Troubleshooting and adjusting account

Use these techniques to investigate and fix issues such as incorrect balances, duplicate or missing transactions, or unexpected discrepancies between your Quicken register and your bank records.

Note: If you're using a connected (online) account, you typically don't need to reconcile it. Downloaded transactions from your bank already keep your balance up to date. In fact, trying to reconcile an online account may make things more confusing—especially if your edits conflict with how your bank reports transactions.

However, if you're using a manual account or you notice a clear mismatch between your register and your bank, the steps below can help you investigate and fix the problem.

These steps are useful when:

• A balance suddenly looks wrong after downloading or editing transactions.

• You see duplicate entries for the same charge or deposit.

• A payment or transfer appears to be missing.

• You want to verify your account's accuracy before tax time or after a long period of inactivity.

Create a backup before making changes

Before deleting, changing, or adding transactions, it’s a good idea to back up your data:

1. Go to File > Save a Backup.

2. Choose a location and click Save.

Step 1: Check for a reconciled balance error

To open the reconcile workflow:

1. Select the account in the sidebar.

2. Click the Reconcile button at the bottom of the register.

On the reconciliation screen:

• Choose Use current balance if you're reconciling against the latest downloaded balance.

• Choose Use statement balance if you're entering values from a paper or PDF statement.

• To review past sessions, click the History button.

The Reconciliation History window shows previous sessions, any discrepancies, and links to reports. You can also re-reconcile if needed.

If the balance in Quicken doesn’t match your bank statement, check whether any reconciled transactions were changed or deleted.

1. Select the account in the sidebar.

2. Open the Settings for the account.

3. Click Reconcile Account.

4. Review any transactions marked as Reconciled.

If a previously reconciled transaction is missing or has a different amount, it could cause the mismatch.

Step 2: Look for duplicate transactions

Duplicate transactions may appear if a manual entry and a downloaded transaction weren’t properly matched.

• Sort the account by Date or Amount.

• Check for two entries with the same payee and amount on the same date.

If you find a duplicate:

• Delete the extra transaction.

• Or manually match the downloaded and manually entered versions.

Step 3: Review opening balance and transfers

Opening balances and transfer transactions can cause balance discrepancies if incorrect.

• Check the first transaction in the register. It may be an opening balance—verify it matches your bank’s beginning balance.

• Look for Transfer transactions and verify that the same amount appears in both linked accounts.

Step 4: Search for deleted transactions

If a transaction was accidentally deleted, you may be able to find it using the Transactions by Payee or other transation report:

1. Go to Reports > Transaction > Transactions by Payee.

2. Set the appropriate date range using the Edit Report panel.

3. Use the tabs to filter by Accounts, Categories, Tags, or Payees.

4. You can choose to include all transactions or limit the report to selected payees.

5. Be sure to check the box to Include hidden payees if needed.

Step 5: Manually adjust the balance

If you can’t find the problem and need to fix the balance:

1. Create a new transaction in the account register.

2. Enter today’s date.

3. Use a payee name like Balance Adjustment.

4. In the Category field, use [Adjustment] or another non-reportable category.

5. Enter the amount needed to correct the balance.

6. Add a memo so you know why the transaction was added.

This change will bring the account balance to the correct amount.