Tagging Issue Causing Huge Problems

[joep1504]

I just cant get my head around this system.

I had the system telling me my main business account was -£5k when it had a positive balance so I employed a bookkeeper to do a “tidy up”. She got the balance right and now wants me to start tagging all the untagged transactions.

However, lo and behold as soon as I start tagging transactions it alters the balance even though it matched my bank balance before, and now the bookkeeper wants to start charging me an extortionate hourly rate to rectify it because I keep messing it up.

How can I tag a transaction without it keep messing up the balance?

[daithespark]

What are you trying to tag? Is it invoice payments from a client, you paying a supplier, bank transfer…? There are quite a few options and each one is different in its own way but once you get your head around it its very easy. I love the simplicity of it and I’m definitely not a bookkeeper or one that enjoys doing his accounts

[joep1504]

Morning, It is a bit of everything:

• Inter-company account transfers
• Payment to suppliers
• Invoice payments from a client
• Salary payments

Thanks,

Joe

[ian_roberts]

The only one of those four that may affect the overall bank account balances would be transfers between accounts. If you tag something as a transfer to or from another account the default behaviour is for QuickFile to automatically create the “other end” transaction pre-tagged in the other bank account. Sometimes I believe it is able to match existing untagged transactions on the other end but I’m not sure of the exact logic. If this happens you would need to delete the untagged duplicate transaction in the other account to get it back in balance.

The other things you mention shouldn’t affect bank account balances, they just create other things like invoices, payments, or nominal entries in other parts of your ledger.

[joep1504]

Ok thanks Ian. So I guess the trick is to make sure that money goes into and out from the correct accounts in the first place!

[QFMathew]

@ian_roberts

Sometimes I believe it is able to match existing untagged transactions on the other end but I’m not sure of the exact logic.

Spot on. This does look 5 days either side of the parent transaction. As long as the amount matches, it will suggest a matching transaction.

This was from my colleague, Glenn, from when we added this feature:

@Glenn

We have now updated the bank transfer handling to allow for match suggestions that extend to +/- 5 days from the transaction date. This should help with those situations where the debit and credit dates differ from one account to the other.

If you select a bank transfer match that is not on the same date, the interim balance will now be posted to a balance sheet code called “Balance Sheet Suspense” (2997). This keeps those interim movements on the balance sheet as an asset / liability and makes it easier to track.