New behavior with manually added transactions matching pending?

JCG2042

Up until about 2 weeks ago, Simplifi was handling this scenario correctly. Here is the way it used to work:

• I pay a bill (i.e. a credit card payment) and manually enter the transfer from one account to the other on the day I make it, so I can see the future balance and ensure proper balance forecasting between income deposits.
• The "pending balance" adjusts correctly and shows the "real" balance I have available for use.
• This state remained until both sides of the transaction cleared and the downloaded version matched up with the manually entered one. Sometimes - they wouldn't match, and I would simply match them manually, but not usually.
• All was good.

Current Behavior (and this is with two different checking accounts - Key, BofA)

• I pay a bill (i.e. a credit card payment) and manually enter the transfer from one account to the other on the day I make it, so I can see the future balance and ensure proper balance forecasting between income deposits.
• The "pending balance" adjusts correctly and shows the "real" balance I have available for use.
• Once the transactions start to settle on the CHECKING side of the transaction, they duplicate, but are not visible to me as duplicates, and the balances are inaccurate. To be more specific, the transaction register is completely correct in the number of transactions, but the pending transactions from the bank are adjusting the pending balance in Simplifi but DO NOT appear in the register to be matched. The result is: A) Inaccurate account balances; B) Email, text, and app notifications that I am overdrawn or have a low balance (These alerts are wrong)

Changing system setting to "Bank Balance" doesn't suit my needs because it completely ignores anything I manually enter in the register that hasn't cleared, and thus doesn't adjust the projected cash flow graph. With the current problem, I have to manually double check my work to ensure I haven't overpaid something until the transactions clear completely. It used to be very rare that my checking account balances didn't show exactly what I expected, now they are rarely correct, unless there have been no transactions on the account for a few days and nothing is pending.

Coach Jon

Hello @JCG2042,

Thanks for reaching out! I am sorry to hear about the duplicate transactions issue you are experiencing. We do have a great article that shows how to resolve these duplicate transaction issues here: https://help.simplifimoney.com/en/articles/4901071-how-to-resolve-duplicate-transactions#h_415fc88d6f

If you follow those instructions and the problem still exists, be sure to let us know!

Thank you,

Coach Jon

JCG2042

You missed a part - The transactions are not duplicated during this problem. The balance is simply incorrect. The amount that the balances are incorrect equates to the transactions being duplicated, but they are not there.

My issue sounds similar to this:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/10514/balances-completely-wrong-today-10-25-from-doubled-transactions

I have NO outstanding/pending transactions in either of my checking accounts right now. If I select "Bank Balance", the Simplifi balance matches the bank. If I chose "Balance with Pending", the balance is incorrect, and the difference is the EXACT amount of the transactions I manually entered as transfers to other accounts within Simplifi.

It appears you have a bug where manual transactions are being auto-matched to downloaded transactions in the UI, but they are not matched in the balances.

SRC54

Have you tried resetting the account. I've had to reset my bank account twice in two weeks because the balance was off. This morning I had two ACH payments that cleared for Insurance. They were properly cleared and the balance downloaded correctly but Simplifi was still deducting them again as Pending. It worked correctly in Quicken Classic this morning.

Yes, I had entered both as manual transactions when I did the payment on Sunday. On Monday, Simplifi downloaded the transactions as pending and matched them. This morning, it cleared them correctly. So this seems to be a problem with Simplifi and not the download. @JCG2042

Coach Jon

Hello @JCG2042,

Thank you for the clarification. It appears that the bank is sending in a balance that includes pending transactions and you also have Quicken Simplifi set up to count pending transactions. I would have you verify in the transactions you have created what the "Appears on your statement as…" information states so we can verify if Quicken Simplifi is auto-matching manual transactions to downloaded transactions, as you have noted.

In addition, I would also verify if a fresh connection might resolve things as well, as @SRC54 suggested. You can make the accounts manual and then use the Add Account flow to get a completely fresh connection. If the connection is successful, you'll then want to link the accounts to your existing Quicken Simplifi accounts. Let us know how that goes!

Thanks,

Coach Jon

JCG2042

When I checked earlier, the transactions were the downloaded versions and showed connected to my manual entries. There were no duplicates to merge.

This afternoon, the balances resolved themselves in Simplifi. However, the bank view was unchanged from this morning.

So either an adjustment was made in the back end, or some oddity with the way Simplifi is handling the connection is causing this.

In any event, this started after the last "update" prompt when I was using the software.

SRC54

@JCG2042 I am glad the next update fixed it. That is usually the case with mine when they get messed up, but what happens with most of those accounts (Chase, Capital One) is that they update the balance ahead of clearing the transactions. I have to go ahead and clear the transactions or wait til the next download. This is the Bank's fault or at least a problem with the download. I can tell because it is the same in both Simplifi and Quicken Classic.

On this banking account I referenced above, it has been different. It updates the balance AND clears the transactions, but for some reason Simplifi continues to count the "cleared" transactions as pending. So far only resetting the account has fixed it. Next time it happens, I will try some other things. But this seems to be Simplifi's fault since this problem hasn't occurred in Classic. @Coach Jon

Coach Jon

Hello @JCG2042,

Thanks for letting us know. I am glad the balances ended up resolving themselves. I would definitely stay on the lookout moving forward for if this issue returns, and to let us know if it happens again.

@SRC54, Thanks for following up. If you notice the behavior you mentioned again with Quicken Simplifi counting cleared transactions as pending, be sure to create a new post and let us know.

Thank you,

Coach Jon

JCG2042

So as soon as there are new transactions that are pending in my accounts online and also matched to recurring or manual entries, the behavior returns. So don't consider this fixed. It is broken and is not behaving as expected until one full day after a transaction is cleared on the bank side of the transaction and Simplfi pulls that in.

Coach Jon

Hello @JCG2042,

Thanks for following up! To help us understand your situation, can you let us know if when you perform a reset, do the transactions download/clear right then? If you wait 4-6 hours, do the transactions download/match/clear by themselves, without a reset?

Your accounts will automatically refresh when you sign into Quicken Simplifi, however, Quicken Simplifi will only connect with your bank for new transactional and balance data once every 4-6 hours. So we want to make sure that the bank is not updating the balance ahead of the transactions being downloaded into Quicken Simplifi.

Thank you, and let us know!

-Coach Jon

JCG2042

I tried this today. My mortgage payment amount was doubled up (by math), but there were not two transactions to merge. So my official bank balance with no pending transactions (all had cleared) was $1,266.52 but Quicken showed a negative balance of -$2,900.60 (this is the amount of my mortgage difference. When I reset the connection, the balances fixed themselves and Simplifi is now correct. This is with Bank of America

With a second heavily used checking account with Key Bank, the behavior is the same. The balance displayed in Simplifi is doubling up on transactions that have cleared the bank, were manually entered in Simplifi, and show matched to the online transaction in the app. When I dissect the difference in the balance, it is precisely the difference between 3 transactions that recently completely cleared the bank and are matched in Simplifi, but somehow are being used twice to display the balance in Simplifi, which is inaccurate. I reset the connection with Key, and it also resolved the situation.

So resetting the connection fixes the issue, but we shouldn't have to do this.

Coach Natalie

@JCG2042, thanks for the reply!

Since it sounds like you are experiencing the same thing that was escalated here, we'll need you to do some testing to confirm so we can get you added to the ticket. What we need to know is if the transactions that are prematurely included in the balance end up downloading on their own (without a reset) 4-6 hours later when Quicken Simplifi next refreshes with your banks.

Let us know!

-Coach Natalie

JCG2042

OK. I'll have to wait for some new transactions to come in for the behavior to replicate. I typically have a lot of manually entered transactions every 2 weeks at pay day.

But I can tell you based on past behavior that these errors didn't resolve in the 4-6 hour time frame you talk about. It was usually several days after a transaction cleared before it would eventually resolve itself. As if the transactions were stuck in some sort of cache.

JCG2042

This is currently happening. I have two pending transaction that will match a recurring transaction, and they are doubling up, resulting in an incorrect "balance with pending" that is off by the amount of the transaction in pending. When you view the transaction in Simplifi, it shows that it is matched to the downloaded transactions, yet the balance is off. When I manually calculate the transactions being doubled, it matches the amount being displayed in Simplifi.

Coach Natalie

@JCG2042, thank you for the update!

Please don't reset the connection for the account — let's allow some time to see how long it takes for the balance issue to clear up so we can get a better idea of what's occurring. Also, can you send a screenshot of the Transaction Detail view for the latest transaction you mentioned so we can see that it's matched to a bank-downloaded transaction, please? Has it also been matched to the recurring reminder you mentioned?

-Coach Natalie

JCG2042

@Coach Natalie This has resolved itself, as it usually does, as of today. This errant available balance issue with Key and Bank of America occurs anytime a pre-entered transaction in Simplifi matches with a downloaded one, and lasts around 2 business days. (one full day or more after the transaction actually clears (as in no longer showing as pending).

Coach Natalie

@JCG2042, thanks for the update!

To clarify, you reported that the issue was actively happening yesterday and that it cleared up as of this morning — that doesn't align with the 2-day timeframe you're reporting and instead seems more in line with the other issue I mentioned above that we've already escalated. We're looking to get more users added to the existing escalation since it seems to have a wider impact than what we've reported thus far, which is why I'm trying to nail down the behavior and a timeline. Can you elaborate on when the issue you mentioned yesterday actually started, please?

If you can recall all of these details from the last time the issue occurred, we can use it as an example to add you to the ticket. If not, please gather these details and post them here the next time it does occur:

1. The name of the account with the issue, as it appears in Quicken Simplifi.
2. The Date, Payee, and Amount of the transactions that seem to be impacting the balance ahead of actually downloading, or are being double-counted in the balance.
3. Confirm whether these transactions show as "pending" in Quicken Simplifi.
4. Confirm whether these transactions show as "pending" on the bank's website.
5. The current balance for the account in Quicken Simplifi (we need this when it’s incorrect).
6. The current balance for the account on the bank's website (when it’s incorrect in Quicken Simplifi).
7. The balance for the account in Quicken Simplifi after the transactions download/clear and everything becomes correct again. 
8. A timeline of when the balance is incorrect and when it becomes correct again in relation to the above transactions downloading and/or clearing in Quicken Simplifi.

Please also submit your logs via the 'Send Feedback' option at this time of providing the above details:

1. Log into the Quicken Simplifi Web App.
2. Select Profile from the left-hand navigation bar.
3. With the Profile menu open, hold down the Option key for Mac or the Alt key for Windows, and then click Send Feedback. 
4. Leave all boxes checked, add a brief description of the issue, and then click Send.

-Coach Natalie

JCG2042

I posted yesterday, but the transaction cleared the day before. It is taking more than one day for the issues to resolve themselves. I will submit these steps on the next bad transaction.

JCG2042

@Coach Natalie I just sent this in, but you don't leave anywhere near enough room in the comments box to describe the situation. Hopefully they will email for more details.

Right this second, two payments out ($3,000 and $100) are all "pending" with the bank on their website and their balance accommodates that and is correct. All three of these were manually entered by me in Simplifi when I made them. One check hasn't cleared in the amount of $250. My Simplifi balance is the bank balance MINUS all three of these transactions, showing negative over $5,000 (you can see this is a problem) So the issue, in a nutshell, is that the pending state at the bank and the pending state in Simplifi are not matched. The difference between the negative balance in Simplifi and the true bank balance is precisely these three transactions.

Once the transactions COMPLETELY clear at the bank and no longer show as "pending" on their website, the issue resolves in Simplifi about 1 day later. (perhaps sooner, but I am not in Simplifi all day every day to see how long it really takes)

Coach Natalie

@JCG2042, thank you for the info!

Sorry for the confusion — the data that was outlined above for you to provide will need to be provided here in the Community. You will separately want to send your logs via the 'Send Feedback' option.

-Coach Natalie

RobWilk

by here in the community, I believe if there is sensitive info you can private message a coach (not me)

Coach Natalie

@JCG2042, thanks for the DM!

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like all of the requested info was provided, which we will need to outline a timeline. For example, the balances for numbers 5-7 were not provided. If you have this data and would like to add it to the examples you already sent, please send it via DM. Otherwise, you will want to wait for the issue to pop back up and provide all of the data for a new example.

1. The name of the account with the issue, as it appears in Quicken Simplifi.
2. The Date, Payee, and Amount of the transactions that seem to be impacting the balance ahead of actually downloading, or are being double-counted in the balance.
3. Confirm whether these transactions show as "pending" in Quicken Simplifi.
4. Confirm whether these transactions show as "pending" on the bank's website.
5. The current balance for the account in Quicken Simplifi (we need this when it’s incorrect).
6. The current balance for the account on the bank's website (when it’s incorrect in Quicken Simplifi).
7. The balance for the account in Quicken Simplifi after the transactions download/clear and everything becomes correct again. 
8. A timeline of when the balance is incorrect and when it becomes correct again in relation to the above transactions downloading and/or clearing in Quicken Simplifi.

You will also want to submit fresh logs if we end up using a new example to add you to the ticket so the logs include that example.

-Coach Natalie

JCG2042

Sending in DM

Coach Natalie

@JCG2042, thank you for the additional info!

I have some follow-up questions:

1. You stated: "Right now, the "pending" transactions in Simplifi are actually still appearing with the bank. However, a "scheduled" transaction [removed - privacy] IS pending with the bank. The balance difference between the bank and SImplifi, however counts this as deposited. I hope this makes sense. (Simplifi balance + the two pending transactions that DO NOT appear at the bank yet = the bank balance; However, the $165.08 pending deposit at the bank IS in the math)" — does this mean that the first two transactions you mentioned were manually entered in Quicken Simplifi as "pending"? If so, do you have the 'balance with pending' option set for the account so that those transactions are being deducted from the bank balance as expected? And what are the amounts of those 2 pending transactions?
2. What do you mean by the transaction is "scheduled" in Quicken Simplifi? If a transaction is entered into an account, the entry method would either be manual or downloaded. And the status would either be pending or cleared. Are you saying that the transaction has not been entered into Quicken Simplifi at all? Please keep in mind that a Recurring Reminder is not the same as an entered transaction.
3. You stated for # 5 that the incorrect balance is $1008.15, but gave the same correct balance for # 7 — can you clarify how the balance is incorrect in Quicken Simplifi if these numbers match?

-Coach Natalie

JCG2042

Info sent in DM

Coach Natalie

@JCG2042, thank you!

I added your example to the ticket. We have enough examples now to create an Alert, so I went ahead and did that as well. You can follow the Alert for updates moving forward:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/10633/new-11-11-24-multiple-fis-account-balance-missing-transactions-issues

Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this matter!

-Coach Natalie

CTP-11351 CTP-11449

JCG2042

@Coach Natalie Thank you!

If you need more, it's happening in my other checking account where a transfer that was added manually is being duplicated during the download/pending process.