Opening balances are not working?

SOLVED

I am trying to set up a new company, using the Leadsheet Summary from the accountant with the opening account balances.   I have more-than- triple-checked the entries!  But get the message that the accounts are not balanced.   What to do?

Do I  need to enter the net income/loss shown on the Leadsheet Summary somewhere?  If so, where?  Or is this automatically calculated?    I do not want to have the system "save my balances as entered and balance my account by recording the difference in Retained Earnings."  The program says this is an option, but cannot be undone.

Thanks,

CJM 

Parents
  • +1
    verified answer

    Yes, the amount added to Retained Earnings can be undone as long as you remain in History Mode.  I don't know why that message is in the program.

    You said you triple-checked the entries.  Which one's?  The ones you put into the program or did you validate that the report the accountant gave you actually balances?

    When you run your Trial Balance does it match the accountants?

    Do I  need to enter the net income/loss shown on the Leadsheet Summary somewhere?  If so, where?  Or is this automatically calculated?

    If you are starting the use of Sage 50 in the middle of a fiscal year, then you would have entered amounts for the Income and Expense accounts.  The net profit calculated from those accounts is the Current Earnings on the balance sheet.  So you should not have to enter the net anywhere to get it to balance (as long as the balance of each account entered is correct.

    If you have an account in the chart that does not have an opening balance, then you can enter the difference in that account for testing purposes.  Then run the Trial Balance and check each entry again.  I'm assuming you are using the Setup Guide for Accounts when entering your opening balances.  You can always go back later and adjust the numbers between accounts as needed.  Just remember which account you used.

    Under Setup, Settings, General, Linked Accounts - Record opening balances in my Retained Earnings account can be turned off but apparently it does not have any function any more.  However, you can always add the difference to any specific account to balance as I indicated above.

    To make life a little easier, sometimes I will enter the real Retained Earnings account balance in a different account, then allow the program to balance the numbers to Retained Earnings.  Now you know the exact difference without doing any math.  Sometimes that is easier to help track it down.

Reply
  • +1
    verified answer

    Yes, the amount added to Retained Earnings can be undone as long as you remain in History Mode.  I don't know why that message is in the program.

    You said you triple-checked the entries.  Which one's?  The ones you put into the program or did you validate that the report the accountant gave you actually balances?

    When you run your Trial Balance does it match the accountants?

    Do I  need to enter the net income/loss shown on the Leadsheet Summary somewhere?  If so, where?  Or is this automatically calculated?

    If you are starting the use of Sage 50 in the middle of a fiscal year, then you would have entered amounts for the Income and Expense accounts.  The net profit calculated from those accounts is the Current Earnings on the balance sheet.  So you should not have to enter the net anywhere to get it to balance (as long as the balance of each account entered is correct.

    If you have an account in the chart that does not have an opening balance, then you can enter the difference in that account for testing purposes.  Then run the Trial Balance and check each entry again.  I'm assuming you are using the Setup Guide for Accounts when entering your opening balances.  You can always go back later and adjust the numbers between accounts as needed.  Just remember which account you used.

    Under Setup, Settings, General, Linked Accounts - Record opening balances in my Retained Earnings account can be turned off but apparently it does not have any function any more.  However, you can always add the difference to any specific account to balance as I indicated above.

    To make life a little easier, sometimes I will enter the real Retained Earnings account balance in a different account, then allow the program to balance the numbers to Retained Earnings.  Now you know the exact difference without doing any math.  Sometimes that is easier to help track it down.

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