargo OFX

[Chris Miller]

Hi David, 


I'll take the contrarian position and note that there are more ways to synchronize your account with the bank's. 


A discussion with a contrarian will require that I have a clear understanding of my arguments, at a minimum, so that is good news. 

If you are talking about periodic reconciliation, then I agree, but antecedent to reconciliation is "data entry", and that is where OFX provides value. No "data entry" error to uncover and fix. What other techniques can you tell me? 




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Some argue that using the bank to keep your books up to date leaves you dependent entirely on the bank for accuracy. 
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If you are "relying" on the bank, then I agree, but if you are "reconciling" with the bank, then you still control your own accuracy, and can hold the bank accountable as well. 




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I enter the transactions for my family's activities manually, and while it gets tedious at times, it does give me a chance to review the transactions and have a check on what we are spending money on. 
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I have a different technique. I always get a receipt. I review the receipt for accuracy right then and there. "Data entry" -- accurate and done. I synchronize my local software with my bank accounts and credit card accounts with OFX and then I match each bank supplied transaction with a receipt before I accept it into the register. I've never had to deal with "data entry" errors. I still "reconcile" my paper statements from the bank with my local accounting software records, but it is trivial, since I already know what is going to be on those statements. "Reconciliation" is a check that OFX is accurate at the transaction level, not the data entry level, since data entry happens at the point of purchase. 

I find that I can only do one thing at a time. If I'm doing "data entry" then I can't be distracted by also analyzing spending patterns; "spending patterns" is the province of reports. 

If you are doing "data entry" on your transactions, then any mistakes revealed by "reconciliation" are far more likely to be "data entry" mistakes than bank errors, since the bank never does "data entry". 



So, I'm back to GnuCash OFX and Wells Fargo ... It is a "deal breaker" for me. If I can't get GnuCash to work, then I will have to find something else that does. I really want GnuCash to work, but Wells Fargo sees the world differently than I do and Wells Fargo can absolutely prevent GnuCash OFX from working if they choose to do that, and they very well might. 

Thanks for the help, 
-- 
Chris. 

V:916.799.9461 
F:916.974.0428 
A: Because we read from top to bottom, left to right.
    Q: > Why should I start my reply below the quoted text?