Before you start

• Check your VAT Scheme and Accounts Start Date is correct. See Set up financial year, accounting dates and VAT
• Make sure you have a copy of your up-to-date trial balance

Here you enter a value (Debit or Credit) for each category from an up-to-date trial balance.

You must ensure that the total value of all opening balances balances to conform to bookkeeping rules. This means the total value in the Debit column must equal the total value in the Credit column.

If the Debit and Credit totals don't match, we add the difference to the special category Opening Balances (9998).

Your opening balances should balance. If there is a value on your Opening Balance (9998) category, check that you've entered the trial balance values for your bank accounts correctly.

Enter opening balances

1. From More, choose Business Settings, and find the Opening Balances section.
2. Select Category opening balances.
3. Enter the date for your opening balances. It must be on or before the date you've set as the start date for your accounts.
4. Enter a reference so you can see which transactions are opening balances on your reports.
    NOTE: 

   Your bank accounts appear at the top. Start entering from the first row where no category is currently entered.

   
   
5. Choose a category from the drop-down.
6. Add further details if required.
7. Enter a Debit (positive) or Credit (negative) value from your trial balance.
8. Repeat for all your remaining categories and Save.

If you don't have a full list of opening balances you can come back and finish this at any time. You can also update your existing opening balances at any time.

Opening balances for VAT

Enter values for VAT on sales or VAT on purchases here because an opening balance is not included on your VAT return.

• Enter an opening balance for a bank account
• Record your first invoice