Balances generally off by shifting amount

[TF]

I'm gradually moving to beancount. So far I have history for all of 2018 to the present for my main checking account and two credit cards. 

When I do balance checks, using balances from my PDF statements, one credit card is perfectly balanced; my checking account (most transactions by far) is nearly always spot on or less than a dollar off -- generally by the amount of the next interest payment, which for some reason doesn't appear until after the statement date. I can live with that, because I understand what's going on. 

The other credit card, however, is off by varying amounts each month, except for three months, which are spot on. Otherwise, it is between $19 and $170 off the other months, always described as too much by beancount. The difference rises and falls, and one of those perfect months is in right between a month that winds up $87 too high and another $170 too high.

Has anyone run into anything like this? Obviously, I could have made an error each month reconciling downloaded transactions, but that seems unlikely when I did a decent job with the other two accounts. I kind of assume the problem is some mismatch between the dates on the downloaded transactions and the statement date (e.g., perhaps some charges posted on 1/31/2018 but after the statement was generated?). 

Anyway, hoping there's a simpler way of zeroing in on the problem than going through all the PDFs for the year...

Thanks!

[Martin Michlmayr]

* TF <theof...@gmail.com> [2019-01-19 07:32]:

> I kind of assume the problem is some mismatch between the dates on
> the downloaded transactions and the statement date (e.g., perhaps
> some charges posted on 1/31/2018 but after the statement was
> generated?).
>
> Anyway, hoping there's a simpler way of zeroing in on the problem
> than going through all the PDFs for the year...

I think that's exactly what you have to do for the months where it
doesn't match. Take a the PDF statement, your beancount entries and
perform a reconciliation...
--
Martin Michlmayr
https://www.cyrius.com/

[TF]

Thanks. I was afraid of that. But the first month shows me at least part of what's probably going on: The PDF credit-card statement lists some transactions as, for example, Feb. 3 -- but the downloaded transactions show it as Feb. 2. Some months that doesn't make a difference; but in others, it crosses the statement-end line. 

I assume the only solution is to manually change the downloaded-transaction date to match the PDF statement? Or is there a more elegant solution?

Thanks!

[Martin Michlmayr]

* TF <theof...@gmail.com> [2019-01-19 08:22]:

> Thanks. I was afraid of that. But the first month shows me at least
> part of what's probably going on: The PDF credit-card statement
> lists some transactions as, for example, Feb. 3 -- but the
> downloaded transactions show it as Feb. 2.

Sometimes the date you purchase something and the date when it shows
up on your account are different. It's annoying that the CSV and PDF
don't agree. Some of my banks CSV contain both dates. But
unfortunately we live in an imperfect world and there will be
differences in the CSV and PDF sometimes.

> I assume the only solution is to manually change the downloaded-transaction
> date to match the PDF statement?

Either that or you can add a transaction to make an adjustment to move
it by a day to match the PDF (but imho that's even more messy).

> Or is there a more elegant solution?

There's a proposal for beancount to allow dates on postings itself,
i.e. you could say this transaction is on this date but Assets:Bank
(or Liabilities:Credit card in your card) is another date. This way,
you could add the date from the PDF as a posting / settlement date.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x0qqWGRHi02ef-FtUW172SHkdJ8quOZD-Xli7r4Nl_k/

Unfortunately, the proposal hasn't been implemented yet, so this is
only a possible future solution. ;)

[TF]

I like the proposal you mention. This would also help when the date I pay my mortgage or credit card bill is different according in statements from the lender and my checking account. That said, I’m sure implementation would be tricky.

[Martin Blais]

On Sat, Jan 19, 2019 at 12:22 PM Martin Michlmayr <t...@cyrius.com> wrote:

* TF <theof...@gmail.com> [2019-01-19 08:22]:
> Thanks. I was afraid of that. But the first month shows me at least
> part of what's probably going on: The PDF credit-card statement
> lists some transactions as, for example, Feb. 3 -- but the
> downloaded transactions show it as Feb. 2.

Sometimes the date you purchase something and the date when it shows
up on your account are different.  It's annoying that the CSV and PDF
don't agree.  Some of my banks CSV contain both dates.  But
unfortunately we live in an imperfect world and there will be
differences in the CSV and PDF sometimes.

It's more like transaction date vs. settlement date, + there's the fact that the restauranteur might take their sweet time to process that credit card, a few days later.

 

> I assume the only solution is to manually change the downloaded-transaction
> date to match the PDF statement?

Either that or you can add a transaction to make an adjustment to move
it by a day to match the PDF (but imho that's even more messy).

> Or is there a more elegant solution?

There's a proposal for beancount to allow dates on postings itself,
i.e. you could say this transaction is on this date but Assets:Bank
(or Liabilities:Credit card in your card) is another date. 

That's only really elegant inasmuch as you have the patience to put both of the dates on.

Even with support for it, I probably still wouldn't bother...

 

This way,
you could add the date from the PDF as a posting / settlement date.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x0qqWGRHi02ef-FtUW172SHkdJ8quOZD-Xli7r4Nl_k/

Unfortunately, the proposal hasn't been implemented yet, so this is
only a possible future solution. ;)

--
Martin Michlmayr
https://www.cyrius.com/

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