Plz Help me about Set Date and Start balances
First we see the Tab start balance but now here we see the set date how we can add customers
old balances to new company in new year
The method for setting starting balances just changed yesterday. The Guides have not been updated yet. The Guides web site updates once per day, so new instructions should be available within a few hours.
Thanks for the update please keep me updated about any changes and updation
Thanks alot
Hi Tut,
I m waiting for your reply about guide updating and tell me where in guide i can see the starting balances .
This latest re-invention (version 254,567) of the start date and the starting balances is the most absurd yet. It appears that the developer is more focused on amusing their own novelty rather then providing user simplicity.
Manager use to have the simplicity of going to one Settings location and for fill the complete task, now you need to go to a multiple of locations. It also use to have a screen report which enabled you to reconcile the entry status of the Starting Balances with the Balance Sheet of the previous accounting system. That facility now appears to have been lost, or it could have been replaced with a Report > Starting Balances but it hasn’t, alternatively, the previous screen display could be created under Settings > Start Date as the starting balances are entered.
Besides, the Start Date should be titled Starting Balances Date, otherwise we are going to see the return of Users thinking that they need to change that date to match the “start” of their new financial year. wfsr
Actually, with the new scheme, you generally do not need to go anywhere. Starting balances are entered on the same screens where you define bank accounts, customers, fixed assets, ordinary accounts, or anything else for which a starting balance is applicable. Jumping between tabs is reduced, not increased. There is also no longer a need for separate entry mechanisms for pre-start-date sales and purchase invoices. They can now be entered the same way as regular invoices, but with dates preceding the start date.
The Starting Balances report is listed under the General Ledger group in the Reports tab. It was added in version 20.8.16, one day after the entry scheme was changed.
Had a play with the new starting balance system.
I like it.
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Elimination of “Starting Balance Equity” and replacing it with a system correction to “Owners Equity” is a step forwards
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The new starting balance report is clear with meaningful drill down.
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Having starting balance entered in individual accounts is clear and logical during setup, however it may cause confusion in later use.
Ideas:
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“Start Date” parameters could be part of the screen: Setting → Business details
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Use a check box labeled: “Business records were transfered from another accounting system”
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When checked enables entering a “Start /Transfer Date”
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Have an option to “Lock Starting balances”. The option to enter a starting balance could then be hidden for all new assets, supplier, etc.
The last point is very important.
The field is not hidden when you set a lock date, because it is the data entry location and is now part of defining the subsidiary ledger. But it cannot be edited if a lock date is set.
In the last point I was suggesting new functionality. After a business has been set up there should be no new starting balances entered anywhere. So the suggestion was to have an option to tell Manager all starting balances have been set so do not prompt for more.
I had assumed it was separate to the lock date updated at the end of each financial period. But I suppose in theory it could be a consequence of setting that.
I understood your idea, @Patch. But since the starting balance is now a parameter of the bank account, fixed asset, customer, employee, etc., don’t you think it should be displayed along with other parameters that define the subsidiary ledger? Those screens are also rarely revisited. As long as a user has permission to see the defining screen, shouldn’t she be able to see everything relevant?
There are no prompts. The fields are just there for information. If there was a starting balance, that’s useful information. If there wasn’t, that’s useful, too.
Not separate. And it is a consequence. That’s actually natural, because a starting balance is a transaction on the start date. And if a lock date is set, for the start date or any later date, you cannot enter such a transaction.
When a Manager business had been running for a few year and a new asset is entered the user is prompted for starting balance (accumulated cost and accumulated depreciation). Similarly for a new customer.
In my opinion after the starting balances have been transferred from the old accounting system this should no longer occur.
Testing it again now I see the option is shown but not editable if a lock date after the starting date has been entered. So this does achieve most of the functionality suggested
I guess this depends on your definition of “prompted.” What I meant was that no warning is issued; no message is generated; nothing changes colors or is posted to Suspense. As I said earlier, “The fields are just there….”
Other fields are just there, too, like Code, Description, and Depreciation rate. But they are also optional. I would not consider their presence to be a prompt to fill them in, especially since so much is optional in Manager.
This certainly is not worth arguing about. Hopefully, anyone who feels prompted to fill in the starting balance fields anywhere in the program will read the Guides to understand what they are for. Explanations are contained not only in the Guide about starting balances, but also in those on setting up any of the different types of subsidiary ledgers, like customers, employees, and fixed assets.
Yes, but that is assuming that the User has entered the Start Date “FIRST” before creating those bank/cash, customers, suppliers, inventory, fixed assets lists and any chart of account modifications.
However the Guide listing order doesn’t currently support creating the Start Date “FIRST” approach. Under Initial Setup there is no mention of Set Start Date, yet there are other "Set . . " Guides
It’s not until the User has reached the end of the Chart of Accounts section does it occur.
Now I realise that this is wasted breath, but anyway:
I don’t see why the two related Guides can’t be amalgamated into a single guide
“Set start date” and “Enter starting balances” becomes “Starting Balances” with Part One being setting the date and Part Two being how to enter.
Also, I really wish that the Guides generally were written using POSITIVE instead of NEGATIVE language. Telling users what “CAN” rather than what CANNOT" - e.g.
Starting balances cannot be entered unless a start date is set - becomes
Starting balances can be entered after the start date has been set.
I want to chime in here on locking starting balances. Freezing starting balances with the “Lock Date” leaves this function under user control, which is sufficient. Having the system determine such could be problematic. When I was first setting up books, it took a while before all of these starting balances were correct and having the system “automatically” locking out the ability to update a starting balance could have made this a problem. Additionally, the new history (audit) will record any updating of a starting balance after one has started making ongoing business entries.
One other note: I’m not sure I agree with the removal of a starting balance entry for Retained Earnings. Looking at the starting balances as an “Opening Journal Entry” for the business, it eliminates the balancing of debit and credit entries for these balances, letting the system “Sum” the difference for all the rest of the starting balances to determine the R.E. starting balance. Unbalanced starting balance entries used to generate an account on the summary page near the retained earnings value and showed that the accounts were out of balance. Although it was confusing at first, it pointed to issues with the accounting balance setup. With the new system, you do not have a balance check to help determine if you have errors in the initial entries.
I understand your concern. But think it all the way through. You should only be using starting balances if you had a prior accounting system, so you know what the balances should be, including in Retained earnings. All other balance sheet accounts (or subaccounts) allow starting balances to be entered. If Retained earnings does not match your closing balance from the prior system, you made an error. The indication of that is just as plain as when you used to have the Starting balance equity account (which is what I think you were referring to later in your paragraph). You could not then, and cannot now, post anything to either Retained earnings or Starting balance equity, so you were and still are forced to correct the error by finding the actual mistake. You cannot just adjust things with journal entries to make things seem correct. And you no longer have an inexplicable Starting balance equity account to confuse yourself, your accountant, or an auditor.