Here in the US our statements only contain cleared transactions. I made a bug report in January addressing this issue after reading a response from a developer to another poster. That “report” appears to have been removed by a developer named “Norm”. Here is my description from that bug report:
SUMMARY Your "FIX" was in essence to claim "it's a feature, not a bug," stating that to correct one must change the transaction date on uncleared items to fall within the reconcile period. I take issue with that assessment by asking the following question: Why would I need to falsify my transaction date in order to get a correct response from the software?
For example: Suppose I receive a payroll direct deposit on the 15th of the month and I proceed to write checks for bills, charity, etc. I record those checks as being issued on the 15th, but they of course will not clear for perhaps another 4 or 5 days. Meanwhile, my bank statement issues on the 17th of the month and when I try to reconcile the account the beginning balance is incorrect. I believe your reasoning to be faulty, but if I'm incorrect, I wish you would clarify.
I’ll also mention that the 3/12 post by user “tortue” makes exactly the same point and is perhaps a little clearer than my example. I have also seen a post earlier in this thread that suggests the “beginning balance” is for “convenience” only and isn’t actually used in the reconciliation process–all well and good, but very confusing. As others have reported, the beginning balance always reported correctly in v5.1. This problem only cropped up in v5.2. As can be seen from this thread, there are many of use who find this behavior unsettling. Would be really sweet if some kind developer soul would correct this issue. Thank you for your consideration.