How to adjust opening balances after exiting History Mode in Sage 50 CA

3 minute read time.

We're coming up on year end and many of you may be working to update transaction entries into your Sage 50 CA company database. Have you been working in Sage 50 CA a few months, exited History Mode and realized that your opening balances need adjusting? The below details should answer your burning questions.

Note: When you create your company in Sage 50 CA, you will be in history mode. In this mode, you can enter opening balances for accounts in your Chart of Accounts, customers, vendors, employees and payroll, and inventory. The Setup Guide can help you enter opening balances for accounts, customers, and vendors.

During the research of this, @DMaster pointed out that if you're still in History Mode, then you can access Company > Chart of Accounts to directly enter opening balances. When you do this, you'll be advised that to balance the accounts you can "Save" opening balances as entered, the difference will be recorded in your Retained Earnings account. While still in History Mode you are free to reset any account balance back to zero.


How do you know if you're in History Mode?

When you're in History Mode, an orange icon will show beside module icons in Sage 50 CA as shown below. Switching to classic view will highlight this.

 

What options do you have if needing to modify opening balances when no longer in History mode?

For this we've put together KB 16374, we've laid out the steps below which involve entering a General Journal entry for the amount of the opening balance:

STEP 1: Click General Journal icon in Company Module.
 
STEP 2: Input Source, Date (previous year fiscal start date) and Comment.

STEP 3: Choose the account you would like to enter the opening balance for and enter the balance as a debit or credit as appropriate.

STEP 4: Choose the account or accounts you would like to use as the other part of the transaction and enter the appropriate amounts.

  • When working with opening account balances; Generally, if your company data is brand new and History Mode was accidentally closed, then when debiting to increase the opening bank balance we can credit our "Retained Earnings Previous Year" account. This advice is based on KB 16421 which details the process of entering opening balances when in History Mode and setting up a company database.

TIPs:

  • If still unsure, consult with accountant before posting adjusting entries.
  • If you want to test the posting to the General Ledger, create a backup of your company database first.

STEP5: Post the journal entry.


Other Resources:

Topic

EN

FR

How to exit history mode?

12127

260-1007161

 Doing Payroll while in History Mode

Sage City blog

Sage City blog

After I enter an opening balance, the system automatically creates an entry into 'Retained Earnings - Previous Year' account

16421

 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

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