You can undo a bank reconciliation in QuickBooks Online, but the method depends on whether you've already closed the books for that month
If you reconciled your bank account but made a mistake—marked the wrong transactions as cleared, or reconciled to the wrong balance—you have two paths forward. The faster one works only if you haven't closed the accounting period yet. The slower one applies if you have, and it involves creating an adjusting entry instead of reversing the reconciliation itself. QuickBooks Online does not have a single "undo" button for reconciliations the way some desktop versions do, so the exact steps depend on your situation and your user permissions.
The key difference: if the month is still open, you can clear the reconciliation and start over. If the month is closed, you'll need to leave the reconciliation as-is and fix the underlying transactions or create an offset entry. Both approaches get you to the same place—accurate books—but they take different routes.
Key Takeaways
- Open reconciliations can be undone by going to the Reconcile page, finding the account, and clicking Undo—this clears all marked transactions and lets you reconcile again.
- Closed reconciliations cannot be undone directly; instead, you must create an adjusting journal entry to correct the error or fix the individual transactions that were wrong.
- Before you undo, identify which transactions were marked incorrectly so you don't repeat the same mistake when you reconcile a second time.
- If you're not the account owner or admin, you may not have permission to undo a reconciliation, and you'll need to ask someone with higher access to do it for you.
How to undo a reconciliation that hasn't been closed yet
Go to the Reconcile page by clicking the Accounting menu, then Reconcile. You'll see a list of accounts you've reconciled. Find the bank account you want to undo and look for the most recent reconciliation in the list—it will show the date you completed it and the ending balance you reconciled to.
Click on that reconciliation. QuickBooks will open a summary showing which transactions you marked as cleared. At the top or bottom of the page (depending on your QuickBooks version), you should see an Undo button. Click it. The system will ask you to confirm—click Yes or Confirm. All the transactions you had marked as cleared will be unmarked, and the reconciliation will be deleted. You can now reconcile the account again, this time marking the correct transactions.
This method only works if the accounting period for that month is still open. If your company has closed the books for that month—a setting controlled by the account owner—the Undo button will not appear, and you'll need to use the adjusting entry method instead.
What to do if the accounting period is already closed
If the month is closed, QuickBooks will not let you undo the reconciliation. Instead, you need to create a journal entry to correct the error. This entry will sit in the current month's books and explain why the prior month's reconciliation was wrong.
First, figure out the dollar amount of the error. If you reconciled to the wrong bank balance, the difference between what you recorded and what the bank actually shows is your error amount. If you marked the wrong transactions as cleared, add up the amounts of the transactions you shouldn't have marked and subtract the amounts of the transactions you should have marked but didn't.
Go to + New, select Journal Entry, and enter the date of the current month (not the month you reconciled). In the first line, debit or credit your bank account for the error amount—debit if the bank balance is higher than your books show, credit if it's lower. On the second line, credit or debit an account called Reconciliation Discrepancies or Prior Period Adjustments for the same amount. Save and close the entry. This brings your bank account balance into agreement with the actual bank statement without touching the old reconciliation.
Identifying which transactions caused the reconciliation error
Before you undo or create an adjusting entry, spend a few minutes comparing your QuickBooks cleared transactions to your actual bank statement. Print or download both, and mark off each transaction that appears on both. Any transaction in QuickBooks that doesn't appear on the bank statement, or any transaction on the bank statement that you didn't mark as cleared in QuickBooks, is a candidate for the error.
Common mistakes include marking a deposit as cleared before the bank actually posted it, marking a check as cleared when it hasn't been cashed yet, or accidentally marking a transaction twice. Look for duplicate entries, transactions dated after your reconciliation date, and any items with unusual amounts or descriptions that don't match the bank statement exactly.
Once you've found the problem transaction or transactions, you can either delete them (if they were entered by mistake), edit them to match the bank statement, or simply not mark them as cleared the next time you reconcile. This step saves you from undoing the reconciliation only to make the same error again.
Permission requirements for undoing a reconciliation
Only users with admin or account owner access can undo a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online. If you're a regular user or accountant user, you won't see the Undo button, and you won't be able to create journal entries that affect closed periods either. Ask the account owner or admin to undo the reconciliation for you, or to create the adjusting entry if the period is closed.
If you're the account owner and you don't see the Undo button, check whether the accounting period has been closed. Go to Settings (gear icon), then Account and Settings, then Accounting. Look for the Closed Period setting. If a date is listed there, any reconciliation before that date cannot be undone. You can reopen the period by changing this setting, but only if you're sure you want to allow changes to past months.
Reconciling again after you've undone the first attempt
Once you've undone the reconciliation, go back to the Reconcile page and select the same bank account. QuickBooks will show you the account's current balance and ask you to enter the ending balance from your bank statement. This time, be careful to match the exact date and amount on your bank statement—don't round, and don't use an estimate.
As you mark transactions, compare each one to your bank statement line by line. If a transaction appears on the statement, mark it. If it doesn't, leave it unmarked. Watch for transactions that cleared after the statement date—these should not be marked. Once all the transactions that actually cleared are marked, the difference between your QuickBooks balance and the bank balance should be zero. If it's not, you've still got an unmarked transaction or a duplicate entry somewhere. Find it before you finish the reconciliation.
When to contact QuickBooks support
If you've undone a reconciliation but the account still won't reconcile, or if you see transactions in QuickBooks that don't appear anywhere on your bank statement, contact QuickBooks support. They can help you trace where the discrepancy is coming from and walk you through the fix. Have your bank statement and your QuickBooks transaction list ready when you call.
If you're locked out of undoing a reconciliation because of permission settings, and you're the account owner but can't find the Undo button, support can also help you determine whether the period is closed and guide you through reopening it if necessary. Keep in mind that reopening a closed period can affect tax filings and audit trails, so do this only if you're certain the reconciliation error needs to be fixed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I undo a reconciliation from six months ago?
Only if the accounting period for that month is still open. If it's closed, you cannot undo it directly. Instead, create a journal entry in the current month to correct the error. This is actually safer for audit purposes because it leaves a clear record of what was wrong and when you fixed it.
What happens to my bank balance if I undo a reconciliation?
Your bank account balance in QuickBooks stays the same—only the "cleared" status of individual transactions changes. All the transactions remain in your books; they're just no longer marked as having cleared the bank. This is why you need to reconcile again to make sure the right transactions are marked.
Do I need to tell my accountant if I undo a reconciliation?
Yes, especially if the period is closed or if you're creating an adjusting entry to fix it. Your accountant may need to update their records or adjust their own work. A quick email explaining what was wrong and how you fixed it prevents confusion later.
What if I undo a reconciliation and then realize I was right the first time?
You can reconcile the account again and mark the same transactions. QuickBooks will let you do this as many times as you need until you get it right. Just make sure you're comparing to the correct bank statement each time.
Can I undo multiple reconciliations at once?
No. You must undo them one at a time, starting with the most recent. Go to the Reconcile page, find each reconciliation, and click Undo individually. If multiple months are affected, this can take a while, which is why it's worth taking time to get the reconciliation right the first time.