banking - When Quicken Doesn't Balance

After you've been using Quicken for while and have been balancing your account regularly, you will only irregularly have trouble reconciling it. However, if you are just getting started, you may have trouble getting your Quicken account to balance. For that reason, let me offer some suggestions for balancing a Quicken account that's causing you trouble. Check for missing transactions Account balance trouble stems from only three causes: Reason 1: You cleared a transaction the bank hasn't recorded Reason 2: You forgot to record a transaction, or perhaps several transactions Reason 3: Either you or your bank incorrectly recorded a transaction Therefore, when you find yourself with reconciliation troubles, first make sure that you are not missing some transaction. Go through the bank statement line for line, comparing each of the transactions listed there with the contents of your account register. If you find the bank statement lists a transaction that your Money account register does not, then you need to record it in Money. Confirm you haven't incorrectly cleared transactions Once you confirm that the Quicken account register includes all transactions, verify that you have not incorrectly cleared transactions that are still outstanding. To do this, thoroughly review the Quicken account register and make sure that each transaction marked with a "C" does, in fact, appear on the bank statement. Compare amounts If the two reviews described in the preceding paragraphs don't explain the difference between your records and the bank's, you need to check the actual transaction amounts that you have recorded against those shown in the bank register. In other words, if the bank register shows a check to your mortgage company for $500, you need to make sure that your account register also records the check as $500. Unfortunately, it is easy to incorrectly record transaction amounts in the Quicken account register. All it takes is pressing the wrong key. And, in fact, two data entry errors are particularly difficult to see: transposition errors and sign errors. Watch for transpositions Transposition errors occur when you transpose, or flip-flop, the numbers in an amount. If you write a check for $123, but record the check as $132, for example, you've transposed the 2 and the 3. And this error is hard to spot later. You look at the bank statement, for example, and see the digits 123. Then when you look at the account register, you see the digits 132. Unless you are looking not just at the digits used but also at their order, you may miss this error. Watch for sign errors Sign errors occur when you enter a deposit as a withdrawal, or a withdrawal as a deposit. All this really means is that you have entered some transaction amount in the wrong column. Again, this error is sometimes tough to spot because the transaction appears both on the bank statement and in your register'just in the wrong column in the Quicken register. If you come up with some difference with your records and the bank's that is irreconcilable, try dividing the error by 2. Then look for a transaction equal to this result. For example, if you have a $200 error, divide $200 by 2 to get the result $100. Then look for a $100 transaction that is entered in the wrong column. Know the errors reconciliation won't catch There are several common errors that account reconciliation won't catch. Reconciliation won't catch when you forget to record a transaction and the transaction hasn't yet cleared the bank. If you forget to record a check and the check is still outstanding at the end of the statement month, for example, the check doesn't appear in your register and it doesn't get listed on your bank statement. Another kind of error that a bank reconciliation won't catch stems from entering a fictitious transaction in the account register. For example, if you enter a check in the Money account register that you never wrote or a deposit you never made, the check or deposit will never clear the bank. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do to find these sorts of errors. Mostly, you need to apply simple common sense to prevent them. In the case of forgotten uncleared transactions, your only recourse is to be careful in your record keeping. Try to establish a system whereby you regularly record the checks you write and the deposits you make. Having trouble with Quicken? Specifically, does the data look funny? Seattle CPA and Quicken for Dummies author Stephen L. Nelson explains how to get your accounts to balance. Seattle certified public accountant & author Stephen L. Nelson wrote Quicken for Dummies and more than 100 other books as well. Nelson holds an MBA in Finance and an MS in taxation. He also edits the limited liability company web site. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Nelson banking - E-banking (Online Banking) and Its role in Today's Society The world is changing at a staggering rate and technology is considered to be the key driver for these changes around us (Papers4you.com, 2006). An analysis of technology and its uses show that it has permeated in almost every aspect of our life. According to Tero et al (2004) many activities are handled electronically due the acceptance of information technology at home as well as at workplace. Internet can be seen as a truly global phenomenon that has made time and distance irrelevant to many transactions. According to Heikki et al. (2002), the transformation from the traditional banking towards e-banking has been a 'leap' change. The evolution of electronic banking started from the use of automatic teller machines (ATM) and has passed through telephone banking, direct bill payment, electronic fund transfer and the revolutionary online banking (Alter, 2002). The future of electronic banking according to some is the acceptance of WAP enabled banking and interactive-TV banking (Petrus & Nelson, 2006). But it has been forecasted that among all the categories, online banking is the future of electronic financial transactions. The rise in the e-commerce and the use of internet in its facilitation along with the enhanced online security of transactions and sensitive information has been the core reasons for the penetration of online banking in everyday life (Papers4you.com, 2006). According to the latest official figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS, 2006) indicate that subscriptions to the internet has grown more than 50% from 15 million in 2000 to 35 million in 2005 in the UK. It has also been estimated that 60% of the population in the UK use internet in their daily lives. The fundamental shift towards the involvement of the customer in the financial service provision with the help of technology especially internet has helped in reduce costs of financial institutions as well as helped client to use the service at anytime and from virtually anywhere with access to an internet connection. According to theorists (Walfried et al., 2005) customer evaluation of the electronic services is influenced by attributions of success and failure in inter personal service situations. The use of electronic banking has removed the banking personnel that facilitate the transactions and has placed additional responsibilities on the customers to transact with the service. Although the use of E-banking is provided for the benefit of the customers but these changes require increased work or involvement on the part of customers. These and other factors might be seen as lesser service provided in terms of customer service. But these assumptions would be wrong if the customer knows the value of using the electronic service. Thus it can be concluded that a fit between task i.e. the banking; technology i.e. the user interface and its reliability; and individuals i.e. the customers and their knowledge about using the service, is the key to successful E-banking services (Zigurs & Buckland, 1998). References: Alter, S. (2002), "Information Systems" 4th Edition, Prentice Hall Heikki Karjaluoto, Minna Mattila, Tapio Pento (2002), "Factors underlying attitude formation towards online banking in Finland", International Journal of Bank Marketing; Volume: 20 Issue: 6; 2002 Research paper ONS (2005), "Office of National Statistics", www.statistics.gov.uk Papers For You (2006) "C/B/93. Dissertation. Will online business replace the traditional business in the banking industry in UK?", Available from http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/sprtfina35.htm Papers For You (2006) "P/F/174. Dissertation. Adoption of Online Banking", Available from http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/sprtfina35.htm Petrus Guriting, Nelson Oly Ndubisi (2006), "Borneo online banking: evaluating customer perceptions and behavioural intention", Management Research News; Volume: 29 Issue: 1/2; 2006 Conceptual Paper Tero Pikkarainen, Kari Pikkarainen, Heikki Karjaluoto, Seppo Pahnila (2004), "Consumer acceptance of online banking: an extension of the technology acceptance model", Internet Research; Volume: 14 Issue: 3; 2004 Research paper Walfried M. Lassar, Chris Manolis, Sharon S. Lassar (2005), "The relationship between consumer innovativeness, personal characteristics, and online banking adoption", International Journal of Bank Marketing; Volume: 23 Issue: 2; 2005 Research paper Zigurs, I. & Buckland, B. (1998), "A Theory of Task/Technology Fit and Group Support Systems Effectiveness", MIS Quarterly, Sep98, Vol. 22 Issue 3, p313-334, 22p