FAQ - Differences in Bank Account Balances - Accounting

• When I access a bank account details from the Banking tab, I see two bank balances: Balance ($) and Today's Balance ($). Why is there a difference?
• When I connect to the bank feed the balances are different, why?

"Bank accounts" - detail window

From the Banking tab, when you click on your bank account frame you can access the detailed "Bank Accounts" window.
You will see 2 different balances on the top right corner:

• Balance includes all transactions including future dated transactions.  This figure matches the balance displayed on the main Banking page.

• Today's Balance only includes transactions recorded as of today's date: Today's Balance should more closely correspond to your actual bank balance as this does not include future dated transactions. 

If you think this discrepancy is a mistake, you can adjust the date range on the Bank Activity to check for future dated transactions. 
You can also run the Cashbook report to check the running bank balance as of the current date. 

"Banking"- summary window

From the Banking tab, you can see the summary balance for each one of your bank accounts. (Current, Cash, and other accounts you may have added: Deposits and others)

If you have not connected to a bank feed, you will see ONE balance as per the entries you posted in Sage (Manual entry or File import)
If you have connected your account via a bank feed, you will see TWO balances.

• LEFT> The balance as per the entries recorded in your account in Sage
• RIGHT > The actual bank balance as per your Online Bank status.

"Incoming Bank Transactions" - Bank import window 

Under the Banking tab, from the bank account summary frame, click on the link -n transactions - to access the bank import window

In the bank import "Incoming Bank Transactions" window you will see:

• The Sage balance to the right,
• The actual Bank balance to the left:
  • as per your bank statement date if you are importing via statement ( Balance entered manually when importing via file import)
  • as per today's balance if you have a bank feed connected (Balance updated automatically and directly from your bank)

Summary Tab- Cashflow Statement

This window gives an Opening balance and a Closing balance for a particular period.
By default, it will give an overall figure for all bank accounts together, and for the last 30 days. The closing balance will give today's balance by default.
You can change the filter to select one bank at a time and for the desired period. The Opening and Closing balance will reflect the balance on those selected dates.

 

Dealing with discrepancies

If the balance in Sage is less than expected:

• Have you entered an opening balance?
  • You want to make sure you entered a Bank opening balance reflecting the balance of your bank accounts when you started using Sage. 
• Have you posted all your entries or finished importing?
  • When you connect or import bank statements, transactions are imported in the "Incoming Bank Transactions" window waiting to be processed to be allocated to invoices and posted to the right ledgers. You want to make sure you finish importing all your transactions.
  • If transactions are left in the bank import window, they are not yet reflected in your accounts and will not update your reports and balance. 
  • More info: FAQ - How to import bank transactions - Accounting

If the balance in Sage is more than expected:

It is likely you posted duplicate entries:

For example, you may have posted a customer receipt from the invoice itself AND via the Create button during import.
To avoid this you want to make sure you use the Match button from the import window to allocate your imported transactions to an unpaid invoice, or if the invoice is already paid match the transaction already recorded.

 

About reconciliation

If you think you have posted all your transactions and you still have discrepancies, you may want to proceed with the bank reconciliation process to check with your bank statement and identify duplicates or missing transactions and correct your entries.
You may want to print your statements and your sage banking report to compare.