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Sales Ledger Opening Balances

It is worth repeating that there can be two components to Sales Ledger opening balance figures: the final Customer balances from the previous fiscal year and, if you will be starting to use Standard Accounts in the middle of a fiscal year, Customer balances for the current year to date.

When considering Customer balances from the previous year, you only need to take account of those that are open (i.e. unpaid). You can enter these in one of two ways:

  • as a single outstanding balance for each Customer; or

  • as separate outstanding Invoices per Customer.
In considering Customer balances for the current year to date, the following options are available:
  • the minimum is to enter a balance for each Customer as a single figure (in fact, you will need to enter an Invoice total and a Receipt total, representing totals for the current fiscal year to date, enabling you to reconcile your bank account and to keep your Periodic Customer Statement report accurate);

  • the opposite extreme is to enter all Invoices raised so far in the current fiscal year, and all Receipts;

  • a compromise route to reduce the amount of work required is to enter monthly Invoice and Receipt balances for each Customer;

  • a final option that you can use if you are changing to Standard Accounts from an older computerised system, is to import the current year's Invoices and Receipts from a text file. Please refer to your local Standard Accounts representative if you would like to consider this option.
In deciding which procedure to use, one factor to consider is credit control. If you need to produce statements that itemise and age previous Invoices, it will not be enough simply to enter a total balance for each Customer. Instead, you will need to enter individual Invoices and Receipts. If, however, you do not issue statements or it is acceptable for a single opening balance figure to appear on your statements, entering a single opening balance figure per Customer will be sufficient. If you do not issue Invoices or you do not give credit (i.e. if your business is wholly cash-based), you may not need to enter any Sales Ledger opening balances at all.

If you need to enter Sales Ledger opening balances, you should first ensure that you have entered your Customers in the Contact register. If you are entering individual Invoices, you should also ensure that you have entered the Items that you sell in the Item register. Depending on your old system, you may be able to import this information from text files. Finally, if you are entering Receipts in any form (i.e. individual Receipts, or monthly or year-to-date Receipts) make sure you have entered all relevant Payment Modes (i.e. payment methods), so that you can post the Receipt amounts to the correct Bank or Cash Account.

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