John -- I understand your point and I agree -- but in GnuCash I have real estate values, mortgages, brokerage accounts, 401K accounts, car payment loans, etc. to track all accounts in one package. So while you are correct in your description (I am not really keeping a separate book for my bank account per se), I still need GnuCash to keep track of all assets and liability accounts because these are all from different banks or brokerage companies.
So -- specific just to checking account reconciliations in my situation -- it is really no longer needed. As long as I have online access to and can see my online transactions and account balance, the bank's record is my record - because I have instant access to the balance 24/7. It is analogous to my mother-in-call who calls every week. I can log in daily and always know what my balance is and what has cleared. As you said -- nothing really to reconcile to. GnuCash is just keeping the record of what has transpired. Now... if online banking goes away... that's a whole different story! Ken -----Original Message----- From: John Ralls <jra...@ceridwen.us> Sent: Saturday, July 4, 2020 9:17 AM To: py...@cox.net Cc: Michael Hendry <hendry.mich...@gmail.com>; Chris Good <goodchri...@gmail.com>; Gnucash <gnucash-user@gnucash.org> Subject: Re: [GNC] Keep the Reconciliation Feature (was Re: Gnucash 4.0 Paper Clip and Link glyphs for file/web transaction associations) You're confusing reconciliation with processing paper statements. Regardless of how you get the information from the bank the fact remains that there are two sets of books--yours in GnuCash and the bank's--and they need to be reconciled periodically to ensure that they agree. One could, of course, keep one's GnuCash book by downloading transactions from the bank. In that case you're not keeping a separate book and there's no point to reconciliation. But why bother with GnuCash if you're going to do that? Regards, John Ralls > On Jul 4, 2020, at 5:38 AM, py...@cox.net wrote: > > Michael -- again - it is a matter of personal preference. Every instance you > talk about is absolutely true for banking in the old days. I, too, used to > think that bank rec's were absolutely necessary -- in fact, as an auditor for > 30 years - I recommended them as a must have! > > But, with easy, on-line, instant access to balances and statements, > all-electronic payments (I maybe wrote 3 checks all of last year), and better > and faster electronic payment systems, the need for monthly reconciliations > has gone the way of the horse and buggy - for many people (not all - and > certainly not for businesses who write hundreds of check). It does get you > where you absolutely need to go -- it just is an old and tired mode of > transportation that have been surpassed by better and faster ways to get to > the same place! > > Ken > > (PS -- my mother-in-law still uses bank by phone to call the bank for > her balance instead of going online to see her balance. She does not > get paper statements because all banks charge for them now. She still > keeps a paper register as well. She reconciles manually once a week. > See the analogy?) > > -----Original Message----- > From: gnucash-user <gnucash-user-bounces+pyz01=cox....@gnucash.org> On > Behalf Of Michael Hendry > Sent: Friday, July 3, 2020 11:53 PM > To: Chris Good <goodchri...@gmail.com>; Gnucash > <gnucash-user@gnucash.org> > Subject: [GNC] Keep the Reconciliation Feature (was Re: Gnucash 4.0 > Paper Clip and Link glyphs for file/web transaction associations) > >> On 4 Jul 2020, at 02:45, Chris Good <goodchri...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Hi Ken, >> >> I'm afraid I'm in the group that finds reconciling very useful. I >> want to know if anyone is charging me when they shouldn't be, without >> having to check my phone all the time. Admittedly it happens so >> infrequently I could probably do without it, but I sleep better with it. >> >> I know a developer is considering restructuring the columns to make >> better use of wider displays. Maybe that will help you in future. >> Myself, I don't really want to use the whole screen, but who knows, I >> often find I automatically dislike change but end up liking it. >> >> Regards, >> Chris Good > > > I agree with Chris that reconciliation is very useful, and I’d go so far as > to say essential. > > Without it, my reaction to an incoming bank or credit card statement couldn’t > be more precise than “that looks about right”, with a gradual slide away from > synchronisation. > > A few examples: > > My pension is paid net of tax and I set up a Scheduled Transaction (Sx) at > the start of the financial year. My tax code varies through the year, and the > net payment is tweaked during the year to get the whole-year tax-take correct > - reconciliation allows me to knock these small differences into line. > > Similarly, my mobile phone bill includes most of what I need in a fixed > monthly payment, recorded by Sx, but occasionally adjusted to deal with > surcharges for out-of-contract services. > > Apart from my personal accounts, I deal with the bookkeeping for two small > charities, whose accounts have to be certified by a qualified accountant for > submission to the Office of the Scottish Charity Register. “About right” is > not sufficient for this purpose, and as our accountants charge nominal sums > for the service it is a matter of common courtesy to minimise (if not abolish > altogether) any queries. One particular example from last year was an > unpresented cheque which had been sent to another charity for a joint project > and recorded through our books some months before the end-of-year. > > Regards, > > Michael Hendry > > > _______________________________________________ > gnucash-user mailing list > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. > ----- > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. > > _______________________________________________ > gnucash-user mailing list > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. > ----- > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. 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