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kaguilbeau
New Member
December 28, 2023
Solved

How do I fix a reconciliation that used the wrong year in QuickBooks Desktop?

  • December 28, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 49 views

My client does their own bank reconciliation.  Several months ago, she entered the wrong year and proceeded to reconcile.  For example, she was reconciling January 31, 2023 and she put January 31, 2024.  QB took it and each month since she has used 2024 as the year.

 

How can I help her get this straight?

 

Best answer by sofiamdc-2341

You can fix this by undoing the reconciliations that used the wrong year, then redoing them with the correct dates. QuickBooks Desktop carries each reconciliation's ending balance forward as the next one's beginning balance, so you'll need to undo them in order, starting with the most recent one, until you get back to the reconciliation where the wrong year was entered.

 

Why this keeps happening

Once a reconciliation is saved with the wrong statement date, QuickBooks Desktop uses that date as the starting point for the next reconciliation. That's why the wrong year has carried forward every month since it was first entered instead of correcting itself.

 

Step 1: Undo the affected reconciliations

  1. Back up the company file before you start. This protects the data in case you need to start over.
  2. Go to the Banking menu and select Reconcile.
  3. Select Undo Last Reconciliation. The beginning balance reverts to the one from the reconciliation before it, and all cleared transactions on that reconciliation become uncleared.
  4. Repeat this for each reconciliation, working backward month by month, until you reach the one where the wrong year was first entered.

 

Step 2: Redo each reconciliation with the correct date

  1. Go to the Banking menu and select Reconcile.
  2. Choose the account, then enter the correct Statement Date from the bank statement.
  3. Confirm the Beginning Balance matches the statement.
  4. Enter the Ending Balance, Service Charge, and Interest Earned from the statement.
  5. Select Continue, match the transactions, and select Reconcile now once the difference shows $0.00.

 

A faster option for catching up several months at once

If there are many months to redo, they don't have to be reconciled one statement at a time. QuickBooks Desktop lets you catch up a whole stretch of months in one pass, working one fiscal year at a time:

  1. Pick the ending statement for the last month in the year being caught up.
  2. Add together the service charges from every statement in that stretch and enter the total in Service Charge. Do the same for Interest Earned.
  3. Select Hide transactions after the statement's end date, then check off every transaction that appears across all the statements being covered.
  4. Once the difference shows $0.00, select Reconcile Now.
  5. Repeat for the next year if more than one year needs to be caught up.


Since this method touches more than one reporting period, it's worth reviewing the approach with an accountant before starting.
 

Reply below with any questions. Happy to help work through it.
 

Resources:

Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Desktop

Reconcile an account for multiple months or years of transactions and financial statements

 

3 replies

K
kaguilbeauAuthor
New Member
December 28, 2023

My thought was to tell her to put 12/30/23 when she does Dec 2023 reconciliation (12/31/23 was already used when she did 12/31/22).  She would continue like this each month, using the 29th or 30th of the month until she gets to Dec 2024.  At that time she would be able to use 12/31/2024.  

 

I suppose the other option is to unreconcile and reconcile again, but we are looking at 12-18 months.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Bryan_M
Bryan_MQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
December 28, 2023

Thanks for coming here, @kaguilbeau.

 

Let me share info about the option you can perform to correct the reconciliation of your client.

The first option you proposed about continuing the 29th or 30th of the month until your client can utilize the 12/31/2024 is possible. However, it might cause discrepancies. If you use this, ensure to document the reconciled transactions for security purposes.

The second option is to undo the reconciliation and reconcile it again. Yes, you're correct. This might take a long time to perform. Yet, this will exactly fix the month-end and ensure the details are reviewed well. 

 

Here's how:

 

  1. Go to the Banking menu, then select Reconcile.
  2. In the Account field, select the bank or credit card account you want to reconcile.
  3. The Statement Date is automatically filled in. Usually, it's 30 or 31 days after the statement date of the previous reconciliation. Change it as needed to match your bank statement.
  4. QuickBooks also automatically enters the Beginning Balance. It uses the ending balance from your last reconciliation to get this number.
  5. Enter the Ending Balance based on your bank statement.
  6. Type in the Service Charge and Interest Earned based on your bank statement. Don't enter charges you've already entered in QuickBooks.
  7. Review the fields. If the info is correct, select Continue or OK.

 

You can read this article for more details: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Desktop.

 

If you want to learn how to match bank feeds in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), check out this article: Add and match Bank Feed transactions in QuickBooks Desktop.

 

Feel free to come back here if you have additional questions about reconciling your transactions. I'll be willing to lend a hand. Have a good one.

    sofiamdc-2341
    sofiamdc-2341Community ManagerAnswer
    Community Manager
    August 21, 2026

    You can fix this by undoing the reconciliations that used the wrong year, then redoing them with the correct dates. QuickBooks Desktop carries each reconciliation's ending balance forward as the next one's beginning balance, so you'll need to undo them in order, starting with the most recent one, until you get back to the reconciliation where the wrong year was entered.

     

    Why this keeps happening

    Once a reconciliation is saved with the wrong statement date, QuickBooks Desktop uses that date as the starting point for the next reconciliation. That's why the wrong year has carried forward every month since it was first entered instead of correcting itself.

     

    Step 1: Undo the affected reconciliations

    1. Back up the company file before you start. This protects the data in case you need to start over.
    2. Go to the Banking menu and select Reconcile.
    3. Select Undo Last Reconciliation. The beginning balance reverts to the one from the reconciliation before it, and all cleared transactions on that reconciliation become uncleared.
    4. Repeat this for each reconciliation, working backward month by month, until you reach the one where the wrong year was first entered.

     

    Step 2: Redo each reconciliation with the correct date

    1. Go to the Banking menu and select Reconcile.
    2. Choose the account, then enter the correct Statement Date from the bank statement.
    3. Confirm the Beginning Balance matches the statement.
    4. Enter the Ending Balance, Service Charge, and Interest Earned from the statement.
    5. Select Continue, match the transactions, and select Reconcile now once the difference shows $0.00.

     

    A faster option for catching up several months at once

    If there are many months to redo, they don't have to be reconciled one statement at a time. QuickBooks Desktop lets you catch up a whole stretch of months in one pass, working one fiscal year at a time:

    1. Pick the ending statement for the last month in the year being caught up.
    2. Add together the service charges from every statement in that stretch and enter the total in Service Charge. Do the same for Interest Earned.
    3. Select Hide transactions after the statement's end date, then check off every transaction that appears across all the statements being covered.
    4. Once the difference shows $0.00, select Reconcile Now.
    5. Repeat for the next year if more than one year needs to be caught up.


    Since this method touches more than one reporting period, it's worth reviewing the approach with an accountant before starting.
     

    Reply below with any questions. Happy to help work through it.
     

    Resources:

    Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Desktop

    Reconcile an account for multiple months or years of transactions and financial statements

     

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