Sage 50 Accounts For Dummies, 3rd UK Edition

Chapter 4

Recording Your Opening Balances

In This Chapter

• Choosing the right time to switch to Sage
• Getting your opening balances
• Recording your opening balances
• Checking for accuracy

In this chapter I explain how to transfer the individual account balances from your previous accounting system, whether it's manual or computerised, into Sage 50 Accounts. Effectively, you take the values that make up what your business is worth on the day you swap from your old system and start using Sage. You need to set up your nominal records before you record balances, so check out Chapter 3 if you haven't done that yet.

Opening balances give you a true picture of your business's assets and liabilities to use as a starting point. If you don't enter your opening balances, you don't have accurate information about who owes you money, how much money you owe, or how much money you have in the bank. You won't even be able to reconcile your bank balance. In short, without opening balances, the information in your Sage program isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Entering your opening balances can be a bit tricky, so make sure you're not going to be disturbed too much. After you do this, you can print an opening balance sheet to check you've entered your balances correctly.

Timing Your Switch to Sage

The best time to start with a new system is at the beginning of a financial year. You roll the closing ...