Using reconcile

You can reconcile directly within your account register.

1. Select the account you want to reconcile from the sidebar.
2. Click the Reconcile icon on the lower right side of the register action bar. You can also go to Quicken > Accounts > Reconcile Account. The reconcile window displays all your transactions in the selected register, with the Clr column.

Reconcile consists of two steps. The first step is to choose whether you want to reconcile against an online balance or a paper statement. The second step is where you clear transactions against your bank and Quicken helps you do the math to calculate whether your balance is on target or not.

Step 1

Reconcile against an online balance

If the account is set up for downloads

1. Make sure that Use Online Balance is selected.
2. If the date of the last download shown is recent, go to step 3. If you want a more recent download, click the Update Now button.
3. Click Next.

If the account is not set up for downloads but you want to use a balance from the bank

1. Select Use Online Balance.
2. Enter the account balance that you obtained from the bank via their website or telephone access into the Online Balance field.
3. Click Next.

Reconcile against a paper statement

If you plan to use a paper statement

1. Quicken will display the starting balance, which it calculates as the sum of all reconciled transactions in your register. You do not normally edit this field. Note: This field is not the same as the starting balance field that was used in versions of Quicken prior to 3.5.
2. Edit the Statement Ending Date field if the date shown is incorrect.
3. Enter the ending account balance from your bank statement into the Statement Ending Balance field.
4. Click Next.

Step 2

Clear transactions and make adjustments

After you click Next, you'll be presented with a new view that calculates the balance of your cleared transactions as you check them off.

1. Start reconciling by reviewing and comparing the transactions entered in Quicken with the transactions listed in your bank statement.
2. Make adjustments wherever required. For example, you manually entered a phone bill expense for $10. However, the bank statement shows the actual bill is $11. In this case, edit the transaction and change the amount to $11.
3. In the Clr column, select the checkbox for the transactions that match with your bank statement. By default, the downloaded transactions will be checked.
4. Ideally, after reviewing and comparing the transactions, the difference must be 0 (zero). If it isn't zero, don't worry! The section below explains the workarounds.
5. Click Finish Now when the difference is 0 and all the transactions for the specified period are checked. If you are reconciling a credit card account, the ending balance should equal what is currently owed.
6. If the difference is not 0 and the sum of your cleared transactions does not match with the ending balance in your bank statement, a pop-up is displayed with these options:
• Save and Finish Later: Select this option to save the reconciling changes you made and continue reconciling later.
• Add Adjustment: Select this option to add a new adjustment transaction with the difference amount. For example, if the difference amount is $450, a new adjustment transaction for $450 is added in your register.

Please note that these steps assume that you reconciled successfully in the previous reconciliation period. The reason you must have reconciled previous months first is that the starting balance, which is the sum of your reconciled transactions, must equal the bank’s sum of all transactions up to but not including the current period.

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