Reconciliation of Accounts in GnuCash with statements from a bank or other institution is a way of double checking the accuracy of your (and your banks) transactions and the balance of your accounts. It also is useful to track uncleared checks and other outstanding transactions.
The Summary Bar at the bottom of the Account Register Window indicates the amounts of Present (Balance), Future (Balance), Cleared (Transactions), Reconciled (Transactions) and Projected Minimum. On-line account information can be used to mark which transactions the bank has processed by changing the R (reconciliation status) column in the register from n (new) to c (cleared). The bank statement is then used with the Reconcile Window to reconcile the account which changes the R field to y (reconciled).
The Reconciling Windows are accessed in the Account Tree Window or the Account Register Window by going to Actions -> Reconcile... (menu shortcut Alt-A, R).
The Reconcile Information dialog is used to indicate the closing statement date and the starting (fixed from last reconciliation) and ending balance from the statement. The Include Sub-accounts check-box is used if two or more accounts are used to track a single bank account. The Enter Interest Payment button is used to add a transfer to the accounts for an interest payment. If selected a dialog will be displayed to add the interest payment to the account.
There are three panes in the Interest Payment dialog. At the bottom is a button called No Auto Interest Payments for this Account which will cancel the dialog. The top pane contains the Payment Information.
Amount: Enter the amount of the interest payment.
Date: Select the date for the interest payment.
Num: Enter a number for the transaction (optional).
Description: Enter an informational description for the transaction.
Memo: Enter a note about the transaction (optional).
The next window contains a list of accounts for the “Payment From” account. If the payment is for a credit or loan account then usually this would be from an Expense account. If the payment is for a checking or savings account then usually this would be from an Income account. The Show Income/Expense check-box shows or hides the Income and Expense accounts.
Select OK to enter the interest transaction and return to the initial reconciliation screen.
The set of unreconciled transactions in the Funds In and Funds Out panes can be changed by using the menus and toolbar to access the account and transaction information. If you wish to postpone the reconciliation until later use the Reconcile -> Postpone menu item (menu shortcut Ctrl-P) or pressing the Postpone icon. If you wish to cancel the reconciliation use the Reconcile -> Cancel menu item or press the Cancel icon.
Select each unreconciled transaction matching a transaction on the statement so a green tick appears in the R column. The Balance pane changes to reflect each selected transaction until the Ending Balance equals the Reconciled Balance and the Difference is zero. Once this is done select the Finish button or Reconcile -> Finish (menu shortcut Ctrl-F) to finish the reconcile process.
The "Funds In" pane shows all unreconciled deposits to the account.
Date: The date of the unreconciled transaction.
Num: The number of the unreconciled transaction.
Description: The Description of the unreconciled transaction.
Amount: The Amount of the unreconciled transaction.
R: Shows a green tick if the transaction will be reconciled when done.
The "Funds Out" pane shows all unreconciled expenses from the account.
Date: The date of the unreconciled transaction.
Num: The number of the unreconciled transaction.
Description: The Description of the unreconciled transaction.
Amount: The Amount of the unreconciled transaction.
R: Shows a green tick if the transaction will be reconciled when done.
The Balance pane shows the balances used in reconciliation.
Starting Balance: The balance at the end of the last reconciliation.
Ending Balance: The balance entered from the statement.
Reconciled Balance: The balance of selected transactions.
Difference: The difference between the Reconciled and Ending Balances.