When you need it
A company that traded before it came to Accmerio already has balances: money in the bank, equipment, loans, capital, profits kept, customers who owe it and suppliers it owes. This page brings them in, so that your first day in Accmerio starts from the right figures. A brand-new company with no history does not need it.
There are four steps, done in order. Each posts one entry, dated the day before your start date — so the profit and loss from your start date contains none of the old system's history, and a balance sheet on the day before shows exactly what you arrived with.
Step 1 — the day your books start here
- Open Accounting › Opening Balances.
- Under 1. The day your books start here, enter the First day in Accmerio — usually the first day of a month or of your financial year — and press Save.
- The page shows the date your balances will carry: the day before.
Step 2 — the trial balance you arrived with
- Under 2. The trial balance you arrived with, add one line per account that has a balance. Choose the Account and type the figure in Debit or Credit, exactly as your old trial balance shows it.
- Include your bank and cash balances. The opening balance typed on Bank Accounts is only where reconciliation starts from; it does not post.
- Leave out Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable. Those go in steps 3 and 4, one line per customer and supplier. Entered here as well, they would be counted twice.
- Check the totals under the table. Press Post the opening trial balance.
| Usually a debit | Usually a credit |
|---|---|
| Bank and cash | Loans and overdrafts |
| Equipment, vehicles and other fixed assets | Accumulated depreciation |
| Prepaid expenses and deposits paid | VAT owed, accrued expenses |
| Input VAT to recover | Share capital and retained earnings |
Steps 3 and 4 — what customers and suppliers owed
- Under 3. What customers owed you, add one line per unpaid invoice: the Customer, Their document no. (the invoice number), the Due date, and the Amount owed — for a part-paid invoice, what was still owed.
- An unused credit note goes in as a minus amount.
- Press Post. Each line debits Accounts Receivable in that customer's name, and the total credits Opening Balance Equity.
- Do the same under 4. What you owed suppliers, one line per unpaid bill. Each line credits Accounts Payable in the supplier's name.
Because each line carries a name and a due date, the Receivables Aging Report and Payables Aging Report can chase and schedule them from your first day. A customer or supplier not yet in the workspace can be created from the picker.
Step 5 — check
When all three are posted, 5. Check shows what is left in Opening Balance Equity. Zero means your trial balance agrees with what customers and suppliers owed. Anything else is a difference still to be explained — often a balance typed wrongly, or open invoices that do not add up to the old system's debtors figure. Find it with your accountant and clear it with a journal.
- Open Reports › Trial Balance and Balance Sheet as at the day before your start date.
- Compare them with your old system's. They should match.
Getting it wrong
- Each posted step shows its entry number. Open that entry on Journals and press Reverse, with a reason.
- The step goes back to Not yet. Enter it again and post.
- Start date 1 September; balances as at 31 August.
- Trial Balance: Bank debit 48,000; Office equipment debit 15,000; Accumulated depreciation credit 3,000; Loan credit 20,000; Share capital credit 10,000; Retained earnings credit 36,500. Receivables and payables left out.
- Customers: Al Noor Trading INV-0931 due 15 September, 12,500. Suppliers: Gulf Supplies GS-778 due 10 September, 6,000.
The trial balance is out by 6,500 (debits 63,000, credits 69,500), so 6,500 is debited to Opening Balance Equity. The customer line credits it 12,500 and the supplier line debits it 6,000, so it ends at zero — the three steps agree, and the balance sheet shows assets of 75,500 against liabilities and equity of 75,500.