QuickBooks will have a new reconciliation screen soon. It's
already rolled out for Accountants, so I've gotten a chance to use it. Here are
some tips and things to watch out for.
First up, I would forget I was working in 2016, and enter in a
statement ending date of 2017. Instead of seeing just the month of transactions
one sees the entire year. When I went back to fix my mistake to the
correct 2016 ending date, it would still show me the entire year, not fewer transactions. That feature is now controlled by a funnel, where one has the choice to say, "Limit what I see
to statement ending date". Look for the funnel icon to the top right of your reconciliation screen for this feature.
Next up, I'd have to leave my work for awhile, so I'd select "Leave" on the reconcile screen and close down the software. When I
returned, my opening balance would be off. What the heck? Turns out, QuickBooks automatically enters an opening balance entry and reconciles it for you. I learned to do a Find by Amount, find the reconciled entry, and delete it
to get my opening balance back to the correct amount. It's supposedly a feature to help you start a new reconcile on a new account, but at this point it's a bug.
Last up, I learned that the reconcile goes faster, i.e. more accuracy, if one
selects the Deposits screen first to click off all the deposits, then Expenses
screen next to click off the expenses. Apparently, that's how it was coded and
tested, because it works better. I always respect the software and give it what
it wants. As one friend says, "That's how I roll".
"How I roll" is that I learn these things the hard way so that I can make it look easy for you.
