Help center

Reports

Troubleshoot report totals

Accounts rarely come out perfect the first time. This guide covers three common problems and how to find and fix each one.

Watch the walkthrough: Troubleshooting reports, 9 minutes. The video predates some changes to the app. Where they differ, follow this page.

Estate Bookkeeper has no separate reconciliation step. The running balance in each ledger and the balances on the Accounts tab do that job. If an account that should be empty still holds money, something in that account is wrong.

A mistyped amount

The easiest mistake in a probate accounting is a number in the wrong place. Suppose an interest deposit of $15 was typed as $115. In a spreadsheet this can take an hour to find. Here it shows up in three places.

  • The ledger. After the transfer that should empty the account, the Balance column still shows $100.
  • The Accounts tab. Each account shows its current balance. An account that has been closed out should show zero.
  • The Combined Account. The closing inventory shows $100 left in that account, so you know which account to open and how far off it is.

To find the entry:

  1. Open the account's ledger on the Transactions tab.
  2. Go through it one bank statement at a time. At the end of each statement period, compare the running balance to the closing balance on the statement.
  3. The first period where they differ holds the error. Check each transaction in that period against the statement.
  4. Click the wrong row, correct the amount, and save.

A transfer that does not match

If the decedent's accounts all balance but the estate checking account is off, look at the transfers first.

  1. Open the estate checking account's ledger.
  2. Check each transfer into it against the deposit on the estate checking statement. Look for a wrong amount, a missing transfer, or a transfer entered twice.
  3. If every transfer is right, the problem is an income or expense entry. Use the statement by statement method above to find it.

An entry that reads poorly on a report

Sometimes the numbers are right but an entry is unclear. For example, the report shows Mortgage interest under an interest paid account without saying which loan it belongs to.

  1. On the Transactions tab, choose Account Ledgers under Views in View transactions for.
  2. Open the income or expense account that holds the unclear entry.
  3. Find the entry and click Edit. It opens in the ledger of the asset or liability account where it was entered.
  4. Change the description and save.

Run the report again to confirm the entry reads the way you want.

A subaccount is often the better fix. Add an account for the source under the income or expense account, and move the entries into it. The report then shows the source through its account structure instead of relying on each description. See Set up accounts so reports are ready to file.

Related