Import customer or supplier opening balances

Summary

How to import customer or supplier opening balances in Sage Accounting.

Description

Opening balances are totals of the outstanding invoices and credit notes you have before you start using Accounting. You can import an opening balance file to save time.

Resolution

To import an opening balance file, you must have:

Existing customer and supplier records in Accounting. Find out more about how to Create a new customer or supplier contact
An Accounts Start Date set and a VAT scheme. Find out more about how to Set up financial year, accounting dates and VAT
A separate file for each contact; don't include both customer and supplier opening balances in one file. To import both, use two separate files
The same column headings and formatting as in the CSV template file

Step 1: Download the CSV template file

We suggest downloading the template file from Accounting, opening it in Excel, and adding your data. This helps avoid formatting problems that will affect your file import.

Go to Settings.
Scroll down to the Opening balances section, select Customer or Supplier.
Click the dropdown arrow next to the New Opening Balance button.
Select Import Opening Balances from the dropdown menu.
Click the template CSV hyperlink to start the file download. Once it's complete, go to your downloads folder.

Step 2: Prepare the opening balance file

If you already have a file, check it against the template to match the column headings and data format before importing your opening balances.

If you don't have a file, use the template. Keep the column names the same and fill in your data, keeping the format.

Find out more on the File format for customer opening balances.

Find out more on the File format for supplier opening balances.

Step 3: Import the customer or supplier opening balances file

Go to Settings.
Scroll down to the Opening balances section, select Customer or Supplier.
Click the dropdown arrow next to the New Opening Balance button.
Select Import Opening Balances from the dropdown menu.
Select Choose file. Browse to your opening balances CSV file, then click Open.
Keep the CSV format dropdown as Accounting, then select Upload.
When the system prompts that the upload is successful, click OK.

If you have errors appearing preventing your upload, refer to Common import errors.

VAT considerations after importing

In the Cash Basis VAT Scheme:

VAT doesn't appear for VAT-registered EU customers outside the EU because they account for VAT when invoicing
Manually adjust your next VAT Return to include any missing values from your previous system
When importing from Sage Accounts, adjust net and VAT amounts if the VAT rate changed, then save

NOTE:

Amending values adjusts the Trade Debtors control account balance, causing a difference in the Trial Balance report. When entering nominal opening balances, decide where to post any differences, such as to Corrections.

Solution Properties

Solution ID: 222001000100913
Last Modified Date: Tue Aug 25 10:53:40 UTC 2026
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