Quite right. In some investment accounts that only have monthly or quarterly dividends, they are reconciled once a year.
On Sun, Jan 19, 2025 at 11:28 AM Jediator <jedia...@artemisspace.com> wrote: > Monthly reconciliation isn't the only way. I found it more less > time-consuming to do quarterly or semi-annually reconciliation instead > of monthly, if most of your account transactions are in-sync with the > banks' (and you don't have any monthly audit requirement). In the recon > window, just enter the date of your latest bank statement, enter the > ending balance amount, and go through the rest of the recon steps. In > most cases, the transactions should be reconciled without problems. In > case of any discrepancies and you couldn't find the missing > transactions, you can go back to a statement with shorter timeline and > go through the recon process... > > I've been dreaming of an AI-enabled GnuCash that imports OFX files > monthly from your bank, maps accounts using machine learning, and > generates reconciliation report without a single human touch, if I could > only get less sleep and find that $1M funding... > > -- ND > On 1/19/25 10:55 AM, John Morris wrote: > > I do an honest-to-god reconciliation to a statement every month for > > many of our accounts. The main reason I do this is it gives me a > > recent touch point where I can prove that the bank and I really did > > agree. While I also look at our most active accounts almost daily, > > those looks are useless in the case of a discrepancy. If I have to > > call the bank about an error, the representative on the other end of > > that call will put little credence in "It looked fine yesterday." I > > agree that a bank error is rare, but they are not unheard of. > > > > I do have to admit that my situation is somewhat more complex than > > the one Ken describes. My GnuCash books are home to several hundred > > different asset and liability accounts grouped into five different > > "business" areas to track our personal, extended family, and > > self-employed finances. A typical month sees two or three hundred > > transactions added to the general ledger. Also, while I went paperless > > decades ago, the world around me stubbornly refuses to join me. About > > 10% of those new transactions represent paper checks, most ordered > > through my bank. Some of those paper checks went uncashed for as much > > as six months in the last year. > > > > So, while a daily look at the really active accounts keeps me > > abreast of our financial situation, the monthly reconciliation is > > another important part of my routine. > > > > Best, > > John > > > > On 2025-01-19 12:51 AM, R Losey wrote: > > > >> It is the habit in our household to put all paper receipts in a > >> drawer, and > >> I have a set time (each week) to enter those transactions (because so > >> much > >> is done online, I also go through email looking for electronic > >> receipts). > >> Please note that this is not a hard-and-fast rule; sometimes, I enter > >> transactions shortly after they occur, if I happen to feel like it. > >> > >> But I still reconcile with the bank balance (not statement) each month; > >> yes, I could do it weekly, but monthly is working for me. However, this > >> helps me to ensure that no one in the household forgot to put a > >> receipt in > >> the drawer; various ones of us have forgotten (receipts found to have > >> been > >> languishing in a wallet or purse -- or worse, someone lost a receipt). > >> Moreover, there are some charges that occur for which I get no > >> notification > >> -- for example, the Amazon Prime membership, or Amazon's "Subscribe & > >> Save" > >> items -- those just occur with no notification. A regular reconciliation > >> helps me to find these things. > >> > >> Maybe this is not considered an "old-fashioned monthly bank > >> reconciliation", since I am reconciling to current balance, not to some > >> statement. > >> > >> > >> On Sat, Jan 18, 2025 at 7:54 PM Ken Pyzik <py...@outlook.com> wrote: > >> > >>> All — First, I want to apologize for the length of this rant. We will > >>> always agree to disagree on this subject. Please understand, I am a > >>> retired 30 year bank auditor. I know the purpose of what a > >>> reconciliation > >>> is. But what I don't understand is this obsession with doing monthly > >>> reconciliations for personal accounts on your computer. > >>> > >>> First, I have not received a "paper" statement from my bank in over 20 > >>> years. My statements are all online. Second, I sign-in to my > >>> (checking > >>> and credit card) accounts almost daily. So I know exactly when every > >>> deposit or charge hits my accounts. Third, in this day and age, I > >>> write, > >>> maybe, one check a month, to my landscaper who does not have direct > >>> deport. Other than that, my 20-30 transactions per month are all > >>> electronic. Also, I charge almost everything on my charge card. So > >>> any > >>> money I spend is on my charge card statement. > >>> > >>> Fourth, I enter transactions in GnuCash whenever I feel I have a few > >>> spare > >>> moments and my GnuCash balances nearly always match my online account > >>> balances except for when my landscaper takes too long to cash his > >>> check, or > >>> an electronic transaction takes more than a day or two to clear. > >>> Fifth, the > >>> whole purpose of the reconciliation process is to identify transactions > >>> that you either know to be coming or that you think will be coming that > >>> have not been reflected on your current bank balance so you don't > >>> overdraw > >>> your account or so that an unauthorized charge does not slip by. > >>> > >>> With that backdrop — as you can probably tell, I have not done an > >>> old-fashioned monthly bank reconciliation in eons. Technically, since I > >>> sign-in almost every day, I guess you can say I do a > >>> mini-reconciliation of > >>> my accounts daily (or almost daily!) and because of that, I know > >>> exactly > >>> what my balance is almost all the time. Additionally, if I see any > >>> unknown > >>> transaction online (which is like never!), I can call my bank almost > >>> anytime and discuss with them what the transaction is and usually > >>> get it > >>> rectified rather quickly. And the benefits of looking at my account > >>> everyday is that I can see it hit that day! > >>> > >>> So, with all that being said, can someone please explain to me why > >>> people > >>> are wasting their time doing manual C/N reconciliations on a bunch of > >>> transactions on their computer? I would think they could use their > >>> time > >>> much more effectively doing something else. You see, the reason for > >>> reconciliations in the past were that you did not have the access, > >>> as you > >>> do today, to go and see exactly what the balance is or what > >>> transactions > >>> have cleared in your account, anytime, anywhere, 24-hours a day! > >>> > >>> Reconciliations are vital for a business so they have documented > >>> proof of > >>> their transactions. Also, they sometimes are required by government > >>> regulations or company policies. So I get their need in the business > >>> world. But reconciliations for your personal accounts are a thing > >>> of the > >>> past. In this day and age, transactions clear pretty quickly. The > >>> longest > >>> it takes for a transaction to clear is usually a manual check - and > >>> that's > >>> only dependent on how long it takes for someone to deposit it into > >>> their > >>> account. Hell, I have had some transactions clear in as quick as 10 > >>> seconds (for internal transfers or internal payments to a bank CC). > >>> > >>> Again — there will be many who will totally disagree with me, and > >>> that's > >>> OK, but I still don't see the reason for a monthly reconciliation > >>> process > >>> to true up your personal accounts. Waiting until you get a > >>> statement in 30 > >>> days to see if your GNUCash balance matches the bank is crazy to me > >>> when I > >>> can see it and balance it every day! > >>> > >>> In the end - I guess my 1 minute per day is probably someone else's 30 > >>> minutes at the end of the month or whenever they get their electronic > >>> statement. But in today's electronic banking environment, why would > >>> someone wait 30 days to get a statement from the bank to reconcile > >>> their > >>> personal accounts, when they can see the balance on their own, any > >>> day and > >>> anytime and balance it daily? Seems counter-intuitive and > >>> counter-productive to me. But I guess that's just my preference. > >>> > >>> Ken > >>> > >>> PS - by the way — this is also exactly why banks charge for paper > >>> monthly > >>> statements now. They are required by law to give you a statement - > >>> but if > >>> you want it on paper - they are allowed to charge for that paper > >>> since it > >>> is available electronically all the time - everyday after they > >>> generate it. > > _______________________________________________ > > gnucash-user mailing list > > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: > > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > > ----- > > 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 > ----- > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. > -- _________________________________ Richard Losey rlo...@gmail.com Micah 6:8 _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. 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