If the first post of this series convinced you that reconciling your accounts matters, this one is going to show you how to actually do it. The good news is that QBO does most of the heavy lifting. Your job is to show up prepared and follow the steps.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Before you open QuickBooks, gather two things: your bank or credit card statements and your QBO data start date.
Gather printed statements or downloaded PDFs for every period you plan to reconcile. Don’t try to view statements live while logged into your bank, because you’ll likely get logged out repeatedly during the process, slowing you down.
If you’re not sure which statement to start with, you’ll need to find out the date of the oldest transaction in that account. Open the register for the account you’re reconciling and click the Date column header to sort all your transactions by date. You may need to click it twice to sort them in oldest-first order. Start reconciling with the statement that includes the oldest transaction in your register
Clear Your Bank Feed First
Before you open the reconcile screen, make sure your bank feed does not contain any uncoded transactions for the period you’re reconciling. QBO will give you a warning if there are transactions that still need to be coded, but don’t wait for the warning. Getting in the habit of clearing your bank feed first makes the reconciliation process cleaner and faster.
Open the Reconcile Screen
In QBO, click the Gear icon and select Reconcile, then choose the account you want to reconcile. Enter the ending balance and ending date from your statement header, then click Start Reconciling.
One important note for credit cards and lines of credit: you may see a field for finance charges. Leave it blank. Your bank feed has already brought those transactions into QBO, and entering them here will create a duplicate.
The Moment of Truth
Once you’re on the reconciliation screen, look at the top right corner. If you see a $0.00 difference, you’re ready to finish. When transactions come in through the bank feed, QBO automatically marks them as cleared, so everything on your reconciliation screen should already be selected for that date range.
If that’s what you’re seeing, click Finish Now. You’re almost done.
You’re Done!
After clicking Finish Now, QBO will give you a pop-up with a link to view and print your reconciliation report. Save it somewhere you can find it. That report is an important snapshot of what your account looked like as of that date and may be helpful in the future. (See the tip below for how to access prior reconciliation reports in QBO.)
If your difference was not $0.00, don’t panic. The next post in this series walks you through how to troubleshoot a reconciliation that won’t balance. Or if you’d rather get it sorted quickly, you can book an Ask Dena Anything appointment, and we’ll work through it together so your future reconciliations go smoothly.
TIP: How to Access Prior Reconciliations and Attach Your Statements
From the reconcile screen, look for the History by Account button in the top right corner. This screen shows all previous reconciliations for any of your accounts, and it’s where you can attach your bank or credit card statements to each completed reconciliation. Keeping your statements attached here means everything is in one place if you ever need to reference them later.