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How do I change the category on a reconciled transaction in QuickBooks Online without undoing the reconciliation?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
January 31, 2021
34 replies
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Several transactions were put in the wrong category. I need to fix that, but the transactions have already been reconciled. My accountant says if I undo them to edit it breaks her reconcilation. How do I edit these transactions?

QuickBooks Online

Best answer by sofiamdc-2341

How do I change the category on a reconciled transaction in QuickBooks Online without undoing the reconciliation?

You can fix the category on a reconciled transaction directly, without undoing anything: changing the category doesn't touch the reconciliation. What disturbs a reconciliation is changing the amount or the bank account, since those move the beginning balance, so a category correction is safe and your accountant's reconciliation stays intact.

Edit the category on a reconciled transaction

The whole fix happens in the account register, five clicks per transaction.

Go to Settings (the gear icon), then Chart of accounts.
Find the bank account and select View register.
Select the transaction (it shows R) to expand it, then select Edit.
Change the category (and description or payee if needed), then select Save.
A warning appears that the transaction has been reconciled and changes could put you out of balance; for a category-only edit that's expected, so select Yes. The R stays in place and the beginning balance doesn't move.

Tip: if you don't see reconciled items in the register, select the funnel icon and set the Reconcile status filter to All or Reconciled.

Why edits sometimes unreconcile (and how to avoid it)

If an edit removed the R, it's because the amount or the bank account was changed, not the category. Keep those two the same and the reconciliation won't move. If an amount genuinely needs to change, unreconciling that one transaction changes its status in the register without undoing the entire reconciliation for the period: Undo or remove transactions from reconciliations in QuickBooks Online. Since amount changes affect the beginning balance, loop in your accountant first: Fix issues with your beginning balance for accounts you've reconciled before.

Recategorizing a lot of transactions at once

For hundreds of transactions, there's a bulk tool: Reclassify transactions, available in QuickBooks Online Advanced (Settings, then Reclassify transactions) and to accountants in QuickBooks Online Accountant (Accountant Tools, then Reclassify transactions). It moves transactions to a new account, class, or location in bulk, and by design it can't change the bank or credit card payment account on expenses, which is exactly the edit you want to avoid anyway. Details and limits: Reclassify or move multiple transactions.

If you're not on Advanced, the accountant who did the reconciliation can run the bulk reclassify for you, and bank rules can auto-categorize similar transactions going forward.

Seeing what changed

Every edit is recorded in the Audit log, so anyone with access can see who changed what and when: Use the audit log in QuickBooks Online.

If you tell us whether you're only changing categories or also need to move any amounts, we can confirm the safest path so nothing disturbs the reconciliation.

M

Mark_R

Moderator

I've got you covered, @accountant30.

Changing anything but the amount and the account on any given transaction won't change its reconciliation status. You'll just have to directly edit the reconciled transaction and change its category. Here's how:

Click Accounting from the left menu, then select Chart of Accounts.
Find the bank account from the list and click View register.
Locate and select the transaction you want to change, then hit Edit.
Change the category or description, then click Save.
Click Yes to confirm the changes.
Repeat the steps for the rest of the transactions you want to edit.

Just in case you encounter issues with your opening balances, you can check out this article to learn how to fix it: Fix an opening balance to match a bank statement.

Should you need any additional assistance while managing your reconciled transactions, you can leave a comment below. I'll be sure to get back to you.

A

accountant30Author

Thank you very much!

N

Nick_M

Level 4

Hi accountant30.

I'm glad my colleague was able to help you out this morning. If there's anything else I can do to help, feel free to post here anytime.

Thanks and have a lovely day.

1

187501

I need to edit ALL of the transactions for several vendors after reconciling has been completed. How do I go to the VENDOR list, select the vendor and do a batch expense account change for all the vendor transactions? When I do Batch Action of the selected transactions, the category box will not display accounts nor allow entry of new one. Going to the Chart of Accounts and finding several hundred individual transactions is too time consuming.

A

ARM246

I have a deposit that was reconciled as consulting income but I need to make it a journal entry due to the components of the transaction. Can you please assist? Thank you,

U

Usman3

Hello, I have accountant access of my client QuickBooks and I have reconciled everything in QuickBooks ,When my client try to edit any expense or income category then transactions unreconciled in QuickBooks, Can you tell me why this is happening ????

R

Rasa-LilaM

QuickBooks Team

Let me clear things out for you on changing a reconciled account, Usman3.

As previously stated by my colleague, changing the category type won't affect your reconciliation. You'll only have an issue once you modify the amount.

You can consider opening the Audit Log report to check what happened to the account. It gives you a clearer picture of your transaction history.

Before we proceed, make sure you have admin rights or the access level is set to All (Standard). This is to ensure you have permission to view the activity log.

To open the report:

Go to the Gear icon at the top of your company to choose Audit Log.
Click on the User drop-down and set it to All Users or select your client's name.
Input the date you want to view the report.
In the Events section, select the All Events button.
From the list, look for the transactions you're working on.
Head to the History column and click the View link to see more details.

For more insights into this built-in feature, see the following article. It includes a video for visual reference: Use the audit log in QuickBooks Online.

This link provides a list of topics that will help you through banking-related activities such as making deposits, troubleshooting banking issues, and fixing reconciliation discrepancies: Find help with bank feeds and reconciling accounts.

Keep me posted if you need further information about reconciling an account or have other QuickBooks concerns. I'd be delighted to answer them for you.

sofiamdc-2341

Answer

Community Manager

How do I change the category on a reconciled transaction in QuickBooks Online without undoing the reconciliation?

You can fix the category on a reconciled transaction directly, without undoing anything: changing the category doesn't touch the reconciliation. What disturbs a reconciliation is changing the amount or the bank account, since those move the beginning balance, so a category correction is safe and your accountant's reconciliation stays intact.

Edit the category on a reconciled transaction

The whole fix happens in the account register, five clicks per transaction.

Go to Settings (the gear icon), then Chart of accounts.
Find the bank account and select View register.
Select the transaction (it shows R) to expand it, then select Edit.
Change the category (and description or payee if needed), then select Save.
A warning appears that the transaction has been reconciled and changes could put you out of balance; for a category-only edit that's expected, so select Yes. The R stays in place and the beginning balance doesn't move.

Tip: if you don't see reconciled items in the register, select the funnel icon and set the Reconcile status filter to All or Reconciled.

Why edits sometimes unreconcile (and how to avoid it)

If an edit removed the R, it's because the amount or the bank account was changed, not the category. Keep those two the same and the reconciliation won't move. If an amount genuinely needs to change, unreconciling that one transaction changes its status in the register without undoing the entire reconciliation for the period: Undo or remove transactions from reconciliations in QuickBooks Online. Since amount changes affect the beginning balance, loop in your accountant first: Fix issues with your beginning balance for accounts you've reconciled before.

Recategorizing a lot of transactions at once

For hundreds of transactions, there's a bulk tool: Reclassify transactions, available in QuickBooks Online Advanced (Settings, then Reclassify transactions) and to accountants in QuickBooks Online Accountant (Accountant Tools, then Reclassify transactions). It moves transactions to a new account, class, or location in bulk, and by design it can't change the bank or credit card payment account on expenses, which is exactly the edit you want to avoid anyway. Details and limits: Reclassify or move multiple transactions.

If you're not on Advanced, the accountant who did the reconciliation can run the bulk reclassify for you, and bank rules can auto-categorize similar transactions going forward.

Seeing what changed

Every edit is recorded in the Audit log, so anyone with access can see who changed what and when: Use the audit log in QuickBooks Online.

If you tell us whether you're only changing categories or also need to move any amounts, we can confirm the safest path so nothing disturbs the reconciliation.

How do I change the category on a reconciled transaction in QuickBooks Online without undoing the reconciliation?

How do I change the category on a reconciled transaction in QuickBooks Online without undoing the reconciliation?

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