Incorrect balance on credit card account due to linked transfer (edited)

RobWilk
RobWilk Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
edited January 2023 in Report a Bug
I scheduled a payment yesterday of $20 from Checking to Credit Card to cover a coffee card reload.

Overnight, the checking side of the transaction cleared the checking account.  That cleared it in Simplifi.

On the Credit card side, Simplifi did not yet 'match' this transaction, but it did appear to clear it on the credit card side when it was cleared on checking.  Edit: If not obvious, the credit card side technically should not have cleared.

As a result, the credit card reported balance is $20 more than it should be. (edited - I said less before - more negative, less positive)  Details: This is because once a transaction is cleared simplifi ignores it and assumes the 'bank balance' (which doesn't include the payment) includes all cleared transactions (and again this transaction shouldn't have been cleared on that side).

BTW - I'm sure someone will rewrite the subject, I tried to summarize it, but it isn't very easy to briefly describe.

-Rob


Rob Wilkens

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Comments

  • RobWilk
    RobWilk Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    This is 100% a bug.  I know how to add and update accounts.  The problem is simplifi clearing a transaction it should not have.  It cleared both side when it should have only cleared one.


    Rob Wilkens

  • RobWilk
    RobWilk Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Who moves the posts?

    I reported a bug, it got moved to 'using simplifi'

    The issue:
    1. Transaction  Exists from account A to account B
    2. Bank Clears transaction on account A
    3. Simplifi Syncs this, but clears the transaction on account A and account B
    4. Simplifi should have only cleared it on account A
    5. Because of the way simplifi works, clearing the transaction in account B results in a temporarily wrong balance (until it actually clears).



    Rob Wilkens

  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin
    Hello @RobWilk,

    Thank you for reporting this behavior to the Community, although I'm sorry to hear that you're seeing a balance discrepancy in Simplifi.

    To better understand the issue, please provide the following details: 
    1. Were the transactions originally manually entered into Simplifi? If so, was one of them created by using a 'Linked Transfer'?
    2. Are both of the accounts connected to the bank in Simplifi?
    3. Are the transactions now linked using a 'Linked Transfer'?
    When it comes to the balance of connected accounts, the balance should always match what the bank is reporting. The only exception is when there are pending transactions, as Simplifi is designed to deduct transactions in a 'Pending' state from the balance that's reported by the bank (unless disabled).

    With that said, if the transaction in the credit card account is 'Cleared', it should not impact the balance from the bank in any way. If the credit card account is connected to the bank, I'd suggest fully signing out and back in to see if doing so refreshes everything and gets the balance matching the bank balance again. 

    Please let us know how it goes!

    -Coach Natalie
  • RobWilk
    RobWilk Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    1. THERE WAS ONLY ONE TRANSACTION, yes manually entered, but it has TWO SIDES (meaning it was, essentially, a transfer).  I don't know what you mean by linked transfer, but this was NOT a scheduled transaction (it was not linked to a scheduled transaction).  Also, account A (checking) matched and cleared at the bank, while account B did not match yet and did not clear at the bank.  The accounts are at different banks.
    2. Both accounts are connected to two separate banks.  One is Chase (source side) the other is CapitalOne (Receiving side).  Simplifi mostly plays well with these two banks so I use both primarily.  Chase is the side that cleared overnight, CapitalOne will take at least an additional business day or two.
    3. Again, I don't know what a linked transfer is -- In the transaction category, the transfer to account is selected.   It was not linked to a bill.


    Rob Wilkens

  • RobWilk
    RobWilk Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 2022
    "With that said, if the transaction in the credit card account is 'Cleared', it should not impact the balance from the bank in any way. "

    You might be misunderstanding how Simplifi works.  

    Simplifi starts with the bank balance and applies (only) pending transactions.

    So if a transaction is cleared incorrectly, it will not be applied on top of the bank balance.  Edit: This will result in a wrong balance.


    Rob Wilkens

  • RobWilk
    RobWilk Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    I will add - the bank balance is right, and it's applying the pending transactions properly --- my concern is it cleared a transaction it should NOT have, thereby not applying that to the bank balance (ignoring it).


    Rob Wilkens

  • RobWilk
    RobWilk Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Finally, the "balance discrepancy" is because a transaction was cleared that shouldn't have been.  clearing a transaction (or a particular side of a transaction) is the issue,-- the balance is a side effect


    Rob Wilkens

  • RobWilk
    RobWilk Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sadly, I'm done with this.  I accept this bug as an example of why i can't trust the balances with simplifi.  By tomorrow (today when any support person reads this) the transaction should clear at the second bank, and the problem should "fix itself" as a "one off".

    When enough other issues get addressed, I'll bring this up again if it's still an issue.


    Rob Wilkens

  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin
    Hello @RobWilk,

    Thank you for providing additional details! This allows me to get a better idea of what's going on and fully understand the issue. 

    A 'Linked Transfer' is when you link two transfer transactions together by way of the Category column; these are typically used when transferring money from one account to another where both sides of the transfer are tracked in Simplifi. Simplifi will attempt to automatically detect Transfers for linking, however, when manually creating a Linked Transfer transaction, you'll be prompted to create the 2nd transaction if one doesn't already exist. It sounds like this is exactly what you did, and I now know how the transactions were entered, that they're linked via a Linked Transfer, and that both of the accounts are connected to the bank. 

    When it comes to the issue with the balance, does (did) the balance in Simplifi match what the bank showed? If not, and if there are no pending transactions in the account to affect the balance reported by the bank, the issue would be deemed an online banking problem, regardless of what caused it. 

    However, if the balance in Simplifi matches the bank's balance, and the issue is that you expect to see the bank balance with the pending transaction (transaction in a 'Pending' state) deducted from it (as this is how Simplifi is designed unless disabled) then the issue would lie with the program itself since it's not properly deducting pending transactions from the balance due to an improperly "cleared" transaction. Being able to distinguish this is essential for me to know what route to take when escalating the issue. 

    With that said, I'd be happy to escalate the issue, however, I would need further details from you first. I'm also unsure how quickly something like this would be tended to if it is a program issue versus an online banking issue, so it's totally up to you if you'd like to wait. Just let me know what you'd like to do and we'll go from there!

    -Coach Natalie
  • RobWilk
    RobWilk Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 2022
    "When it comes to the issue with the balance, does (did) the balance in Simplifi match what the bank showed? "

    The balance in Simplifi matched the BANK BALANCE plus the PENDING TRANSACTIONS.  Today, as expected, it is correct, it was off by that one cleared transaction yesterday. 

    The problem plainly is that a transaction was cleared that should not have been.  When calculating the balance, simplifi ignores cleared transactions - if it was still pending, it would have affected the balance.

    This happened because it was a linked transfer, and when it cleared one side it cleared both side and the other side wasn't "clear".

    At this point, unless it happens again, it's a non-issue because my example case went away in under 1 day.

    EDIT: Want to note that there exists THREE pending transactions on that account today:

    (1) The Dunkin charge $20 (The $20 payment in question cleared today)
    (2) charge for Nail Salon ($30)  - yesterday morning
    (3) Payment for Nail Salon ($30) - a little later yesterday morning

    (The nail salon transactions were entered in the mobile app if that matters)

    It's worth noting the same thing did not happen with the $30 nail salon charge/payment -- It cleared checking today and is pending on credit card side.  It was only that one payment that cleared on the credit card side incorrectly.



    Rob Wilkens

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