Opening Balances

When a business starts keeping its books in Al-Mohaseb part-way through its life, its accounts already have balances: money in the bank, bills to pay, loans. The opening balances bring them in, as one journal entry on the day before you start. You enter only the balances you know; any difference between the debits and the credits goes to the Opening Balance Equity account.

Menu	Books > Opening balances
Permission	View journal entries and the trial balance (to see them); Close and reopen periods and enter opening balances (to change them)
Feature	Accounting

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What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.

tip

A trial balance from your accountant or another program can be imported instead of typed: see Import files.

Enter the opening balances

1. Open Books > Opening balances.
2. In Balances on, enter the last day before you start keeping your books here. It starts as the last day of the previous fiscal year. The entry is posted on this date.
3. On each line, choose an account and enter its balance in Debit or Credit:
   • Assets, such as bank accounts and equipment, usually have a debit balance.
   • Liabilities, such as bills to pay and loans, and equity usually have a credit balance.
   • Income and expense accounts usually start at zero on the first day of a fiscal year.
4. Below the totals, the page shows what goes to Opening Balance Equity, for example Opening Balance Equity will be credited 1,100.00.
5. Select Save and post.

The page confirms The opening balances were posted as JE-number, and shows a link to that journal entry. The grid works like the journal entry editor: Enter on the last line adds a line and Ctrl+Delete removes the current one. If you enter the same account twice, its amounts are added up.

Change the opening balances

Open Books > Opening balances, change the lines or the date, and select Save and post again. The previous entry is reversed and a new one is posted, so the journal keeps both. To remove the opening balances, clear every line and save: the page says The opening balances were cleared.

The opening balances cannot be changed while their date is in a closed period. Reopen the period first.

Opening Balance Equity

Opening Balance Equity is a protected system account. After your accountant reviews the opening balances, they usually move its balance to the owner's equity or retained earnings with a journal entry.

The opening balance entry cannot be reversed from Books > Journal entries. Change it on this page instead.

See also Periods and Trial balance.