* Entering data in sheet Data column A (SRC) Notes on Opening Balance

Notes On Entering Opening Balance Data

No double entry

Note that the opening balance data does not involve double entry (Debit and Credit) transactions. It is merely a listing of balances from closing of previous accounting year accounts.

When you enter a Debit item data, its amount must be written in positive mode.

When you enter a Credit item data, its amount must be written in negative mode (in brackets).

More details

You may want that the opening balances items data contain more details. For instance, instead of one figure for a customer, you want to show all unpaid invoices for that customer. Instead of one figure for whole staff advance, you want to show all unpaid staff advances for every staff. Also, instead of one figure for a supplier, you want to show all unpaid purchase invoices for the supplier, etc.

If you are transferring data from other system, you may need lots of time to record the details, especially if the system is not compatible with Excel.

If you already using this system, transferring details to the following year file is very easy. This is because you will have a ready list of unpaid invoices etc row by row. It is just a matter of selecting and transferring (or copying and deleting) the data.

Check data

After you finish entering the Opening Balances items data, check that its absolute total debit amounts and credit amounts is 0 (zero). Just look at the cell at end of Opening Balance in column M (Cumulative Amounts).