Beginning balance in reports shouldn't be there

I have a beginning balance in my Reimbursable Expenses accout that I cannot
figure out. I report ALL dates, ALL everything and it just shows up as a
beginning balance that I can't click on to get detail or find a way to
report on. How might I search and find this huge amount that clearly isn't
correct. It seems to me that if I report all the beginning balance must be
zero.

There is no detail with that amount anywhere although it is my House asset
beginning balance. Could I have done some sort of weird archive thing a year
or so ago and that's where it's coming from? Anyway, I want it gone!

I tried to work this through with MS support a while back. We did all sorts
of things that didn't work. Salvage. Deleting and recreating my house
account (since that number was it's beginning balance). The following was
the most telling process.

I ran salvage. First time had some broken system records, second time clean.
I closed all accounts. Created a new account transaction report for only the
reimbursable expenses. No expenses showed, just transfers. There is still a
large beginning balance. I changed the category of the report to a random
one and the same thing happens. If I remove all accounts from the report I
get a zero beginning balance. Slowly adding them in I find as expected that
the House account is the culprit. Still, it makes no sense, nor do I know
what to do next.

via_newsgroup
Mon Jan 12 18:08:43 CST 2004

In microsoft.public.money, CIS wrote:

>I have a beginning balance in my Reimbursable Expenses accout that I cannot
>figure out. I report ALL dates, ALL everything and it just shows up as a
>beginning balance that I can't click on to get detail or find a way to
>report on. How might I search and find this huge amount that clearly isn't
>correct. It seems to me that if I report all the beginning balance must be
>zero.
>
>There is no detail with that amount anywhere although it is my House asset
>beginning balance. Could I have done some sort of weird archive thing a year
>or so ago and that's where it's coming from? Anyway, I want it gone!
>
>I tried to work this through with MS support a while back. We did all sorts
>of things that didn't work. Salvage. Deleting and recreating my house
>account (since that number was it's beginning balance). The following was
>the most telling process.

Even tho you have probably done it, I would start with this:

Close Money

Then open Money with Start->Run and entering
"msmoney -s" without the quotes into the box.
>
>I ran salvage. First time had some broken system records, second time clean.
>I closed all accounts. Created a new account transaction report for only the
>reimbursable expenses. No expenses showed, just transfers. There is still a
>large beginning balance. I changed the category of the report to a random
>one and the same thing happens. If I remove all accounts from the report I
>get a zero beginning balance. Slowly adding them in I find as expected that
>the House account is the culprit. Still, it makes no sense, nor do I know
>what to do next.
>

I would then go to the account details of the house account. Then
check that the Opening Balance is zero.

You don't say what program you are running. Did you archive? I am
not saying that would be the cause. Just curious.

I think you are saying that the house account is the only problem. I
would look to perhaps moving the transactions from there to a new
house account and deleting the old. I don't know what kind of
account the house account is, nor what is available to you to move
those transactions.


Make copies of your file at each stage so that you can restore
easily if you do not like a result.

CIS
Mon Jan 12 21:17:26 CST 2004

> Even tho you have probably done it, I would start with this:
> Close Money
> Then open Money with Start->Run and entering
> "msmoney -s" without the quotes into the box.

Yep, did that.

> I would then go to the account details of the house account. Then
> check that the Opening Balance is zero.

Purchase price is the amount in the reimb exp account running balance
(beginning) which is why I thought it might have something to do wiht the
problem, even though it makes NO sense to me <g>. In the register for the
account there is no 'beginning balance, but it clearly is using the amount I
have in the account details as that beginning balance.

>
> You don't say what program you are running. Did you archive? I am
> not saying that would be the cause. Just curious.

MS Money 2003. I think perhaps I did a year or two ago, but don't remember.
I was thinking that could be the cause too. But I want to fix it regardless.

>
> I think you are saying that the house account is the only problem. I
> would look to perhaps moving the transactions from there to a new
> house account and deleting the old. I don't know what kind of
> account the house account is, nor what is available to you to move
> those transactions.

Did that with the help of MS support. Didn't change anything. It's an asset
account. I deleted and recreated.

Now here's an interesting thing I just learned. I had only seen it in the
"Reimb Exp" category but I just created a report "Transactions by Category",
all dates, adding a running total starting with "total of prior
transactions" and it's there as the Opening Balance of the report.

Any more ideas appreaciated.

B.
>
> Make copies of your file at each stage so that you can restore
> easily if you do not like a result.
>
>
>

via_newsgroup
Tue Jan 13 00:50:18 CST 2004

In microsoft.public.money, CIS wrote:

>> Even tho you have probably done it, I would start with this:
>> Close Money
>> Then open Money with Start->Run and entering
>> "msmoney -s" without the quotes into the box.
>
>Yep, did that.
>
>> I would then go to the account details of the house account. Then
>> check that the Opening Balance is zero.
>
>Purchase price is the amount in the reimb exp account running balance
>(beginning) which is why I thought it might have something to do wiht the
>problem, even though it makes NO sense to me <g>. In the register for the
>account there is no 'beginning balance, but it clearly is using the amount I
>have in the account details as that beginning balance.
>

Now there I am getting confused. You have a non-zero Opening Balance
in the account details. Then you are surprised that "it clearly is
using the amount I have in the account details as that beginning
balance"? I am probably just thinking fuzzily. You are familiar with
your problem.

I would zero the Opening Balance, and I would add a transaction
dated before the other transactions with the proper size and sense
to replace the function. That is to say, enter a specific Increase
transaction to compensate for not having the initial balance.

>>
>> You don't say what program you are running. Did you archive? I am
>> not saying that would be the cause. Just curious.
>
>MS Money 2003. I think perhaps I did a year or two ago, but don't remember.
>I was thinking that could be the cause too. But I want to fix it regardless.

Let's try to get it right.

>
>>
>> I think you are saying that the house account is the only problem. I
>> would look to perhaps moving the transactions from there to a new
>> house account and deleting the old. I don't know what kind of
>> account the house account is, nor what is available to you to move
>> those transactions.
>
>Did that with the help of MS support. Didn't change anything. It's an asset
>account. I deleted and recreated.
>
>Now here's an interesting thing I just learned. I had only seen it in the
>"Reimb Exp" category but I just created a report "Transactions by Category",
>all dates, adding a running total starting with "total of prior
>transactions" and it's there as the Opening Balance of the report.
>
>Any more ideas appreaciated.

The idea I would suggest next, if zeroing the Open Balance does not
resolve the problem, involves File->Exporting a QIF from the
account. I know it seems strange, but the fact that you say there
are only a few transactions there should make it simpler.

This was posted by Mark:

:1. Make a copy of your Money data file.
:2. Open that copy.
:3. Delete ALL transactions in the problem account
:4. Export that account as a QIF file
:5. Examine the QIF file in Notepad.
:6. If it is not empty and shows one or more transactions,
: then those are likely the culprits.
:7. Note the details of those transactions
:8. Open up your original file
:9. Import the QIF file
:10. This should reveal the hidden transactions. So you
:can now do with them
:as you wish (Delete, modify, etc).' - Mark

Note that the Opening Balance is one of the entries in that QIF
file. It would be the only entry if there were no remaining hidden
transactions after deleting all of the transactions.

CIS
Tue Jan 20 21:49:49 CST 2004

OK. No need to get cranky with me. I'm doing the best I can and I do
appreciate the help. Let's say it's the Home which has a purchase price
setup in the details for the amount in question. Isn't that what's supposed
to be there? If I set it to 0 and put in a transaction (catagorized how?)
for the amount and it works, what does that tell me? That Money doesn't work
as I'd expect?

I do see that my home/mortgage probably isn't setup perfectly as I'm looking
at the asset for where the money came from at purchase time and it's not
there. The amount from the linked loan I would expect to be a transaction in
the asset register but it's not. Where can I find docs/faq or do you know
how to help me troubleshoot this home/mortgage setup?

"Cal Learner-- MVP" <via_newsgroup@please.tnx> wrote in message
news:7047005938ctkpj3lp9i68bs45kpu2hanj@4ax.com...
> In microsoft.public.money, CIS wrote:
>
> >> Even tho you have probably done it, I would start with this:
> >> Close Money
> >> Then open Money with Start->Run and entering
> >> "msmoney -s" without the quotes into the box.
> >
> >Yep, did that.
> >
> >> I would then go to the account details of the house account. Then
> >> check that the Opening Balance is zero.
> >
> >Purchase price is the amount in the reimb exp account running balance
> >(beginning) which is why I thought it might have something to do wiht the
> >problem, even though it makes NO sense to me <g>. In the register for
the
> >account there is no 'beginning balance, but it clearly is using the
amount I
> >have in the account details as that beginning balance.
> >
>
> Now there I am getting confused. You have a non-zero Opening Balance
> in the account details. Then you are surprised that "it clearly is
> using the amount I have in the account details as that beginning
> balance"? I am probably just thinking fuzzily. You are familiar with
> your problem.
>
> I would zero the Opening Balance, and I would add a transaction
> dated before the other transactions with the proper size and sense
> to replace the function. That is to say, enter a specific Increase
> transaction to compensate for not having the initial balance.
>
> >>
> >> You don't say what program you are running. Did you archive? I am
> >> not saying that would be the cause. Just curious.
> >
> >MS Money 2003. I think perhaps I did a year or two ago, but don't
remember.
> >I was thinking that could be the cause too. But I want to fix it
regardless.
>
> Let's try to get it right.
>
> >
> >>
> >> I think you are saying that the house account is the only problem. I
> >> would look to perhaps moving the transactions from there to a new
> >> house account and deleting the old. I don't know what kind of
> >> account the house account is, nor what is available to you to move
> >> those transactions.
> >
> >Did that with the help of MS support. Didn't change anything. It's an
asset
> >account. I deleted and recreated.
> >
> >Now here's an interesting thing I just learned. I had only seen it in the
> >"Reimb Exp" category but I just created a report "Transactions by
Category",
> >all dates, adding a running total starting with "total of prior
> >transactions" and it's there as the Opening Balance of the report.
> >
> >Any more ideas appreaciated.
>
> The idea I would suggest next, if zeroing the Open Balance does not
> resolve the problem, involves File->Exporting a QIF from the
> account. I know it seems strange, but the fact that you say there
> are only a few transactions there should make it simpler.
>
> This was posted by Mark:
>
> :1. Make a copy of your Money data file.
> :2. Open that copy.
> :3. Delete ALL transactions in the problem account
> :4. Export that account as a QIF file
> :5. Examine the QIF file in Notepad.
> :6. If it is not empty and shows one or more transactions,
> : then those are likely the culprits.
> :7. Note the details of those transactions
> :8. Open up your original file
> :9. Import the QIF file
> :10. This should reveal the hidden transactions. So you
> :can now do with them
> :as you wish (Delete, modify, etc).' - Mark
>
> Note that the Opening Balance is one of the entries in that QIF
> file. It would be the only entry if there were no remaining hidden
> transactions after deleting all of the transactions.
>

CIS
Tue Jan 20 21:56:06 CST 2004

As I begin to look at this issue more I notice that the mortgage payments in
the register begin 1/02 and that is NOT when it began. Validation that I did
do the evil deed of archiving at one point, right? So... what to do? What
will happen if I take this account and add the prev transactions back in? or
what about deleting both the home and it's mortgage and recreating from
scratch? Might that fix everything or will that 215k from the archiving
still be there?

B.
"Cal Learner-- MVP" <via_newsgroup@please.tnx> wrote in message
news:7047005938ctkpj3lp9i68bs45kpu2hanj@4ax.com...
> In microsoft.public.money, CIS wrote:
>
> >> Even tho you have probably done it, I would start with this:
> >> Close Money
> >> Then open Money with Start->Run and entering
> >> "msmoney -s" without the quotes into the box.
> >
> >Yep, did that.
> >
> >> I would then go to the account details of the house account. Then
> >> check that the Opening Balance is zero.
> >
> >Purchase price is the amount in the reimb exp account running balance
> >(beginning) which is why I thought it might have something to do wiht the
> >problem, even though it makes NO sense to me <g>. In the register for
the
> >account there is no 'beginning balance, but it clearly is using the
amount I
> >have in the account details as that beginning balance.
> >
>
> Now there I am getting confused. You have a non-zero Opening Balance
> in the account details. Then you are surprised that "it clearly is
> using the amount I have in the account details as that beginning
> balance"? I am probably just thinking fuzzily. You are familiar with
> your problem.
>
> I would zero the Opening Balance, and I would add a transaction
> dated before the other transactions with the proper size and sense
> to replace the function. That is to say, enter a specific Increase
> transaction to compensate for not having the initial balance.
>
> >>
> >> You don't say what program you are running. Did you archive? I am
> >> not saying that would be the cause. Just curious.
> >
> >MS Money 2003. I think perhaps I did a year or two ago, but don't
remember.
> >I was thinking that could be the cause too. But I want to fix it
regardless.
>
> Let's try to get it right.
>
> >
> >>
> >> I think you are saying that the house account is the only problem. I
> >> would look to perhaps moving the transactions from there to a new
> >> house account and deleting the old. I don't know what kind of
> >> account the house account is, nor what is available to you to move
> >> those transactions.
> >
> >Did that with the help of MS support. Didn't change anything. It's an
asset
> >account. I deleted and recreated.
> >
> >Now here's an interesting thing I just learned. I had only seen it in the
> >"Reimb Exp" category but I just created a report "Transactions by
Category",
> >all dates, adding a running total starting with "total of prior
> >transactions" and it's there as the Opening Balance of the report.
> >
> >Any more ideas appreaciated.
>
> The idea I would suggest next, if zeroing the Open Balance does not
> resolve the problem, involves File->Exporting a QIF from the
> account. I know it seems strange, but the fact that you say there
> are only a few transactions there should make it simpler.
>
> This was posted by Mark:
>
> :1. Make a copy of your Money data file.
> :2. Open that copy.
> :3. Delete ALL transactions in the problem account
> :4. Export that account as a QIF file
> :5. Examine the QIF file in Notepad.
> :6. If it is not empty and shows one or more transactions,
> : then those are likely the culprits.
> :7. Note the details of those transactions
> :8. Open up your original file
> :9. Import the QIF file
> :10. This should reveal the hidden transactions. So you
> :can now do with them
> :as you wish (Delete, modify, etc).' - Mark
>
> Note that the Opening Balance is one of the entries in that QIF
> file. It would be the only entry if there were no remaining hidden
> transactions after deleting all of the transactions.
>