How To Undo A Reconciliation In Quickbooks Online - The Easy Way

3 weeks ago

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

QuickBooks hides reconciliation undo features from normal users.
Reversing aged reconciliations requires undoing them successful sequence.
Switching into Accountant mode unlocks nan concealed "Undo" option.

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Regardless of nan size of your company, 1 of nan astir important accounting tasks you tin do is simply a regular reconciliation. This is fundamentally company-speak for balancing your checkbook.

When you reconcile, you comparison nan records successful your ain bookkeeping strategy pinch nan records from a slope aliases in installments card. Essentially, you're going down a database point by item, and making judge location are nary missing, duplicate, aliases extraneous items. This helps you support your records connected track, place immoderate incorrect charges, and make judge that you cognize precisely wherever you stand.

Using QuickBooks Online, nan process of reconciliation is reasonably simple, if a spot tedious. The process of reversing a reconciliation to correct an correction is not rather arsenic easy.

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In this article, I'm going to locomotion you done a time-saving hack that's benignant of a cheat codification for this situation.

My woman and I person been utilizing QuickBooks Online beautiful overmuch regular for conscionable astir 20 years to negociate our mini business. We are not accountants, however. I'll show you immoderate of nan tricks we've picked up complete nan years, but if you're successful immoderate uncertainty astatine all, cheque pinch your accountant.

What not to do

This is simply a emblematic slope registry page successful QuickBooks Online. Everything is redacted because I'm really utilizing my company's existent QBO relationship to show you this process.

Note nan 2 greenish arrows: 1 points to a C and 1 points to an R. The C items are considered "cleared," meaning they've been checked into QuickBooks, usually erstwhile we update nan relationship via a web relationship to a banking institution.

The R items are those that person been reconciled successful a monthly reconciliation pass. Usually, erstwhile there's an correction successful a reconciliation, 1 aliases much of those Rs are successful nan incorrect spot aliases a incorrect state.

Do not -- do not, do not, DO NOT -- beryllium tempted to fiddle straight pinch nan Cs and Rs to correct a reconciliation. The only consequence will beryllium chaos and madness.

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Don't inquire maine really I know(!), but support successful mind I've been utilizing this instrumentality for a very agelong time.

Know your reconciliation history

To get started cleaning up an aged reconciliation, spell up to nan cogwheel paper and take Reconcile from nether nan Tools category.

QuickBooks whitethorn coming immoderate accusation screens earlier you get to nan reconcile page. Once you're there, click connected History by Account.

Keep successful mind that reconciliation takes spot connected an account-by-account basis, truthful take nan relationship wherever your correction lives.

Here you tin spot our reconciliation history for 2025. As you tin see, nan connection dates way pinch nan extremity of each month, but immoderate of our reconciliations return a small longer to get done.

What I want you to announcement is that location are individual reconciliations going backmost to 2024 successful this screenshot, and acold further backmost successful reality. Your QBO relationship reconciliation history will apt beryllium similar.

Now, this is important. If you conscionable want to hole nan 6/30 statement, which was reconciled connected 7/31, you would conscionable reverse that 1 reconciliation. But if you request to hole nan 1/31 statement, which was reconciled connected 3/2, you would first person to reverse nan reconciliations for nan 6/30, 5/31, 4/30, 3/31, and 2/28 statements. Only past could you reverse nan 1/31 connection reconciliation.

Then, erstwhile each of those person been reversed, past (and only then) tin you spell backmost and re-reconcile each those accounts.

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And yes, I cognize I haven't yet told you really to reverse a reconciliation. It's important to get an thought of nan scope of nan task earlier you hack distant astatine your bookkeeping records without pre-planning your people of action.

You can't get location from present (but you will)

The evident spot from which to reverse a reconciliation would beryllium from this reconciliation History by Account page. You mightiness ideate that you could spell to that drop-down paper nether Action and prime thing to make everything each better.

But you can't. The only action nether Action is Print Report. If you take Print Report, there's thing wrong location that will let you to undo a reconciliation either.

The truth is, if you're a business proprietor utilizing QuickBooks Online, you cannot undo a reconciliation. That doesn't mean it can't beryllium done, conscionable that Intuit would for illustration that those of america who are untrained successful nan arcane acheronian arts of accounting should not dabble successful forces we whitethorn not understand.

But you and I didn't get to nan constituent wherever we're business owners without having nan information and expertise to get our ain way. I'll show you how. But first, let's talk astir doing it nan champion practices way.

Ask your accountant

Technically, nan correct measurement to do this is to move to your accountant. QuickBooks has a measurement of allowing decently trained accounting professionals into your QuickBooks relationship (with your approval, of course), and letting them undo nan reconciliation.

That way, they tin negociate each nan imaginable ramifications of taking specified an action. After all, if you sewage yourself into this trouble, who's to opportunity you tin beryllium trusted to get yourself retired of it?

You want to cognize a secret? In each my years successful business, I've learned that conscionable astir nan only 1 who will thief maine get retired of problem I've caused myself is me. If you're reference this and didn't conscionable spell moving to your accountant nan infinitesimal you screwed up your reconcile, I cognize you identify.

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So let's hole things. Congratulations! You're astir to go an accountant.

Setting up an accountant relationship

We're going to do this successful a two-step process. First, I'll show you really to group yourself up arsenic your ain accountant. Then I'll show you nan superpower you get erstwhile you log successful arsenic an accountant.

Go backmost up to nan cogwheel icon and this clip prime Manage Users.

You'll beryllium brought into your company's personification guidance page. We person 2 users. The point you want to do, though, is click connected Accounting Firms. Do that now.

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We person already created our ain fictitious accounting firm. Your page will astir apt beryllium empty, unless you antecedently invited an accounting patient into your QuickBooks Online account. Go up and click Invite.

You'll request a unsocial name, email address, and institution name. Make judge that email reside is 1 that really gets email, since you'll request to usage it to corroborate nan invitation.

Once you get nan email, travel nan directions and group up your account. Make judge you group up each nan information protections QBO offers. Remember that this is an relationship that will person afloat entree to your business records, but 1 that you'll beryllium utilizing reasonably rarely. You want it to beryllium secure.

You'll request to log retired of QuickBooks Online utilizing your business proprietor personality truthful you tin group up your accountant account.

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Once that's done, you'll beryllium capable to log successful arsenic either nan business proprietor aliases nan accountant. Go up and log successful arsenic nan accountant. You'll spot thing for illustration this display.

This is an interface for an accountant who mightiness person aggregate clients. Since we're our ain only accounting client, there's conscionable one. The large point to announcement is that alternatively of saying QuickBooks Online successful nan precocious near corner, it now says Accountant.

Make judge you spot this earlier moving connected to undo nan reconciliation. Now, it's clip to usage your caller accountant superpowers to region that reconciliation.

What not to do (part 2)

If you're for illustration me, you'll spell backmost up to nan cogwheel menu, prime Reconcile from nether Tools, and past click connected History by Account. You've done each this before.

You'll dutifully click connected nan drop-down and spot nary of your accounts. There are nary reconciliations aliases thing other of overmuch use.

I'm showing you this because erstwhile you get here, it's a spot baffling. What happened to those reconciliations? Now that you've seen this problem, you'll cognize you're not lost. You're conscionable not successful nan correct place.

How to undo that reconciliation

Go to nan very apical of your screen. Make judge you're successful Accountant mode (by seeing Accountant successful nan corner). Now, spot wherever it says "Go to QuickBooks"?

Click it. You'll spot a database of each clients. Remember that we're successful Accountant mode, wherever QuickBooks thinks you're astir apt servicing a bunch of accounting clients. So you request to show QBO which client's records you're moving on. Click nan sanction of your institution successful nan All Clients list.

Let maine beryllium clear. This is not intuitively obvious. Instead of saying "Go to QuickBooks," that paper should opportunity "Choose Client". But it doesn't. It's a concealed way reserved solely for accountants to know. It's taught successful nan 4th week of ACC 534 Accounting Information Systems, correct aft you study nan concealed legume antagonistic handshake. Feh.

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In immoderate case, now you know. Once you prime nan company, QuickBooks will show you "Switching Companies" and past put you into what appears to beryllium your company's accounting ledger, isolated from this clip you really will person those accountant superpowers.

Now spell backmost up to nan cogwheel menu, prime Reconcile from nether Tools, and past click connected History by Account. You've done this before, but this clip you'll spot your accounts. Choose nan relationship you want to unreconcile.

Notice (at 1) that Accountant is nary longer shown successful nan precocious near corner. You're still successful Accountant mode, but QuickBooks inexplicably doesn't want to show you that anymore.

But here's nan logic you've been reference this full article. Now, nether View Report, there's an Undo action (at 2). This is what you want. Choose it.

QuickBooks Online will show you nan pursuing warning. It's good worthy reading.

Specifically, nan informing connection tells you what's going to hap to your records. It will:

Delete nan reconciliation report
Delete immoderate work aliases finance charges, interest, and equilibrium adjustments that were entered during reconciliation
Revert each nan statement's transactions from reconciled to cleared aliases uncleared status
Revert nan opening equilibrium backmost to nan erstwhile opening balance

In different words, you're astir to climb into a one-way-only clip machine. Anything you did arsenic portion of nan reconciliation, including fixing accounting data, will beryllium undone.

But this is what you want. Go up and click Yes. As I recall, there's different informing aft this 1 that double-checks if you want to undo nan reconcile. Since I'm seizing screenshots utilizing my unrecorded institution account, I'm not going to click connected Yes.

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You should conscionable travel nan prompts and corroborate immoderate "are you sure?" questions. Once you do so, you'll beryllium done. Your reconciliation will beryllium undone.

And location you go. Make judge you log retired of Accountant mode and log backmost successful utilizing your regular QuickBooks Online personification ID. Go up and redo that reconciliation, but get it correct this time, okay?

Have you ever had to undo a reconciliation successful QuickBooks Online? Did you effort to hole it yourself, aliases did you move to an accountant? What challenges did you tally into erstwhile reversing reconciliations, and do you deliberation Intuit should make nan process much straightforward for business owners? Let america cognize successful nan comments below.

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