An introduction to opening balances

Enter opening balances when you start using Accounting. It makes sure you have a true picture of your finances.

Enter opening balances for:

• Bank accounts
• Ledger Accounts (trial balance)
• Customers and suppliers

• We recommend you start using Sage Accounting from the start of a new accounting period. This could be the start of a new tax month or quarter, or the start of your financial year. This makes it easier to close off information in your current system. You then go forward with Sage Accounting
• Enter this start date in the settings: From Settings, choose Accounting Dates & VAT. Enter your Accounts Start Date in the relevant field
• Submit your final VAT Return using your previous system
• Print the trial balance from your previous system
• Create records for customers, suppliers, and bank accounts in Accounting

Information you need

• A list of outstanding (unpaid) transactions for your customers or suppliers
• Balance for each bank account from your bank statements
• Balance of each ledger account from your trial balance

How it works

Enter opening balances either all at once or at different times depending on what works best for you.

For example: your accountant previously processed your accounts for you.

They may not have sent you your full trial balance yet. You can still enter your customer, supplier and bank opening balances. You then enter the remaining values from the trial balance later.

Enter opening balances as a single value or as a list of transactions. If you have unpaid invoices from your previous system, enter them as separate values. You can match them with a payment later.

You may have a large number of customers or suppliers. Consider importing opening balances from a CSV file.

Enter customer opening balances

Enter your supplier opening balances

Enter an opening balance for a bank account

Enter ledger account opening balances