Why doesn't QuickBooks match my bank balance?

First, check you are comparing the right two numbers

QuickBooks Online can show two balances for a connected account: the bank balance reported by the bank feed, and the balance in QuickBooks from what has been recorded. They are supposed to differ a little. A check you wrote yesterday is in QuickBooks but not at the bank yet. A deposit the bank received this morning may not be recorded in QuickBooks yet.

The comparison that matters is the one reconciliation makes: your QuickBooks account, as of the statement end date, against the ending balance on the bank statement. If those agree once uncleared items are accounted for, the books are right, even if today's two numbers do not match.

The five usual causes, in the order to check them

1. The starting point is wrong

When you start a reconciliation, the beginning balance QuickBooks shows should equal the ending balance of the last statement you reconciled. If it does not, something that was already reconciled has changed, or the account was never reconciled from a correct opening balance. Fix this before anything else, because every later month carries the error.

2. A reconciled transaction was edited or deleted

This is the most common cause of a beginning balance that moved. Someone edited, deleted, voided or unreconciled a transaction that was already reconciled, often to make a number look right. When the beginning balance is off, QuickBooks Online offers a Reconcile Discrepancy Report that lists what changed, when, who changed it and how it affected the balance. Put the original back rather than creating a new entry to compensate.

3. Duplicates

The same transaction entered twice. Typical versions:

• An expense entered by hand, then added again from the bank feed instead of matched.
• A customer payment recorded against an invoice, then the bank deposit added again as new income.
• Transactions imported from a bank file for a period the feed had already downloaded.

Sort the account register by amount and look for pairs with the same amount a few days apart.

4. Missing transactions

Bank connections drop. When they do, a stretch of transactions never arrives in QuickBooks. Look for a gap in the dates in the bank feed or register. Missing items can be brought in by uploading a transaction file downloaded from your bank for the missing dates.

5. Transactions in the wrong account or period

A card payment recorded against checking. A transfer between your own accounts recorded on one side only. A December transaction dated in January. Each one moves money between accounts or months, and the balances stop agreeing even though the total is right.

Tricks for finding the difference

• Search for the exact difference. One transaction that is missing or extra will often equal it.
• Search for half the difference. A transaction entered with the wrong sign, such as a deposit recorded as a payment, is off by twice its amount.
• If the difference divides evenly by 9, look for two digits swapped, like 54 entered as 45.
• Work one month at a time. Find the first month where the ending balance disagrees with the statement. The problem is in that month.

What not to do

• Do not add a made-up adjustment to force the balance. It hides the problem, and your CPA will ask what it is.
• Do not delete reconciled transactions to make a number work. It breaks every reconciliation after that month.
• Do not skip credit cards. Card accounts drift out of balance just as easily as checking.

Reconciling every bank and card account once a month, soon after the statement arrives, keeps any error small and in one month. That is the core of monthly bookkeeping. If the books have been off for a long time, it becomes a cleanup.

Common questions

Why is my QuickBooks balance different from my bank balance today?

Usually timing. QuickBooks includes transactions you have recorded that have not cleared the bank yet, and the bank shows items not yet recorded in QuickBooks. What must match is the reconciled balance at each statement date.

Why did my beginning balance change in reconciliation?

Almost always because a transaction that was already reconciled was edited, deleted, voided or unreconciled. QuickBooks Online's Reconcile Discrepancy Report shows what changed, when and by whom.

Can I undo a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online?

Undoing a whole reconciliation at once is only available to an accountant working in QuickBooks Online Accountant, or a user with the In-house accountant role, and it also undoes every reconciliation after it. Business owners can unreconcile individual transactions, but it is safer to find the real cause first.

This guide is general information about bookkeeping, not tax or legal advice. Rules change, so check the details with your CPA before you act on them.