[GNC] Kind of a Philosophical Question about Transaction Dates

[Adam H. Kerman]

10:45pm -0000 03/11/26 Brook Milligan <brook at biology.nmsu.edu>:

>I also typically use the date I initiate the transaction and generally do 
>not change the GC date to match bank statements (although I usually note in 
>the description when the bank posted a transaction).

>However, now I am facing a problem that I'm not certain this thread has 
>addressed.

>I initiated a transaction on one day that just happened to be the day prior 
>to a bank statement, and that statement did not include the transaction.  
>Going through the GC reconciliation process, I find that the GC balance 
>cannot match the bank balance because the former has included the 
>transaction and the latter has not.  To complete the reconciliation, I am 
>forced to change the GC transaction date until some time following the bank 
>statement date.

>Is that the correct way to handle this or is there some other option that I 
>am not thinking of?

This is not correct. We expect that the register balance in one's books is 
not going to match the statement balance as not every deposit and withdrawal 
could possibly clear during the statement cycle.

During reconciliation, you verify that the ending CLEARED balance matches 
the beginning balance of the new statement's cycle. If it doesn't, the error 
is in the prior period's reconcilliation. Unreconcile, then rereconcile.

You put in the statement's ending date. GnuCash will suggest an ending 
balance but use the ending balance in the statement. Then go through each 
transaction in the statement and match it to a transaction in the register. 
These, and only these, are the transactions to show as cleared in the 
register. If everything adds up, the reconcilliation should be zero.

Now, look for the explanation as to why the register balance does not match 
the statement balance on statement closing date. Add uncleared deposits to 
and subtract uncleared checks from the statement balance. This should match 
the register.