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How do I fix my beginning balance after deleting a reconciled transaction in QuickBooks?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
October 9, 2021
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QuickBooks Online

Best answer by Emma_P

Deleting a transaction that was already reconciled changes the ending balance from that reconciliation, which throws off your beginning balance the next time you reconcile. The fix is to recreate the transaction and get it marked as reconciled again, and the exact steps depend on whether you're using QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop.

QuickBooks Online

Start with the Reconcile Discrepancy Report. It lists what's changed since your last reconciliation and how each change affected your balance.

Go to Accounting, then Reconcile.
Select the account you want to reconcile.
When you see the alert that your beginning balance is off, select We can help you fix it to open the report.
Work through the list one item at a time. Each entry shows what changed and offers a suggested fix.

If a deleted transaction doesn't show up there, check the audit log instead. Go to Settings, then Audit log, and filter by account and date range to find the transaction's original details. Recreate it with the same information, then mark it as reconciled (an R in the register) so it counts correctly again.

Once everything's accounted for, the discrepancy report should show a total difference of $0.00, and your beginning balance will match your bank statement.

To see a list of all your past reconciliations with their dates and reports, go to Accounting, then Reconcile, then History by account.

Sources:
Fix beginning balance issues when reconciling in QuickBooks Online
Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Desktop

The same idea applies here, just with different reports.

Go to Reports, then Banking, then Reconciliation Discrepancy. Select the account to see what's changed since your last reconciliation.
For more detail on when a transaction was deleted, run the Audit Trail report under Reports, then Accountant & Taxes, and filter it by account and date.
Recreate the deleted transaction with the same date and amount, then mark it as cleared and reconciled so it lines up with your last statement.

If you'd rather start clean, you can also undo your last reconciliation (go to Banking, then Reconcile, then Undo Last Reconciliation) and redo it after recreating the transaction. Back up your company file first, since this affects reconciled data.

Source: Fix beginning balance issues in QuickBooks Desktop

Have another reconciliation question? Just ask below and we'll help you sort it out.

katherinejoyceO

Level 9

Hello there, @brendahudsonoo. I'm here to help fix your reconciliation issue to get you back on track.

Deleted transactions that had the Reconciled status could mess up your balances. You'll need to re-create them and reconcile them again to correct them.

First off, let's find the information from the transactions you've deleted by checking out the Audit Log. Here's how:

Click the Gear icon, then Audit Log.
Click the Filter drop-down, then pick the dates when the transactions were deleted.
Choose the Show only these events radio button, then tick the Transactions checkbox and select Deleted/Voided Transactions from the Show drop-down. Hit Apply.

Once done, the Audit log will now be filtered to only show deleted transactions based on the filters you applied. Look for the transactions that were deleted in the list and click View.

Then, use the information displayed to re-create the transaction. Ensure to change the status of the transactions in the register back to R for Reconciled.

Check out Step 3: Review your account register to learn more about this process outlined in this help article: Fix opening balance issues in QuickBooks Online.

For future reference, here's an article with the link that can guide you in fixing reconciliation: Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

Reach out to me again if there's anything else I can do to help. I'd be here to provide you with more options.

E

EH68

Hi,

I fixed an issue like this by recreating the deleted transaction and manually setting the status to reconcile as instructed by a QBO video. This corrected my reconciliation error but in the History of account page for my Bank Register, it still showed the discrepancy (in my case -$1,600) under the CHANGES column (see image below).

My questions are:

1 - Since the Bank Register is reconciled after the correction, how do I remove the $1,600 discrepancy so it doesn't show up on the History of account page? I expected to see $0.00 under CHANGES after I fixed this issue.

2 - If the History of account was designed to show the discrepancy even after the reconciliation correction for audit purposes, is there another page where I can get a list of all my successfully reconciled periods? This was a useful page to ensure all my past bank statements were reconciled.

Thank you.

Tori B

QuickBooks Team

Hello, @EH68.

Thanks for following along with the thread and sharing your concerns.

There are many possibilities as to why the discrepancy is showing, even after you manually reconciled the transaction. One could be that you need an adjusting entry, or need some basic browser troubleshooting. To determine your next steps, I recommend contacting our Technical Support Team. This way, one of our agents can review your account in a secure environment and investigate this matter further. I've included a link below to connect with our team directly.

QuickBooks Online Support

In the case that you need to enter an adjusting entry, you'll want to be sure to connect with your accounting professional. If you don't have an accountant, don't sweat it. You can find one here in our Resource Center.

In the meantime, feel free to explore some of our guides I've included below that cover more details about reconcile discrepancies.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. Take care!

katherinejoyceO

Level 9

Hi there, @brendahudsonoo.

Hope you’re doing great. I wanted to see how everything is going about your reconciliations concern you had yesterday. Was it resolved? Do you need any additional help or clarification? If you do, just let me know. I’d be happy to help you at any time.

Looking forward to your reply. Have a pleasant day ahead!

J

Jules1015

Is there steps for this in Quickbook Desktop?? I had duplicate checks in October, deleted one, now the opening balance is off by that amount!

D

DebSheenD

Level 5

Hello there, Jules1015.

I know a way how to fix the opening balance after deleting reconciled transactions in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

First, you can visit the Audit Log to see the deleted transactions and recreate them manually.

Here's how:

Choose Reports and then Accountants and Taxes.
On the side menu, choose Audit Trail.
Tap on the "From" box and select the date the transaction was deleted on.
Pick "Refresh"
From the new list, select the deleted transaction and double-click it.
Enter the valid information.

Once done, you can check to follow the steps from this article to complete a mini reconciliation to get your books looking as they should: Reconcile previously deleted and re-entered checking or credit card transactions.

Let me know if you have further concerns with the reconciliation, so I can help you further. Just mention me anytime to notify me of your reply. Have a nice day!

Emma_P

Answer

Community Manager

Deleting a transaction that was already reconciled changes the ending balance from that reconciliation, which throws off your beginning balance the next time you reconcile. The fix is to recreate the transaction and get it marked as reconciled again, and the exact steps depend on whether you're using QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop.

QuickBooks Online

Start with the Reconcile Discrepancy Report. It lists what's changed since your last reconciliation and how each change affected your balance.

Go to Accounting, then Reconcile.
Select the account you want to reconcile.
When you see the alert that your beginning balance is off, select We can help you fix it to open the report.
Work through the list one item at a time. Each entry shows what changed and offers a suggested fix.

If a deleted transaction doesn't show up there, check the audit log instead. Go to Settings, then Audit log, and filter by account and date range to find the transaction's original details. Recreate it with the same information, then mark it as reconciled (an R in the register) so it counts correctly again.

Once everything's accounted for, the discrepancy report should show a total difference of $0.00, and your beginning balance will match your bank statement.

To see a list of all your past reconciliations with their dates and reports, go to Accounting, then Reconcile, then History by account.

Sources:
Fix beginning balance issues when reconciling in QuickBooks Online
Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Desktop

The same idea applies here, just with different reports.

Go to Reports, then Banking, then Reconciliation Discrepancy. Select the account to see what's changed since your last reconciliation.
For more detail on when a transaction was deleted, run the Audit Trail report under Reports, then Accountant & Taxes, and filter it by account and date.
Recreate the deleted transaction with the same date and amount, then mark it as cleared and reconciled so it lines up with your last statement.

If you'd rather start clean, you can also undo your last reconciliation (go to Banking, then Reconcile, then Undo Last Reconciliation) and redo it after recreating the transaction. Back up your company file first, since this affects reconciled data.

Source: Fix beginning balance issues in QuickBooks Desktop

Have another reconciliation question? Just ask below and we'll help you sort it out.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Desktop

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Desktop

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