tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:/discussions/suggestions/281-reconcile-confusion-and-solutionInfinite Kind: Discussion 2017-05-04T09:53:29Ztag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/9384962010-01-30T14:21:05Z2010-01-30T14:21:05ZReconcile Confusion and Solution<div><p>I don't work for Moneydance, but I can offer some additional
thoughts why the status progression you mention doesn't always work
for me.</p>
<p>My goal when reconciling is to get the ledger balance sent by
the bank (you can see this balance by pressing the balance button
in the lower right of the register screen) equal to the sum of the
cleared transactions. Only then will I know that my records and the
banks records are the same.</p>
<p>Some of my financial institutions (Chase Mastercard for
instance), sends transactions ahead of the ledger balance, that is,
they send transactions for today, but the ledger balance is as of
close of business yesterday. So, if I just mark them all cleared,
the sum of the cleared transactions will not be equal to the ledger
balance the bank sends.</p>
<p>If you download often, you can just choose the reconcile step,
and accept the defaults it offers on the first screen, and it will
usually propose clearing the transactions that will make the
difference between the sum of the cleared transactions and ledger
balance equal to zero. You can just accept that, and it will mark
the correct transactions cleared.</p>
<p>This isn't a fault with Moneydance, it just downloads what the
bank is willing to send. Unfortunately, banks aren't consistent
with the information they send, but Moneydance is pretty flexible
in adapting to different styles. It isn't perfect, but since being
abandoned by MS Money, it is the best I have found.</p>
<p>Beginning in build 738, If you have to abandon the reconciling
step before you finish, it will leave the transactions in a
"reconciling" status. Also, you can mass select them by clicking
one, then doing a ctrl click on the others, then right click and
mass change them to reconciling or cleared.</p>
<p>The documentation is severely behind, and is a source of many
criticisms on this forum. The last comment I saw from MD was that
about mid February it would be revised.<br></p></div>Randytag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/9384962010-01-30T16:21:11Z2010-01-30T16:21:13ZReconcile Confusion and Solution<div><p>Randy, thanks for your post, but I don't understand your 4th
paragraph where you say "...you can just choose the reconcile
step...." Where do I choose this step? Is it where I click "Accept"
at the bottom of the screen, which makes the blue dot disappear?
Also, how does MD "propose clearing the transactions?" After I
accept a transaction, nothing in the program indicates that it has
cleared, other than the blue dot going away. I manually have to add
the orange diamond (mislabeled as "Reconciling") or green check
("Cleared").</p>
<p>I also come from MS Money and am new to Moneydance. When I do a
daily download in MD, I would like the program to act like Money
did. In other words, I would like a chance to accept the
transaction, have the transaction clearly marked as cleared and
accepted, then leave the transaction alone until the monthly
statement comes in and I reconcile. The current process in
Moneydance is not that simple, in that you have to accept each
transaction, then in a separate step mark each transaction with an
orange diamond (which is mislabeled as "Reconciling").</p>
<p>So far I am satisfied with the way MD displays my available
balances, including my ledger balance and current actual
balance.</p>
<p>Again, I appreciate your comments.</p></div>Jefftag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/9384962010-01-30T19:47:09Z2010-01-30T19:47:09ZReconcile Confusion and Solution<div><p>Accepting transactions and reconciling them are two separate
steps in Moneydance. They were in Money as well if you only
reconciled at the end of the month when you got a paper
statement.</p>
<p>I doubt they will be combined any time soon, but after you get
used to doing things a little differently, you shouldn't have any
trouble with it. Because of the speed of Moneydance, I can get
through with both steps faster than I could in Money, even though
they were somewhat together there. And, getting through is what
matters most with me.</p>
<p>The reconcile step moved on the menu in build 738.</p>
<p>In build 735 it was under Edit, in 738 it is under Account.
Check to see which build you are using so you will know (or just
look for it).</p>
<p>You have to have an account selected (one of the registers
visible), and you should finish accepting everything first. Then
accept the first screen, and on the second screen you should get
some transactions with the gold diamonds next to them. If the
difference is zero, press done and you are through...........</p></div>Randytag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/9384962010-01-30T19:52:03Z2010-01-30T19:52:03ZReconcile Confusion and Solution<div><p>Thanks, Randy. I will try what you suggested. And you are right.
I'm used to Money and not used to MD yet. Also, Money was a lot
"prettier" of an application than MD. I guess that's what happens
when Microsoft is the developer!</p>
<p>I have build 735. I read somewhere that build 738 is still in
beta. Do you know when it will be out of beta, or is it worth
downloading now?<br>
Thanks again.</p></div>Jeff Blumenthaltag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/9384962010-01-30T20:03:41Z2010-01-30T20:03:45ZReconcile Confusion and Solution<div><p>I just reread your post, and wanted to clarify my suggestion.
Basically, my suggestion is that an accepted transaction should be
automatically marked by MD in the "C" column, either with a
non-orange diamond, an "X," or something else. It is confusing to
me when I accept a cleared transaction, and there is still nothing
in the "C" column.</p>
<p>The next step, reconciling, comes when the statement is
delivered. After reconciling, the marker in the "C" column should
change to the green check mark.</p></div>jefftag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/9384962010-01-30T20:11:28Z2010-01-30T20:11:28ZReconcile Confusion and Solution<div><p>Its unlikely to get changed to a "C" since that is the
culmination of the reconcile step, not the culmination of the
Acceptance step.</p>
<p>We lobbied for a status (much like Money's "e" status), but so
far, the blue circle and the blue i are the indicators that the
developer seems to like.</p>
<p>If your transaction only has a blue i, it is similar to Money's
'e' after you have accepted them. If it has both a blue circle and
a blue i, that is kind of the way Money was when the type was bold
and the status was e.</p>
<p>You can also hit the unconfirmed filter at the top of the
register, and if the register is then blank, you know you don't
have any additional transactions to accept.</p>
<p>It just takes some time to get used to. I converted 8 months
ago, and now find it hard to remember all the stuff from Money (and
I used money for 10 years).<br></p></div>Randytag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/9384962010-01-30T21:52:11Z2010-01-30T21:52:16ZReconcile Confusion and Solution<div><p>This issue looks like it was covered in ticket no. 2562. How do
I "vote" for this ticket?</p></div>Jefftag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/9384962010-01-30T21:57:14Z2010-01-30T21:57:14ZReconcile Confusion and Solution<div><p>To vote on a ticket register and log into trac then click the up
arrow to the right of the "+1" at the top of the ticket.</p>
<p>Ben</p></div>Ben Spencer