How to undo a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online - the easy way

3 days ago 11

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

QuickBooks hides reconciliation undo features from mean users.
Reversing aged reconciliations requires undoing them successful sequence.
Switching into Accountant mode unlocks the concealed "Undo" option.

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Regardless of the size of your company, 1 of the astir important accounting tasks you tin bash is simply a regular reconciliation. This is fundamentally company-speak for balancing your checkbook.

When you reconcile, you comparison the records successful your ain bookkeeping strategy with the records from a slope oregon recognition card. Essentially, you're going down a database point by item, and making definite determination are nary missing, duplicate, oregon extraneous items. This helps you support your records connected track, place immoderate incorrect charges, and marque definite that you cognize precisely wherever you stand.

Using QuickBooks Online, the process of reconciliation is reasonably simple, if a spot tedious. The process of reversing a reconciliation to close an mistake is not rather arsenic easy.

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In this article, I'm going to locomotion you done a time-saving hack that's benignant of a cheat codification for this situation.

My woman and I person been utilizing QuickBooks Online beauteous overmuch regular for conscionable astir 20 years to negociate our tiny business. We are not accountants, however. I'll amusement you immoderate of the tricks we've picked up implicit the years, but if you're successful immoderate uncertainty astatine all, cheque with your accountant.

What not to bash

This is simply a emblematic slope registry leafage successful QuickBooks Online. Everything is redacted due to the fact that I'm really utilizing my company's existent QBO relationship to amusement you this process.

Note the 2 greenish arrows: 1 points to a C and 1 points to an R. The C items are considered "cleared," meaning they've been checked into QuickBooks, usually erstwhile we update the relationship via a web transportation to a banking institution.

The R items are those that person been reconciled successful a monthly reconciliation pass. Usually, erstwhile there's an mistake successful a reconciliation, 1 oregon much of those Rs are successful the incorrect spot oregon a incorrect state.

Do not -- bash not, bash not, DO NOT -- beryllium tempted to fiddle straight with the Cs and Rs to close a reconciliation. The lone effect volition beryllium chaos and madness.

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Don't inquire maine however I know(!), but support successful caput I've been utilizing this instrumentality for a very agelong time.

Know your reconciliation past

To get started cleaning up an aged reconciliation, spell up to the cogwheel paper and take Reconcile from nether the Tools category.

QuickBooks whitethorn contiguous immoderate accusation screens earlier you get to the reconcile page. Once you're there, click connected History by Account.

Keep successful caput that reconciliation takes spot connected an account-by-account basis, truthful take the relationship wherever your mistake lives.

Here you tin spot our reconciliation past for 2025. As you tin see, the connection dates way with the extremity of each month, but immoderate of our reconciliations instrumentality a small longer to get done.

What I privation you to announcement is that determination are idiosyncratic reconciliations going backmost to 2024 successful this screenshot, and acold further backmost successful reality. Your QBO relationship reconciliation past volition apt beryllium similar.

Now, this is important. If you conscionable privation to hole the 6/30 statement, which was reconciled connected 7/31, you would conscionable reverse that 1 reconciliation. But if you request to hole the 1/31 statement, which was reconciled connected 3/2, you would archetypal person to reverse the reconciliations for the 6/30, 5/31, 4/30, 3/31, and 2/28 statements. Only past could you reverse the 1/31 connection reconciliation.

Then, erstwhile each of those person been reversed, past (and lone then) tin you spell backmost and re-reconcile each those accounts.

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And yes, I cognize I haven't yet told you however to reverse a reconciliation. It's important to get an thought of the scope of the task earlier you hack distant astatine your bookkeeping records without pre-planning your people of action.

You can't get determination from present (but you will)

The evident spot from which to reverse a reconciliation would beryllium from this reconciliation History by Account page. You mightiness ideate that you could spell to that drop-down paper nether Action and prime thing to marque everything each better.

But you can't. The lone enactment nether Action is Print Report. If you take Print Report, there's thing wrong determination that volition let you to undo a reconciliation either.

The information is, if you're a concern proprietor utilizing QuickBooks Online, you cannot undo a reconciliation. That doesn't mean it can't beryllium done, conscionable that Intuit would similar that those of america who are untrained successful the arcane acheronian arts of accounting should not dabble successful forces we whitethorn not understand.

But you and I didn't get to the constituent wherever we're concern owners without having the information and quality to get our ain way. I'll amusement you how. But first, let's speech astir doing it the champion practices way.

Ask your accountant

Technically, the close mode to bash this is to crook to your accountant. QuickBooks has a mode of allowing decently trained accounting professionals into your QuickBooks relationship (with your approval, of course), and letting them undo the reconciliation.

That way, they tin negociate each the imaginable ramifications of taking specified an action. After all, if you got yourself into this trouble, who's to accidental you tin beryllium trusted to get yourself retired of it?

You privation to cognize a secret? In each my years successful business, I've learned that conscionable astir the lone 1 who volition assistance maine get retired of occupation I've caused myself is me. If you're speechmaking this and didn't conscionable spell moving to your accountant the infinitesimal you screwed up your reconcile, I cognize you identify.

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So let's hole things. Congratulations! You're astir to go an accountant.

Setting up an accountant relationship

We're going to bash this successful a two-step process. First, I'll amusement you however to acceptable yourself up arsenic your ain accountant. Then I'll amusement you the superpower you get erstwhile you log successful arsenic an accountant.

Go backmost up to the cogwheel icon and this clip prime Manage Users.

You'll beryllium brought into your company's idiosyncratic absorption page. We person 2 users. The happening you privation to do, though, is click connected Accounting Firms. Do that now.

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We person already created our ain fictitious accounting firm. Your leafage volition astir apt beryllium empty, unless you antecedently invited an accounting steadfast into your QuickBooks Online account. Go up and click Invite.

You'll request a unsocial name, email address, and institution name. Make definite that email code is 1 that really gets email, since you'll request to usage it to corroborate the invitation.

Once you get the email, travel the directions and acceptable up your account. Make definite you acceptable up each the information protections QBO offers. Remember that this is an relationship that volition person afloat entree to your concern records, but 1 that you'll beryllium utilizing reasonably rarely. You privation it to beryllium secure.

You'll request to log retired of QuickBooks Online utilizing your concern proprietor individuality truthful you tin acceptable up your accountant account.

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Once that's done, you'll beryllium capable to log successful arsenic either the concern proprietor oregon the accountant. Go up and log successful arsenic the accountant. You'll spot thing similar this display.

This is an interface for an accountant who mightiness person aggregate clients. Since we're our ain lone accounting client, there's conscionable one. The large happening to announcement is that alternatively of saying QuickBooks Online successful the precocious near corner, it present says Accountant.

Make definite you spot this earlier moving connected to undo the reconciliation. Now, it's clip to usage your caller accountant superpowers to region that reconciliation.

What not to bash (part 2)

If you're similar me, you'll spell backmost up to the cogwheel menu, prime Reconcile from nether Tools, and past click connected History by Account. You've done each this before.

You'll dutifully click connected the drop-down and spot nary of your accounts. There are nary reconciliations oregon thing other of overmuch use.

I'm showing you this due to the fact that erstwhile you get here, it's a spot baffling. What happened to those reconciliations? Now that you've seen this problem, you'll cognize you're not lost. You're conscionable not successful the close place.

How to undo that reconciliation

Go to the precise apical of your screen. Make definite you're successful Accountant mode (by seeing Accountant successful the corner). Now, spot wherever it says "Go to QuickBooks"?

Click it. You'll spot a database of each clients. Remember that we're successful Accountant mode, wherever QuickBooks thinks you're astir apt servicing a clump of accounting clients. So you request to archer QBO which client's records you're moving on. Click the sanction of your institution successful the All Clients list.

Let maine beryllium clear. This is not intuitively obvious. Instead of saying "Go to QuickBooks," that paper should accidental "Choose Client". But it doesn't. It's a concealed way reserved solely for accountants to know. It's taught successful the 4th week of ACC 534 Accounting Information Systems, close aft you larn the concealed legume antagonistic handshake. Feh.

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In immoderate case, present you know. Once you prime the company, QuickBooks volition archer you "Switching Companies" and past enactment you into what appears to beryllium your company's accounting ledger, but this clip you truly volition person those accountant superpowers.

Now spell backmost up to the cogwheel menu, prime Reconcile from nether Tools, and past click connected History by Account. You've done this before, but this clip you'll spot your accounts. Choose the relationship you privation to unreconcile.

Notice (at 1) that Accountant is nary longer shown successful the precocious near corner. You're inactive successful Accountant mode, but QuickBooks inexplicably doesn't privation to archer you that anymore.

But here's the crushed you've been speechmaking this full article. Now, nether View Report, there's an Undo enactment (at 2). This is what you want. Choose it.

QuickBooks Online volition amusement you the pursuing warning. It's good worthy reading.

Specifically, the informing connection tells you what's going to hap to your records. It will:

Delete the reconciliation report
Delete immoderate work oregon concern charges, interest, and equilibrium adjustments that were entered during reconciliation
Revert each the statement's transactions from reconciled to cleared oregon uncleared status
Revert the opening equilibrium backmost to the erstwhile opening balance

In different words, you're astir to ascent into a one-way-only clip machine. Anything you did arsenic portion of the reconciliation, including fixing accounting data, volition beryllium undone.

But this is what you want. Go up and click Yes. As I recall, there's different informing aft this 1 that double-checks if you privation to undo the reconcile. Since I'm seizing screenshots utilizing my unrecorded institution account, I'm not going to click connected Yes.

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You should conscionable travel the prompts and corroborate immoderate "are you sure?" questions. Once you bash so, you'll beryllium done. Your reconciliation volition beryllium undone.

And determination you go. Make definite you log retired of Accountant mode and log backmost successful utilizing your regular QuickBooks Online idiosyncratic ID. Go up and redo that reconciliation, but get it close this time, okay?

Have you ever had to undo a reconciliation successful QuickBooks Online? Did you effort to hole it yourself, oregon did you crook to an accountant? What challenges did you tally into erstwhile reversing reconciliations, and bash you deliberation Intuit should marque the process much straightforward for concern owners? Let america cognize successful the comments below.

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