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GL Beginning Balances

GL Beginning Balances holds opening balances by fiscal year. At year end, GL Beginning Balance Update zeros income-statement beginning balances into retained earnings.

Before you start​

  • The fiscal year exists in GL Fiscal Years.
  • Retained earnings is set as the P account type.
  • For year-end update: all activity for the year is posted.

Steps — go-live / opening balances​

  1. Prefer loading history with a GL journal entry for the prior year (and monthly activity for the go-live year) rather than typing balances only into GL Beginning Balances.
  2. If you must review GL Beginning Balances, confirm values for the new fiscal year.
  3. Run a trial balance for the first month of the year to confirm openings.

Steps — year-end beginning balance update​

  1. Open GL Beginning Balance Update.
  2. Select the fiscal year to update.
  3. Confirm income-statement accounts will zero into retained earnings.
  4. Run the update.
  5. Verify income-statement beginning balances are zero for the new year.

Notes​

  • Avoid loading openings only into GL Beginning Balances and then running the update—the update can reset balances from missing transaction history and create discrepancies.
  • Finish all posts for the year before the update.