Opening balances
If your business existed before you started using Zhmara X, you enter where things stood on your start date: cash and bank balances, capital and loans, what customers owe you, what you owe suppliers, and the stock on hand. These are the opening balances.
Each opening balance is posted against an opening balance account in equity. When everything is entered, the trial balance should balance and the opening balance account should hold your opening net worth.
Pick one start date (for example the first day of your financial year) and enter every opening balance with that date. The date must be inside a financial year that is open.
Where each opening balance goes
| What | Where to enter it | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Cash, capital, loans, other accounts | Accounting › Chart Of Accounts: on an account you created, fill Opening Balance and choose Dr or Cr | Assets are usually Dr; liabilities and capital are usually Cr |
| Bank balances | Bank › Bank Accounts: Opening Balance on the bank account | Positive = money in the bank; negative = overdrawn |
| What a customer owes you | Sales › Customers: Opening Balance with Dr (customer owes us) | Use Cr (we owe the customer) for a customer credit or advance |
| What you owe a supplier | Purchases › Suppliers: Opening Balance with Cr (we owe the supplier) | New suppliers default to Cr |
| Stock on hand | Products / Services › Stock Adjustment › Add with Adjustment Type = Opening Stock | Enter quantity and cost for each item and warehouse |
Accounts
The built-in accounts of the chart of accounts are shared and can't be edited, so opening balances go on accounts you create under them:
- Open Accounting › Chart Of Accounts and click Add (or edit an account you created earlier).
- Choose the Type and the Group it belongs under, for example Main Cash under Cash, or Owner's Capital under Types of Owner's Equity.
- Fill Opening Balance and choose Dr or Cr in Cr Or Dr.
- Save. The amount is posted with an "Opening Balance" voucher against the Opening Balance Equity account.
See Chart of accounts.
Customers and suppliers
The opening balance is in the customer's or supplier's currency. When that is not the base currency, its base-currency value at the rate is shown under the amount ("≈ 1,500,000 IQD"); the same is shown on account and bank account opening balances. Later you can settle it like an invoice:
- for a customer, in Payments Received: the receipt shows an Opening Balance row next to the open invoices;
- for a supplier, in Payments Made: the same Opening Balance row.
You can't settle more than is still open ("The amount is more than the open opening balance."), and you can't lower an opening balance below what has already been settled. See Customers and Suppliers.
Bank accounts
The opening balance of a bank account is entered on the bank account itself, in the account's currency. See Bank accounts.
Opening stock
- Open Products / Services › Stock Adjustment and click Add. (When stock adjustments are turned off in Preferences, the menu shows Opening Stock instead, and the page only allows opening stock.)
- Set Adjustment Type to Opening Stock, and choose the Warehouse and the date.
- Add each item with its Qty and Rate (the cost per unit). Every line needs a cost.
- Save. Stock comes in at that cost, posted Dr Inventory / Cr Opening Balance Adjustment.
Opening stock can be entered even when stock adjustments are turned off in Preferences. See Opening stock and adjustments.
If something goes wrong
- "Set the Accounts Receivable/Payable and Opening Balance Equity accounts in Ledger Config first." or "Set the Opening Balance Adjustment account in Settings > Ledger Config.": the default accounts are missing. See Ledger configuration.
- "No financial year covers the opening balance date; create it first.": add the financial year that contains the date.
- "The financial period of the opening balance is closed...": the month is closed; reopen it.