Correct Differences

In the Reconcile dialog, if the Difference amount is not zero, it means that your account is not balancing for the current statement period. This usually occurs for one of two reasons: either a wrong number of payment or deposit items have been checked or some of the checked items have incorrect dollar amounts.

First you have to find the mistake. Begin by counting the number of credit items on your bank statement, and then count the number of deposits shown in the Reconcile dialog. If the number doesn't match, you've found the problem. Either add the deposit you forgot to enter into Quicken using the New (New Transaction) button, or uncheck a deposit that you marked in error.

If the problem isn't with credits, it is with the checks and payments. Compare the number of checks and payments on your bank statement against the number of debit items in the Reconcile dialog. It's possible that you may not have recorded an item in the register, or you might have duplicated a transaction, entered a payment as a deposit or a deposit as a payment, or marked an item cleared by mistake. You may have also missed adding bank service charges to your register that you'll find on your statement.

If the number of items is correct but the statement still doesn't balance, you have a problem with the dollar amount of one or more of your items. By hand or using a calculator, add up all the transactions shown under Payments and Checks , and compare the total with the total of debits on the statement. If the numbers don't match, you have a problem with the dollar amount of one or more of the debits. Compare each transaction on the statement with the corresponding entry under Payments and Checks until you find the culprit. If the debits are okay, check the dollar amounts of all the Deposits.

If the dollar amount of an unreconciled balance is small, you may decide that it's not worth the time it takes to track down the mistake. In that case, you can let Quicken enter a register adjustment, which will force your account to reconcile. If you click the Finished button in the Reconcile dialog while there is still a difference, Quicken will pop up the Adjust Balance dialog.

If you want Quicken to enter an account adjustment, click the Adjust button. If you want to take another whack at finding the mistake, click the Cancel button.