<tease>The balance shown on the Money list of accounts is different than the balance shown in the Money account register.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>Occasionally, Money will find inconsistencies in the way your data is stored. These inconsistencies mean that Money might display different balances in the list of accounts and the register. This is a problem only with the display; your account records haven't changed.</p>
<p> To display the correct balances and resolve the data storage issues, do a Quick File Repair.</p>
<extend>
<tease><showme/></tease>
<reveal>
<ul>
<li>On the <emph>File</emph> menu, click <emph>Repair Money File</emph>, and then click <emph>Quick File Repair (Level 1)</emph>. </li>
<p>This repair will correct the display problem. It will not affect your Money account records.</p>
</ul>
<p>Money also provides a more extensive file repair tool. <alink type="cncpt" href="Repaircorruptedfiles2002.xml"></alink></p>
</reveal>
</extend>
</reveal>
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<extend>
<tease>I'm trying to balance my account against a paper statement, but the statement and account register balances still differ.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>You can look for the problem in several ways:</p>
<ul>
<li>To find out if the problem is in deposits or withdrawals, compare the total deposits and total withdrawals in the left pane to the totals on your bank statement. You may need to add together the bank charges and other withdrawals on your statement. If the deposits and withdrawals both match, click <emph>Postpone</emph> and start over balancing your account to check your beginning and ending balances.</li>
<li>If the total deposits or withdrawals that are cleared so far in the left pane are <i>less</i> than the total deposits or withdrawals on your bank statement, you probably have not cleared some transactions. However, if the totals cleared are <i>more</i> than the totals on your statement, you have probably cleared too many. One way to find transactions you may have cleared incorrectly is to click <emph>View</emph> at the top of the register, and then click <emph>Sort by Date</emph>. Look for cleared transactions that are after your bank statement date. You may also want to look for missing checks on your statement<mdash/>the next check is usually marked with an asterisk (*). </li>
<li>Try looking for a transaction in the amount by which your balance is off. For example, if your balance is off by $12.55, click <emph>View</emph> at the top of the register, and then click <emph>Sort by Amount</emph>. Look for a transaction in the amount of $12.55<mdash/>you may have one that is incorrectly cleared or not cleared.</li>
<li>Sometimes transactions may be entered twice, especially if you also download transactions. Click <emph>View</emph> again, and click <emph>Sort by Amount</emph>. (If your account register is large, you can limit the number of displayed transactions by clicking <emph>View</emph>, and then clicking a date range to include.) Scan through your register for matching amounts that may be duplicates of the same transactions.</li>
<li>You may be able to find the problem by going back over each transaction on your statement and comparing it to your account register, marking the transactions on your paper statement to be sure you find them all and that they match your account register transactions exactly.</li>
<li>If you made an adjustment transaction in a previous period, be sure it is not causing the problem. Sometimes the missing amount works out in the following period, and the old adjustment can then cause your balance to be off.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you can't find the problem and the amount is relatively insignificant, you can add an adjustment transaction so that your account register balance will be correct from this point forward.<alink type="prcdr" href="Addanadjustmenttransactiontoupdatemyaccountbalance.xml"/></p>
</reveal>
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<extend>
<tease>The starting balance on my statement doesn't match the one that shows when I start to balance my account.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>This discrepancy can be caused in several ways:</p>
<ul>
<li>The most common problem is that reconciled transactions have been changed since the last time you balanced your account. If you think you may have changed an amount, click <emph>View</emph> at the top of the register, and then click <emph>Sort by Entry Order</emph>. Look for reconciled transactions you may have changed in error.</li>
<li>If you changed the account's opening balance, you may need to enter the correct amount. If you're not sure what the opening balance should be, you can add an adjustment transaction. <alink type="prcdr" href="Addanadjustmenttransactiontoupdatemyaccountbalance.xml"/></li>
<li>If a reconciled transaction has been deleted and you can determine what it was, reenter the transaction. Then right-click the transaction, point to <emph>Mark As</emph>, and then click <emph>Reconciled</emph>.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you still can't find the discrepancy, you can create an adjustment transaction. <alink type="prcdr" href="Addanadjustmenttransactiontoupdatemyaccountbalance.xml"/></p>
<tease>I don't know what <emph>E</emph>, <emph>C</emph>, and <emph>R</emph> in the <emph>C</emph> (cleared) column mean.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>The <emph>C</emph> (cleared) column tracks which transactions have been cleared by a bank or broker. As transactions are cleared, they will appear on a statement from your bank or broker. You can then balance your account register with that statement. <alink type="prcdr" href="Balancereconcileanaccounttopaperstatement.xml"/></p>
<ul>
<li>As you manually balance an account against a paper statement, click the <emph>C</emph> column for each transaction shown on the statement. <emph>C</emph> (for cleared) appears in the column.</li>
<li>When you download a statement from your bank or broker, <emph>E</emph> (for electronic) appears in the column.</li>
<li>When you finish the balancing process, you'll see <emph>R</emph> (for reconciled) for all transactions that are now reconciled to the bank's or broker's records.</li>
</ul>
</reveal>
</extend>
<extend>
<tease>I downloaded a bank statement and it doesn't match the one I got in the mail.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>When you download a statement, you get all the information the bank has at that moment. Your downloaded statement may show transactions that had not cleared your account when your paper statement was printed.</p>
</reveal>
</extend>
<extend>
<tease>Money says I have millions of dollars in an account, but I really don't.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>Occasionally, Money will find inconsistencies in the way your data is stored. These inconsistencies mean that Money might display a very high balance on the list of accounts. This is a problem only with the display; your account records haven't changed.</p>
<p> To display the correct balances and resolve the data storage issues, do a Quick File Repair.</p>
<extend>
<tease><showme/></tease>
<reveal>
<ul>
<li>On the <emph>File</emph> menu, click <emph>Repair Money File</emph>, and then click <emph>Quick File Repair (Level 1)</emph>. </li>
<p>This will correct the display problem. It will not change your Money account records.</p>
</ul>
<p>Money also provides a more extensive file repair tool. <alink type="cncpt" href="Repaircorruptedfiles2002.xml"></alink></p>
</reveal>
</extend>
</reveal>
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<extend>
<tease>I often have problems with my Money balance not matching my bank balance. What can I do?</tease>
<reveal>
<p>You may be able to reduce the challenges of account balancing by changing the way you work with Money. Depending on your situation, you could consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>Spending more time with Money, and ensuring that you've entered all (or most) of your transactions in your Money file. This keeps Money up to date and gives you the most control over tracking your finances. Because many balancing problems are the result of incomplete Money records, making sure your Money file is complete and accurate will simplify your balancing.</li>
<li>Spending less time with Money, and depending on downloaded statements for your spending records. <alink type="cncpt" href="Learnaboutonlinestatements.xml"></alink>Relying only on the bank's records will make it harder for you to detect bank errors. But if you know you don't have the time to enter your transactions yourself, downloaded statements are a good way of tracking your income and spending.</li>
</ul>
</reveal>
</extend>
<extend>
<tease>I need to update the value of my house.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>You can track your house's value using an asset account. <alink type="prcdr" href="Createanassetaccount.xml"/> To update the value of your house:</p>
<ol>
<li>On the <emph>Accounts & Bills</emph> menu, click <emph>Account List</emph>, and then click your house asset account.</li>
<li>In the left pane, click <emph>Update current value</emph>.</li>
<li>Enter the correct ending balance and the date you want the adjustment to be made.</li>
<li>Choose a category, such as Capital Appreciation, for the adjustment amount, and then click <emph>OK</emph>.</li>
