When entering in your Transactions, it’s important to understand the difference between types of transactions to ensure your records are kept in order. Many people misunderstand the differences between Reconciled and Cleared so hopefully this post will help clear it up.

  • Void: We’ll take the easiest one first “Void”. This of course means that the check is no longer valid and will not be going through your bank. You can use this entry on the BudgetTracker site a few ways; If you’ve already entered in a transaction and even though the transaction didn’t go through, you still want to keep a record that it was intended originally to go through (It’s also helpful to add some notes in your description in this case). The second reason is so that you can accurately record a check number in your registry without adding the amount to your balance. Most commonly, this happens when you tear up a check that was suppose to get sent out.
  • Unreconciled: The next one is Unreconciled. This is the state between when a check is written but has not been received by the bank. You can also use this for Transactions that have entered on your credit card but do not show up in your banking records online. This is the default for all new transactions since if you enter the transaction the same day you made the purchase, the bank most likely will not know about it yet.
  • Cleared: This means that the bank knows about your withdrawal or deposit and you confirm the transaction happened. If you look at your records online, you should see your transaction in either a cleared stated when you look through your bank records.
  • Reconciled: This is probably the most confusing one of them all since it seems very close to a cleared transaction. This is usually related to your bank records when you receive your statement at the end of the month allowing you to check off the transactions that you’ve marked cleared already. I think the common misconception of this one is due to the fact that people can now view their records online so many people think of the transactions they see online as their statement but it’s not. It helps to go through either your e-statement or one that was mailed to you just to double check that everything you’ve marked as cleared has been validated at the end of the month.

Hopefully this will help you understand how to setup your transaction types when entering them into the BudgetTracker system or your own money management preference.