The account balance does not match the balance in the register in Money

When you start one of the products that are listed in the "Applies To" section, you experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• An account balance in the Account list does not match the account balance in the register.
• The balance in the register changes when you change the view.

This problem may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:

• The balance in the Account list has not been updated.
• The register contains a hidden transaction.

Note The "hidden transaction" issue was fixed in Microsoft Money 2006.

If the balance in the Account list has not been updated, update your accounts online to verify that you have the latest balance information. To do this, click Internet Updates on the Tools menu, and then click Update Now.

Note The following steps are for Microsoft Money 2005. These steps may vary if you use another version of Microsoft Money.

To resolve this problem, use the following methods in the order that they appear in.

Method 1: Repair your Money 2005 file

To repair your Money 2005 file, follow these steps:

1. Start Money 2005.
2. On the File menu, point to Repair Money File, and then click Quick File Repair.

For more information about how to repair a file in earlier versions of Money, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 2: Compare the Account Transactions report to the account register

1. Start Money 2005.
2. On the Reports menu, click Reports Gallery.
3. Click Income and Expenses.
   
   If you use a business version of Money, click Personal, and then click Income and Expenses.
4. Double-click Account Transactions.
5. In the Accounts box, click the account that you want to troubleshoot.
6. In the Date Range box, click All Dates.

If the problem started recently, click Custom Dates, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen to create a custom date range.

After you create this report, compare it with your account register to determine the differences. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Account List.
2. Click the account that you want to compare to the Account Transactions report that you created earlier.
3. Compare the report that you created in Method 2 to the account information that appears on the screen.
4. If you find transactions in the Account Transactions reports that are not in the register, follow these steps:
   1. Double-click the transaction in the Account Transactions report.
   2. On the Edit Transaction screen in the Amount box, type 0.00, and then click OK.
   3. Click Mark the transaction as void, and then click OK.
5. Click Account List, and then click the account that you want to troubleshoot.
6. Find the transaction that you marked as void in step 4, right-click the transaction, and then click Edit.
7. Edit the transaction information, and then click OK.

Method 3: Export the file to Quicken Import File (QIF) format

To export the file to a QIF file, follow these steps:

1. Make a copy of your Money 2005 file. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. On the File menu, click Backup.
   2. Select a location for the backup file, and then click OK.
2. Open the copy of your Money 2005 file that you created in step 1. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. On the File menu, click Open.
   2. In the Files of type box, click Money Backup Files (*.mbf).
   3. Click the file that you created in step 1, and then click Open.
   4. If you are prompted to do this, click Don't Back Up.
   5. Click Browse.
   6. Type a file name to determine the file as a file that you use to troubleshoot this issue--for example, Troubleshooting File, and then click OK.
   7. Click Restore.
3. Click Account List.
4. Click the account that you want to troubleshoot.
5. Delete all transactions in the account that you want to troubleshoot.
   
   To delete a transaction, right-click the transaction, click Delete, and then click Yes.
6. Export the account to a QIF format file. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. On the File menu, click Export.
   2. Click Loose QIF, and then click OK.
   3. Type a name for the file, and then click OK.
   4. Click Regular, and then click OK.
   5. Click the account that you want to export, and then click Continue.
   6. Click OK.
7. Close Money 2005.
8. Open the QIF file that you created in step 6 in Notepad. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Right-click the QIF file, point to Open With, and then click Choose Program.
   2. Click Notepad, and then click OK.
9. Verify that no transactions exist in the file. If there is an entry for the opening balance, delete this transaction from the file. The entry for the opening balance resembles the following:

   !Type:Bank
   D3/15'2005
   T1,000.00
   CX
   POpening Balance
   L[My Bank Checking]
   ^

10. If there are existing transactions in the file, note the details of those transactions.
11. Save the file in Notepad.
    
    To do this, click File, and then click Save.
12. Close Notepad.
13. Open your original Money 2005 file. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Start Money 2005.
    2. On the File menu, click Open.
    3. Click your original Money 2005 file, and then click Open.
    4. Click Don't Back Up.
14. On the File menu, click Import.
15. Click the QIF file that you created in step 6, and then click Import.
16. Click As a statement from my bank, and then click OK.
17. In the Money account name box, click the account that you want to troubleshoot, and then click Next.
18. Click OK.
19. Click Account List.
20. Click the account that you want to troubleshoot.
21. Verify the transactions that you noted in step 10 appear in the register.
22. Compare the transactions in the register to the account transaction report.