Use this page when a company starts using TrakIT accounting mid-life — it brings in the closing trial balance from your previous system. Open it from the Opening Balances button on the Chart of Accounts page.

Before you start

• The Chart of Accounts must be set up with all the postable accounts you need balances on.

• The company's first Financial Year must exist. Opening balances are always posted as at the first day of that year — the date is shown at the top of the page.

• Have the closing trial balance from your old system as at the day before that date.

Entering the balances

The page lists every postable, active account with a Debit and a Credit column in the company base currency.

• Enter each account's balance as a positive number in either the Debit or the Credit column (never both). Assets and expenses normally carry debit balances; liabilities, equity and income normally credit balances.

• For foreign-currency accounts, also enter the balance in the account's own currency in the Currency Amount column, alongside its base-currency value. Both are required together.

• Leave accounts with no balance empty.

Posting

Click Post Opening Balances. The entry must balance exactly — total debits equal total credits — as a trial balance from a closing system always does. If it does not balance, the page shows the difference and nothing is posted; there is no automatic plug, so find and fix the difference before posting.

The balances are recorded as a single journal entry titled "Opening Balances", dated the first day of the first Financial Year, visible in the journal like any other entry.

Correcting opening balances

You can re-open the page, change the figures and post again at any time until the first Financial Year is closed. Posting again replaces the previous opening entry (the old one is reversed and a new one posted — the audit trail keeps both). Once the first year is closed, opening balances are locked permanently.

Notes

• Posting with all fields empty clears any previously posted opening balance entry.

• Opening balances require journal create permission; other users can view the page read-only.

• Typical check after posting: the Trial Balance as at the first day of the year should exactly match the closing trial balance of your old system.