Hi EMaude

Rita's advise was always helpful, to the point and very accurate.  I am sure many here agree she has been missed.

I think you need to step back and break down exactly what you are trying to do.  I have always taught that you should put into English what you are trying to do, but I don't always stress that you should listen to what you are saying :).

EMaude said:

If I post the vendor invoice on the 1st day of the year ( to make that vendor's account correct), it credits the account receivable, which is what should happen

I think you have confused money in and money out.  First you talk money out but you want it to go to the money in holding account.  If you are starting with vendors, you should be in Accounts Payable.  I am assuming you missed on the text, and that the setup in your file is correct.

If you are posting a customer invoice, a positive number in the amount column in the sales module will always credit the account referenced in the account column on the same line.  If the entry is Pay Later, then the Accounts Receivable account should be debited if the total of the invoice is postive.

If you are posting a vendor invoice, a positive number in the amount column in the purchases module will always debit the account referenced in the account column on the same line.  If the entry is Pay Later, then the Accounts Payable account should be credited if the total of the invoice is postive.

You can look at the journal entry on the Report menu before you post to make sure you are doing the correct thing.

Now I am going to assume the amount owing for a vendor invoice that should be in Accounts Payable and already properly recorded for year end as an expense, is really in the Account Payable - unlinked for YE liability account and you really want it in Accounts Payable.  Let's say that total amount including any sales tax is $113 and this is the only invoice you need to post.  The balance of this account is now $113.  I will assume it is showing as a positive number on the balance sheet and therefore is a credit balance.  I have to do all this assuming because you did not tell us, but based on the logic of what you are trying to do, I should be pretty accurate.  If not, let me know.

Enter an invoice in the Purchases module, selecting the appropriate date you want, the proper vendor and the invoice number.  You might consider using the year end date instead of the first day of the year if you are using an older copy of her file.  This way the reporting will match the accountant's year end trial balance more accurately.  If you started a new file and only set it up for the new year, then you can use the first day of the year as you indicated, but don't post any other live entries that day so you can use that day for balancing with the old records, in case an audit requires the need for comparisons.  Easier to do without removing this year's entries on that day.

On the line you can enter any text you want in the Description that indicates this is a setup entry from year end figures to recover from the crash.

Enter 113 in the amount column and enter the Account Payable - unlinked for YE in the account column.

If you now look at the Journal Entry from the Report menu, you should see the Account Payable - unlinked for YE being debited and the Accounts Payable account being credited.  The original balance was a credit of $113 and now you are debiting by $113 which of course, brings the balance back to zero again and the total of the outstanding invoices are now in Accounts Payable as soon as you post.

Then you can, at any time, go to Payments and pay the bill as you normally would.

For sales invoices, you do the same thing but use the Account Receivable - unlinked for YE asset account.  The original balance of this account would be a debit balance and when you post to it through the sales module, you will be crediting it and debiting the Accounts Receivable account.

Those unlinked YE accounts should go back to zero again when you are completely done.  This is an advanced trick used by many consultants to quickly get a file setup under some circumstances.  It is not the easiest concept to work with but once you piece it apart and look at each entry required based on the logic for what you need to accomplish, it works quite well.  I did this last when I merged two companies into a file that existed already.

Hope this helps

Thank you very much Richard.  I am so saddened to hear about Rita's passing, I didn't know.  I loved reading her posts, but since I have been using Simply for about 18 years, and then I sold my business, I hadn't needed to come to this forum.  Now with my new job, I have been roaming in the forum, but hadn't signed up to the new one until today.  If you can, please pass on my condolences to Rita's family,  she helped myself and many others that she didn't have a clue who we were.  A rare and totally selfless person who will be missed.

Thank you for your answer, as soon as I started reading your response, I realized I had over thought it and missed the main problem.  It wasn't that my thinking was incorrect, but this particular accountant did everything backwards from the 3 other accountants I deal with.  I had made the biggest mistake we all make, thinking all accountants are GODS.  ;  )    Credit balances he put brackets around, and debit balances didn't have brackets, so I posted the starting balances backwards.  No wonder I couldn't get the account payables and account receivables to get the debits and credits working correctly.

As to using journal entries, I ALWAYS use the journal entry on the report menu before I post  something that is out of the main realm, that is how I knew it wasn't working the way it should.  I also put it on paper right from the start, debit column and credit column, and think it through first.  Saved me from a lot of headaches many a time.

Too late to keep only the YE entries on the starting day, , although there are only 20 posted, I could reverse those.  And I should have thought of starting the year 1 day early, oh well, live and learn.

Glad you have it worked out.  It's funny, I don't think I have ever seen an accountant NOT show credits with parentheses on their trial balances.  I think it's a rule that they can't keep their accreditation if they don't :)  I am surprised you balanced though when you entered the opening balances.

If you decide to change the date on those other entries on day 1, I would just adjust and change the date, not reverse and reenter.  Adjusting means you will spend 5 minutes doing it vs. a half hour the other way.

Thanks Richard.  The other accountants give us an excel spread sheet to post from, and the debits are always in brackets.  This accountant didn't, and since I had just finished doing 2 other year ends the other way, my brain was still in that mode. lol.    

And yes, I was only going to change the date, not do adjusting entries for the other day 1 entries.