[GNC] Reconciliation of accounts is not permanent

[Derek Atkins]

HI,

One piece of data you don't provide:  what OS/Distro are you using?

For example, if you are on a Mac, there is a known behavior that GnuCash
on Mac ALWAYS opens the last-used gnucash file, regardless of how you open
it.  Even if you double-click on a GnuCash data file, GnuCash on Mac will
still open the LAST USED file, not the one you clicked on.

This behavior has caused many people to think there's a data issue.

-derek

On Tue, September 26, 2023 12:05 pm, Mark Truelove wrote:
> Hi all, I just joined the list. I thought I'd give this a try before
> moving
> to a bug report, because I can't believe this happens to me and no one
> else
> has experienced it.  I did try searching list history as suggested with
> google, but didn't find anything referring to this specifically.
>
> Also, this is not the first time experiencing this phenomenon, probably
> the
> third.
>
> I use gnucash for personal finances, so I have a checking or cash account
> and a number of credit card accounts.  All of these are reconciled several
> times a year as I receive statements, although not always on time every
> month.  However I don't go three months without catching up on all my
> accounts in any case.
>
> Today (and on previous occasions), I started my periodic reconciliations
> because I had statement notifications in email.  I opened my credit card
> to
> reconcile and had the month's statement in a browser window.  At first I
> was unable to match the "beginning of month" figures to fill out the small
> prompt window when reconciling.  After a few glances I realized that it
> was
> trying to match the beginning balance to September of LAST YEAR instead of
> last month.  I have reconciled this account to its statements 9 or10 times
> in the last year, including last month.
>
> In previous months, I reconciled this account and saved it normally, and
> that information was retained for the following months' reconciliations.
> Now when it forgets, it is losing/ignoring several months of previous
> reconciliations, but not all of them (since this account is at least 20
> years old).  When I checked them all, it has forgotten reconciliation data
> for three other accounts as well (while another six accounts in the same
> file are fully up-to date).
>
> I have backups of my files, both through GC's own backup system and my own
> rotating backups.  Loss of data files is not an issue here.  This got me
> thinking, and I went back and reloaded some of these backup files
> directly.  When loaded, they are all missing the same information as my
> current file.
>
> So, one could say, user error - he actually didn't reconcile for months,
> and the files show that.  Unfortunately, I DID reconcile all of these
> accounts, and the program is treating some aspect of the data as if it
> doesn't exist beyond that point, regardless of the source file.
>
> I'm a retired IT pro, an IT Manager and other roles over 40 years.  I know
> how this looks at first glance.  If this hadn't happened to me twice
> previously I wouldn't be taking the time to report this in detail today.
>
> I'm currently running v5.3.  I downloaded 5.4 but haven't upgraded yet bc
> I
> didn't want to compound the problem.  If this is a known issue and 5.4
> fixes it, then great, I'll just upgrade.
>
> I hope this scenario seems familiar to one of the users out there.
>
> __________________________________________________
>
> *Mark Truelove*true911m at gmail.com
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-- 
       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
       derek at ihtfp.com             www.ihtfp.com
       Computer and Internet Security Consultant