Opening balances represent your company’s financial position on the day before you start using Accounting. Without accurate opening balances, reports won’t reflect your true financial situation.

You can enter opening balances for:

• Outstanding customer transactions
• Outstanding supplier transactions
• Bank account balances
• General ledger trial balance values

To enter your opening balances, you’ll need:

• A list of unpaid invoices and credit notes from your customers and suppliers
• Your trial balance after closing your previous accounting period
• Your bank statements
• A list of unreconciled bank items from your previous accounting system (For example, uncashed checks)

It’s recommended to start using Accounting at the beginning of a new accounting period (month, quarter, or fiscal year). You can then generate your final trial balance from your previous system and use it when entering opening balances to ensure accuracy and reconciliation.

You can enter all your opening balances at once or at different times. For example, enter customer, supplier, and bank balances now, and the rest later.

If you used another system before, you can import customer and supplier opening balances.

Before entering opening balances, create records for your customers, suppliers, and bank accounts, including loan and credit card accounts. You can also enter bank balances when creating the accounts.

Verify your start date

Before you enter opening balances, make sure you’ve entered the start date for your transactions.

1. Click Settings, Business settings.
2. Under Financial Settings, click Fiscal year.
3. In the Accounts Start Date field, enter the day that you’ll start using Accounting. For example, if you stopped using your previous accounting system on September 30, enter October 1.
4. Click Save.

 NOTE: You can’t enter any transactions before this date, only opening balances. 

Enter Customer Opening Balances

1. Under Opening Balances, click Customer.
2. Click New Opening Balance, then enter:
   • Customer: Select the customer
   • Date: The date of the invoice or credit note (must be before your start date)
   • Type: Select Invoice or Credit Note
   • Reference: Enter a reference (for example, invoice number)
   • Details: Add any relevant details
   • Total: Enter the amount
   • Tax Rate: Select if applicable

For unpaid deposits, enter them as credit notes. If using foreign currencies:

• Total (currency symbol): Enter the amount in the customer’s base currency (for example, CAD)
• Exchange Rate: Use the latest or original rate

Click Save and repeat for each customer. Totals appear in the Sales Control Account, with the offset in the Opening Balances Control Account.

Enter Suppliers Opening Balances

1. Under Opening Balances, click Supplier.
2. Click New Opening Balance, then enter:
   • Supplier: Select the supplier
   • Date: Enter a date before your start date
   • Type: Select Invoice or Credit Note
   • Reference, Details, Total: As above

For unpaid deposits, enter them as credit notes. For foreign currencies:

• Total (currency symbol): Enter in the supplier’s base currency (e.g., USD)
• Exchange Rate: Use the latest or original rate

Click Save and repeat. Totals appear in the Accounts Payable Control Account, with the offset in the Opening Balances Control Account.

Enter your Bank Account Opening Balances

 NOTE: You can also enter opening balances for your bank accounts when creating new accounts or from within the bank account record. 

1. Under Opening Balances, click Bank. 
2. Enter the following information:
   • Bank Account: Select the bank account
     • To change the branch and account numbers, go to the Banking page
   • Date: Use a date before the Accounts Start Date
     • For example, if the start date is October 1, use September 30
   • Type: Select whether the balance is a debit or credit
   • Opening Balance: Enter your total bank account balance from your bank statement as of the opening balance date
3. Repeat these steps for each bank account. Record uncleared bank items from your previous system on separate lines with the original transaction date. Reconcile them once they appear on your statement.
4. Click Save. Your bank opening balances will be displayed in your bank records and the relevant ledger accounts.

 NOTE: For reconciled balances, post the opposite entry for the difference. Example: Enter a $1000 credit if the balance needs to be $4000 instead of a $5000 debit.

What account types normally hold a debit or credit balance?

• Assets - Debit
• Liabilities - Credit
• Revenue - Credit
• Expenses - Debit
• Owners/Shareholders Equity/Capital - Credit

When the Asset balance is negative, enter the opening balance on the Credit side instead of the Debit side. When the opening balance is positive, enter the value on the Debit side.

Enter general ledger account opening balances

1. Under Opening Balances, click General Ledger.
2. Verify that the date is correct.
    NOTE: The default date is the day before the Accounts Start Date. Don’t change this.
3. Enter a reference for your opening balances.
4. Enter the remainder of your trial balance:
   
   • Category: Select an account
   • Details: Enter other details if needed
   • Debit: Enter the debit value from the trial balance
   • Credit: Enter the credit value from the trial balance
5. Enter all values from your trial balance by repeating these steps. The opposite entry posts to the Opening Balances account. Ensure this account has a zero balance after all entries.
6. Verify the entered balances match your trial balance.
7. Click Save. Your opening balances will be displayed in the relevant ledger accounts.

 NOTE: You can save your opening balances without entering the full trial balance. A value remains in the Opening Balances account until you enter the full trial balance.

To edit or delete an opening balance

1. Under Opening Balances, click the type of opening balance you want to edit or delete.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Click Delete next to an account to delete it
   • To edit an opening balance, change the applicable line and click Save

 CAUTION: Changing your opening balances can create a difference between Debits and Credits on the General Ledger Opening Balances page. The difference posts to the Opening Balances account (9100). Ensure the values match your trial balance. Update as needed and verify the balance for ledger account 9100 is zero before saving.