Corrections

Guides

Sometimes Balanced and your bank disagree by a few euros. Look for the cause first; if you can't find it, a correction makes them match again.

After you’ve cleared your transactions, the cleared balance of an account should match what your bank shows. When it doesn’t, something is missing or different. A correction is the last resort: it fixes the balance, but it doesn’t tell you what happened.

Look for the cause first

Most differences have a simple reason:

• A transaction you forgot to record, such as a bank fee or a small card payment. Add it with the right category.
• A typo in an amount. Compare each cleared transaction with the statement.
• A transaction recorded twice. Delete one of them.
• Different dates. Your statement may end before today. Compare on the statement’s end date.

Clearing transactions has a checklist. A bank fee or interest is spending, so record it in a category rather than as a correction. That way your budget sees it.

Book a correction

If you can’t find the difference, record it from an Equity account. Say Balanced shows €12.30 more in Checking than your bank does:

NoteCorrection2

Accounts

⚖️ Corrections12.303

🏦 Checking−12.30

Cleared✓4

1. If you don’t have one yet, add an account “Corrections”: tap Edit next to Accounts, open Equity and tap ＋ Add account.
2. Tap ＋ New Transaction and write a Note, such as “Correction”.
3. Balanced shows more than the bank: pick Corrections, type the difference and leave Checking empty. Balanced shows less: type the difference on Checking and leave Corrections empty.
4. Turn on Cleared, so the cleared balance matches the bank right away, and save.

Correction · Checking

Assets:Checking

−12.30

Equity:Corrections

+12.30

Balanced

0.00 ✓

Use the same account for every correction. Its balance then shows how much you’ve corrected over time, and tapping it lists every correction you’ve made.

How corrections affect your budget

A correction on an Assets account changes the money you have to budget. It counts toward Available in the month of its date, cleared or not:

• A correction that lowers the balance, like the one above, lowers Available and so To assign. If you’ve already assigned everything, the budget editor shows Overassigned. Lower a category by the same amount to even it out.
• A correction that raises the balance adds to Available, and you can assign the money.

A correction on a Liabilities account, such as a credit card, changes your debt but not your budget. If you owe more than Balanced thought, assign the difference to the card in the budget editor before you pay it. See Credit cards.

Corrections and opening balances

Both come from Equity, and both change your balance without being income or spending. The difference is when you use them: an opening balance once, when you start with an account; a correction whenever Balanced and your bank drift apart. Keeping them on two accounts, “Opening balances” and “Corrections”, keeps the two apart in your books.