[GNC] Checks outstanding...VERY outstanding!

[David Carlson]

I should have tried that myself, but I didn't.  The minimum in release 4.8
is 1, and I doubt that has changed so it may be appropriate to file a bug
report.

On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 2:46 PM Eric H. Bowen <eric at ehbowen.net> wrote:

> I had not thought of setting "Unlikely Match" to zero. I'll give it a try
> (when I get home) and we'll see. Thanks----Eric.
> On 8/28/2024 2:20 PM, David Carlson wrote:
>
> I completely overlooked the setting called Unlikely Match.  Over the years
> our family has had a couple of characters that didn't deposit their
> birthday checks for months (I was one of them), but we don't send them
> checks any more.
>
> Anyway, I would call that a bug if the match is not shown at all when it
> is "Unlikely".  The unlikely transaction should still appear but marked as
> "do not import" or some similar marking, in my opinion.  If the time limit
> cannot be extended beyond 50 days, there should be an option to turn off
> that test. Did you try setting the limit to zero?   I have seen reports on
> this maillist that sometimes banks still accept 'stale' checks, when most
> banks have a reasonably short time limit around 60 to 90 days or even less.
>
> I wonder how that test is applied when the bank normally shows the date
> cleared rather than the date written for checks.  The only way one would
> know is by the date shown in the check image, when it is actually legible.
> Does Gnucash go by the difference between the <DTPOSTED> and one of the
> other dates in OFX/QFX files?
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 9:40 AM Eric H. Bowen <eric at ehbowen.net> wrote:
>
>> In my experience with the software that is not the case. True, you can
>> reconcile any transaction...but only within a limited window of time. Now,
>> if you have an uncleared transaction in your register dated November 8th,
>> 2022 and the .OFX file downloaded from your bank indicates that the check
>> cleared on November 14th, 2022 you can match it, even though it's (nearly)
>> two years later. But if the bank said that the transaction didn't clear
>> until March...it doesn't even show up as an option under "Match Manually."
>> Believe me, been there, done that.
>>
>> The key setting appears to be "Unlikely match day threshold," under
>> Edit>>Preferences>>Import. I've got that maxed out at 50 days; it will not
>> go any higher than that. So if the transaction your bank reports is farther
>> away than that from the entry in your register...you don't even see the
>> transaction when you go to match it. It just doesn't appear.
>> On 8/27/2024 4:47 PM, David Carlson wrote:
>>
>> I think gmail sent my half written response.  You can match any
>> unrrconciled transaction in the transaction import tool.  If you cannot
>> find the correct transaction you probably already matchrd it in a previous
>> import.
>> You can mark the transaction as do not import and re-run the impprt later
>> when you have decided how to correct that entry.
>> If you are using both of those tools as intended, GnuCash does not lose
>> the correct status of any transacion, regardless of how or when it was
>> entered.
>>
>> Sorry about the fat finger spelling errors.
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 27, 2024, 4:32 PM David Carlson <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Gnucash only marks transactions cleared when you use the reconciliation
>>> tool.  All uncleared transaction, no matter how old, are available to match
>>> in the import transaction
>>>
>>> On Tue, Aug 27, 2024, 1:27 PM Ken Pyzik <pyz01 at outlook.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Well, you could just not use the clearing function at all – which is
>>>> what I do.
>>>>
>>>> If fact, all my transactions have an "n" on them in Gnucash.  Instead,
>>>> of trying to figure out what cleared, I assume everything clears.   This
>>>> makes for a much easier task - since almost 100% of transactions do clear -
>>>> I only have to worry about the one's that don't - which for me - is almost
>>>> none anyway.
>>>>
>>>> But everyone's situation is different.  For me – clearing is just added
>>>> worked I choose not to do.
>>>>
>>>> Ken
>>>>
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> From: gnucash-user <gnucash-user-bounces+pyz01=outlook.com at gnucash.org>
>>>> on behalf of Eric H. Bowen via gnucash-user <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2024 9:51 AM
>>>> To: gnucash-user at gnucash.org <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
>>>> Subject: [GNC] Checks outstanding...VERY outstanding!
>>>>
>>>> I have a few vendors and charities whom I still pay with paper checks
>>>> (they're not eligible for my bank's electronic payment system), and some
>>>> of them are very lackadaisical about cashing those checks. It's not
>>>> unusual for one of them to sit on a check for three months before it
>>>> finally shows up in my bank's payment queue...by which time it's long
>>>> past even the maximum possible setting on GnuCash for manually matching
>>>> a check. More annoying, and this has happened several times, is if I
>>>> don't watch the match game with an eagle eye GnuCash will then assume
>>>> that the paper check from a month and a half ago which just cleared is
>>>> actually the one which is supposed to go out tomorrow and will mark *it*
>>>> cleared...and then there's no way to "unclear" it in the matching
>>>> algorithm. Oh, I can manually hit the check box and change the clearance
>>>> from C to N, but the next time I download transactions it will skip over
>>>> that one and not clear it, even when the proper check finally does come
>>>> in.
>>>>
>>>> One of the issues is that, according to my best understanding of U.S.
>>>> tax law, payments are officially "made" when the check is written and
>>>> dropped in the mail. So, if I write a check in November but it's not
>>>> cashed until March (which has happened)...it screws everything up, and
>>>> (even if the check is still within the window to manually match) "Update
>>>> + Clear" brings the payment out of the proper accounting period. So,
>>>> does anyone have a recommendation for dealing with this kind of
>>>> kerfuffle?
>>>>
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>>>
>
> --
> David Carlson
>
>

-- 
David Carlson