Reconcile an Account in QuickBooks Online- Instructions

Reconcile an Account in QuickBooks Online: Video Lesson

            This video lesson, titled “Reconciling Accounts,” shows you how to reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online. This video lesson on how to reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online is from our complete QuickBooks Online tutorial titled “Mastering QuickBooks Online Made Easy.”

Reconcile an Account in QuickBooks Online: Overview

            You can reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online to match the transactions on your monthly bank statement with the transactions in QuickBooks Online. This helps you detect bank errors and prevent fraud. You can only reconcile balance sheet accounts in QuickBooks Online.

How to Start Reconciling an Account in QuickBooks Online

            To reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online, click the “Settings” button in the QuickBooks Online toolbar. Then click the “Reconcile” link under the “Tools” heading in the drop-down menu to open the “Reconcile” page. The first time you open this page, you can click the “Get started” button to continue. Then click the “Let’s get reconciled” button in the pop-up window that opens to finally open the “Reconcile” page. When you return to this page in the future, it will immediately show the “Reconcile” page, instead.

Reconcile an Account in QuickBooks Online- Instructions: A picture of the “Reconcile” page in QuickBooks Online.

How to Enter Bank Statement Information

            In the “Reconcile” page, to select the account to reconcile, choose it from the “Account” drop-down. For the selected account, enter the account’s statement information into the “Add the following information” section. The account’s “Beginning balance” appears to the left. Enter the statement’s ending balance into the “Ending balance” field. Then enter the statement’s ending date into the “Ending date” field.

            If needed, then enter any bank service fees or interest earned into the “Enter the service charge or interest earned, if necessary” section. Enter any bank service fees into the “Service charge” field and then select the date and the account used to track bank service fees from the adjacent “Date” and “Expense account” drop-downs. To enter interest earned, type the amount of interest earned into the “Interest earned” field. Then select the date and the income account used to track interest income, from the adjacent “Date” and “Income account” drop-downs. To reconcile the account after entering the statement information, click the “Start reconciling” button at the bottom of the window.

Reconcile an Account in QuickBooks Online- Instructions: A picture of the “Reconcile (Account name)” window in QuickBooks Online.

How to Mark Transactions as Cleared

            In the “Reconcile (Account name)” page that opens, the transactions for the account as of the statement ending date appear on the “Payments,” “Deposits,” and “All” tabs. You can click these tabs to filter the transactions in the list below to show only the associated types of account transactions. Clicking the “Payments” tab shows payments in the transaction list. Clicking the “Deposits” tab shows only deposits in the transaction list. Clicking the “All” tab shows all account transactions.

            The information you entered from the account statement appears at the top of the page. The purpose of this page is to click the small circles at the right end of the transaction rows that appear in the account’s statement to mark them as “cleared” by placing a checkmark in the circles. After all transactions are found and marked as “cleared,” the “Difference” shown in the upper-right corner of the window should be zero. This means every account transaction in the statement is matched to a transaction in QuickBooks Online and, therefore, the transactions in both versions of the account are reconciled.

How to Filter Reconciliation Transactions

            By default, the list of transactions hides transactions that occur after the statement’s end date. To show all transactions, click the “X” button to the left of the “Statement ending date filter” in the upper-left corner of the transaction list or click the “Clear filter / View all” link in this same area to remove all filters. To apply filters to the transaction list, click the “Filter” drop-down button in the upper-left corner of the transaction list to select from filtering choices in the drop-down menu. Then click the “Apply” button in the drop-down menu to apply the filters you selected. You can remove applied filters by clicking the “X” button to the left of the applied filter’s name or by clicking the “Clear filter / View all” link.

How to Change the Statement Information

            If needed, to change the account statement’s information you entered, click the “Edit info” button in the upper-right corner of this page to open an “Edit the information from your statement” pane at the right side of the window. Change the account statement information, as needed, and then click the “Save” button in the lower-right corner of this pane to return to the “Reconcile (Account name)” page. Click the “Cancel” button in this pane to leave without saving any changes.

            The information at the top of the page shows the “Statement Ending Balance” minus the “Cleared Balance,” which should produce a “Difference” of zero after completing the account reconciliation. The account’s “Beginning Balance” minus the total “Payments” and “Deposits” selected in the transaction list also appear here.

How to Finish the Account Reconciliation

            The drop-down button in the upper-right corner of the page lets you manage the account reconciliation. After successfully reconciling an account, click or select the “Finish now” command from this drop-down button to save it and close the page.

            Alternatively, to save your work if you want to finish reconciling an account later or to leave to investigate an account discrepancy, select the “Save for later” command from this drop-down button to save your work and close the page. To return to finish the account reconciliation later, click the “Settings” button and then click the “Reconcile” link under the “Tools” heading in the drop-down menu again. Then select the same account again and click the adjacent “Resume reconciling” button to continue from where you left.

            Alternatively, to remove all your changes and close the reconciliation, select the “Close without saving” command from this drop-down button to open a “We’ll remove all of your changes” confirmation prompt window. Then click the “Close without saving” button in this window to confirm. Alternatively, to return to the reconciliation, click the “Go back” button in the prompt window.

How to View Reconciliation Reports

            After completing an account reconciliation, a reconciliation report becomes available. In the “You reconciled this account” window that appears, you can click the “View reconciliation report” link to view the report. Otherwise, click the “Done” button in this window to close it.

            Alternatively, to view an account reconciliation report later, click the “Settings” button. Then click the “Reconcile” link under the “Tools” heading in the drop-down menu to open the initial “Reconcile” page again. Then click the “History by account” link in the upper-right corner of that window to open a “History by account” page. Use the “Account” drop-down at the top of this page to select the account for which to view the previous reconciliation report. The account’s previous reconciliation reports then appear in list below. For the desired period, click the “View report” link under the “Action” column to open the report. Then click the “Print” button in the upper-right corner of the report to print it, if needed.

            To instead view a reconciliation summary page, click the “Summary” link in the upper-right corner of the “Reconcile” window. To return to the “Reconcile” page from the “Summary” or “History by account” page, click the “Reconcile” link in the upper-right corner of the window.

Reconcile an Account in QuickBooks Online: Instructions

Instructions on How to Start Reconciling an Account in QuickBooks Online

1. To reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online, click the “Settings” button in the QuickBooks Online toolbar.
2. Then click the “Reconcile” link under the “Tools” heading in the drop-down menu to open the “Reconcile” page.
3. The first time you open this page, you can click the “Get started” button to continue.
4. Then click the “Let’s get reconciled” button in the pop-up window that opens to finally open the “Reconcile” page.
5. When you return to this page in the future, it will immediately show the “Reconcile” page, instead.

Instructions on How to Enter Bank Statement Information

1. In the “Reconcile” page, to select the account to reconcile, choose it from the “Account” drop-down.
2. For the selected account, enter the account’s statement information into the “Add the following information” section.
3. The account’s “Beginning balance” appears to the left.
4. Enter the statement’s ending balance into the “Ending balance” field.
5. Then enter the statement’s ending date into the “Ending date” field.
6. If needed, then enter any bank service fees or interest earned into the “Enter the service charge or interest earned, if necessary” section.
7. To enter bank service fees, type the amount into the “Service charge” field and then select the date and the account used to track bank service fees from the adjacent “Date” and “Expense account” drop-downs.
8. To enter interest earned, type the amount of interest earned into the “Interest earned” field. Then select the date and the income account used to track interest income, from the adjacent “Date” and “Income account” drop-downs.
9. To reconcile the account after entering the statement information, click the “Start reconciling” button at the bottom of the window.

Instructions on How to Mark Transactions as Cleared

1. In the “Reconcile (Account name)” page that opens, the transactions for the account as of the statement ending date appear on the “Payments,” “Deposits,” and “All” tabs.
2. You can click these tabs to filter the transactions in the list below to show only the associated types of account transactions. Clicking the “Payments” tab shows payments in the transaction list. Clicking the “Deposits” tab shows only deposits in the transaction list. Clicking the “All” tab shows all account transactions.
3. The information you entered from the account statement appears at the top of the page.
4. The purpose of this page is to click the small circles at the right end of the transaction rows that appear in the account’s statement to mark them as “cleared” by placing a checkmark in the circles.
5. After all transactions are found and marked as “cleared,” the “Difference” shown in the upper-right corner of the window should be zero. This means every account transaction in the statement is matched to a transaction in QuickBooks Online and, therefore, the transactions in both versions of the account are reconciled.

Instructions on How to Filter Reconciliation Transactions

1. By default, the list of transactions hides transactions that occur after the statement’s end date.
2. To show all transactions, click the “X” button to the left of the “Statement ending date filter” in the upper-left corner of the transaction list or click the “Clear filter / View all” link in this same area to remove all filters.
3. To apply filters to the transaction list, click the “Filter” drop-down button in the upper-left corner of the transaction list to select from filtering choices in the drop-down menu.
4. Then click the “Apply” button in the drop-down menu to apply the filters you selected.
5. To remove applied filters, click the “X” button to the left of the applied filter’s name to clear an individual filter or click the “Clear filter / View all” link to clear all filters.

Instructions on How to Change the Statement Information

1. If needed, to change the account statement’s information you entered, click the “Edit info” button in the upper-right corner of this page to open an “Edit the information from your statement” pane at the right side of the window.
2. Change the account statement information, as needed, and then click the “Save” button in the lower-right corner of this pane to return to the “Reconcile (Account name)” page.
3. Alternatively, to leave without saving any changes, click the “Cancel” button in this pane.
4. The information at the top of the page shows the “Statement Ending Balance” minus the “Cleared Balance,” which should produce a “Difference” of zero after completing the account reconciliation.
5. The account’s “Beginning Balance” minus the total “Payments” and “Deposits” selected in the transaction list also appear here.

Instructions on How to Finish the Account Reconciliation

1. The drop-down button in the upper-right corner of the page lets you manage the account reconciliation.
2. After successfully reconciling an account, click or select the “Finish now” command from this drop-down button to save it and close the page.
3. To save your work if you want to finish reconciling an account later or to leave to investigate an account discrepancy, select the “Save for later” command from this drop-down button to save your work and close the page.
4. Alternatively, to return to finish the account reconciliation later, click the “Settings” button and then click the “Reconcile” link under the “Tools” heading in the drop-down menu again.
5. Then select the same account again and click the adjacent “Resume reconciling” button to continue from where you left.
6. Alternatively, to remove all your changes and close the reconciliation, select the “Close without saving” command from this drop-down button to open a “We’ll remove all of your changes” confirmation prompt window.
7. Then click the “Close without saving” button in this window to confirm.
8. Alternatively, to return to the reconciliation, click the “Go back” button in the prompt window.

Instructions on How to View Reconciliation Reports

1. After completing an account reconciliation, a reconciliation report becomes available.
2. To view the report, click the “View reconciliation report” link in the “You reconciled this account” window that appears.
3. Otherwise, click the “Done” button in this window to close it.
4. Alternatively, to view an account reconciliation report later, click the “Settings” button.
5. Then click the “Reconcile” link under the “Tools” heading in the drop-down menu to open the initial “Reconcile” page again.
6. Then click the “History by account” link in the upper-right corner of that window to open a “History by account” page.
7. Use the “Account” drop-down at the top of this page to select the account for which to view the previous reconciliation report.
8. The account’s previous reconciliation reports then appear in list below.
9. For the desired period, click the “View report” link under the “Action” column to open the report.
10. To print it, if needed, then click the “Print” button in the upper-right corner of the report.
11. To instead view a reconciliation summary page, click the “Summary” link in the upper-right corner of the “Reconcile” window.
12. To return to the “Reconcile” page from the “Summary” or “History by account” page, click the “Reconcile” link in the upper-right corner of the window.