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Unexplained Balance

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Michael

Jan 12, 2010 @ 06:05 AM

I've done a search for "Starting Balance" but still have questions. I'm going from Quicken (PC) to MD Mac. I'm not even going to attempt to download many years of past history. I set up all of my accounts from scratch. My first entry for all accounts in the Description area Is the following. "QUICKEN ENDING BALANCE AS OF 12/31/2009" I put the dollar amount in the Deposit column, hit New Transaction and of course that same dollar amount appears is the Balance column just like it should. I have made transaction changes to 4 of these accounts. It adds and subtracts on three of them correctly. However, the last one (checking) did something really strange. The initial starting balance as of 12/31/2009 was $1,906.54. That amount appeared in both the Deposit column and the Balance column for that transaction as it should. I made a deposit of $1,550.47 and things got weird. This is the only 2 transactions in this account, no transfers were involved. The first transaction did not have $1,906.54 in each column any longer which was the opening balance. It had $1,906.54 in the Deposit column but the Balance column
changed to $3,457.01. This is of course the total of the two transactions. The second transaction (deposit) had $1,550.47 in both columns. I searched and found how the staff suggested we make a starting balance and did that for this one account only because the other three accounts had debits and credits and the money was correct in all three. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to try to explain it so it would hopefully make sense.

QUESTION 1 - Any idea why only one account messed up like this and do I have to worry about this in the future?
QUESTION 2 - Is there anything wrong with the way my other accounts are set up that's going to cause me problems down the road?

THANKS ALL.

1. 1 Posted by -Kevin N. on Jan 12, 2010 @ 04:47 PM

   

   Hi Michael, This may or may not resolve the issue you're having but it's worth a try.
   The columns are sortable. Try clicking the header of each column in Checking to see if it resolves the order of the balances.

   I don't see anything wrong with the way you set up your accounts. Personally, I use the "Initial Balance" method from the Account > Edit Account... window.

   HTH -Kevin N.
   

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2. 2 Posted by Ben Spencer on Jan 12, 2010 @ 08:15 PM

   

   Hi Michael

   I would definitely delete the initial balance transactions and just enter the initial balance for each account in the edit account window. Click on an account to bring up its account register and then select Account->"Edit Account". There is a field there for the initial balance.

   When you set up initial balances the way you are doing where is the money coming from? i.e. What are you setting as the category for these transactions? Setting the initial balance field in the edit account window will create the initial balance out of thin air you don't need to be concerned with how the transaction is categorized.

   Sincerely

   Ben Spencer

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3. 3 Posted by Michael on Jan 12, 2010 @ 08:40 PM

   

   Makes sense, Thank you very much.

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4. 4 Posted by Ben Spencer on Jan 12, 2010 @ 08:45 PM

   

   You are welcome.
   Ben

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5. Ben Spencer closed this discussion on Jan 12, 2010 @ 08:45 PM.