Unreconciling reverses a completed reconciliation so you can fix mistakes or adjust transactions
When you reconcile a bank account in QuickBooks Online, the system locks those transactions and marks them as matched to your bank statement. If you discover an error after reconciliation—a duplicate charge, a transaction that shouldn't have cleared, or a math mistake—you can unreconcile the account to unlock it and make corrections. Unreconciling takes you back to the state before you hit the final "Finish" button, letting you remove or edit transactions and then reconcile again.
The process is straightforward but not obvious in the interface. You do not undo individual transactions; you reverse the entire reconciliation for that month or period. Once unreconciled, every transaction from that reconciliation cycle becomes editable again, and you start the matching process over.
Key Takeaways
- Unreconciling reverses an entire month's reconciliation at once, not individual transactions within it.
- You access the unreconcile option through the account's reconciliation history, not from the main reconcile screen.
- After unreconciling, you must reconcile the account again from scratch to lock in your corrections.
- Unreconciling does not delete or change transactions; it only removes the "reconciled" status so you can edit them.
How to find and open the reconciliation history
Start by opening the account you need to unreconcile. Go to the Accounting menu, select Chart of Accounts, and find the bank account in the list. Click the account name to open it.
On the account page, look for the Reconcile button near the top right. Click it, and you will see a list of all past reconciliations for that account, with dates and the ending balance for each one. This list shows every reconciliation you have completed, going back as far as your records go. Find the reconciliation you want to reverse—usually the most recent one—and click on it to open the details.
Selecting the reconciliation to reverse
When you click on a past reconciliation, QuickBooks shows you the reconciliation summary: the statement date, the ending balance you entered, and the transactions that were matched during that reconciliation. At the top or bottom of this screen, you will see a button labeled Unreconcile or sometimes Delete (the label varies by QuickBooks version).
Before you click it, make sure you are looking at the right reconciliation. If you unreconcile the wrong month, you will have to reconcile it again to lock it back in. Check the statement date and ending balance to confirm this is the one you want to reverse. Once you are certain, click the unreconcile button.
What happens immediately after unreconciling
After you unreconcile, QuickBooks removes the "reconciled" status from every transaction in that period. The transactions stay in your account—nothing is deleted—but they are now editable and will no longer show as matched to your bank statement. The reconciliation itself disappears from your history.
You will be returned to the account page or the reconciliation list. The account balance does not change, because unreconciling only removes a status label, not the transactions themselves. If you look at your transaction list, you may notice that transactions no longer show a reconciliation checkmark or status indicator next to them.
Fixing the problem before reconciling again
Now that the account is unreconciled, you can make the corrections you need. If a transaction was entered twice, delete one copy. If an amount was wrong, edit it. If a transaction should not have been included, remove it or change its date so it falls outside the reconciliation period.
Make all your changes to the transaction register before you start a new reconciliation. Once you have fixed what was wrong, go back to the Reconcile button and start the reconciliation process over. This time, match your transactions to the bank statement again, and the corrections will be included in the new reconciliation.
When unreconciling affects multiple months
If you unreconcile a month that is not the most recent one, you will also need to unreconcile and re-reconcile every month after it. QuickBooks requires reconciliations to be in order—you cannot have a gap or a break in the chain. For example, if you unreconcile March, you must also unreconcile April and May before you can reconcile March again.
This is why most people unreconcile only the most recent month. If you need to fix something from three months ago, it is usually faster to unreconcile just the most recent month, make a small adjustment to that month's reconciliation instead, and leave the older months locked in. Talk to your accountant or bookkeeper if you are unsure whether unreconciling an older month is necessary.
Reconciling the account again after corrections
Once your corrections are made, open the reconciliation screen again by clicking the Reconcile button on the account page. This time you will start a fresh reconciliation. Enter your bank statement details—the statement date and ending balance—just as you did before. QuickBooks will show you all the transactions in that period again, and you will match them to your bank statement line by line.
The corrected transactions should now match properly. When everything balances, click Finish to complete the reconciliation. Your account is now reconciled again, and the corrections are locked in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does unreconciling delete my transactions?
No. Unreconciling only removes the "reconciled" status from transactions. The transactions themselves remain in your account and can be edited. Nothing is deleted unless you manually delete it after unreconciling.
Can I unreconcile just one transaction instead of the whole month?
No. QuickBooks unreconciles the entire reconciliation period at once. If you need to change one transaction, you must unreconcile the whole month, edit the transaction, and reconcile again.
What if I unreconcile by mistake?
You can reconcile the account again immediately using the same bank statement details. As long as you do not make changes to transactions, the new reconciliation will match the old one and lock everything back in.
Do I need to unreconcile if I just want to add a note to a transaction?
No. You can add notes to reconciled transactions without unreconciling. Only unreconcile if you need to change the amount, date, category, or any other detail of the transaction itself.