What do you mean by that? Of course it works. Create a report dated on the start date and you will have all the starting balances you have yet entered reflected on it. That’s all the Starting Balances report is, just a slightly different format.
Again, you are misstating things. Yes, all the accounts you had entered would appear under the Starting Balances page in Settings, with zero balances. But that didn’t tell you what had to be entered. You still needed the external source—the final balance sheet from the prior system. In many cases, there could be accounts in the chart of accounts with no starting balances. So the list did not serve as an indication of what needed to be entered, only of the many places something might be entered.
You cannot deny that. Now how can I do this in the new setup?
Remember you wouldn’t create a “hypothetical” chart of accounts, everything I entered in the chart of account as a balance sheet accounts needs it’s starting balance.
Yes, if you have ordinary transactions on the start date, your balance sheet would include them, as I originally said it would. But during setup, that isn’t an issue.
Obviously, we have different opinions about what makes an easier workflow. My view is that fewer processes and places is more elegant. But I don’t have any input on this as a moderator. I can only express why I believe the current implementation was an improvement.
I really appreciate your position here. But you need to consider this from the eyes of new joiners. It’s a shame how difficult it is to enter the starting balances in an otherwise user-friendly software. I mean you have to post a single journal entry in most other software as your starting balance and you’re good to go.
I don’t think I would have been interested in knowing what other features of manager had I gone through this uphill battle of entering starting balances. I would have given up right then.
I mean starting balances has been one of the hottest topics for new joiners ever since the said improvement took place. That should be a sign that it shouldn’t be this difficult to do anything with everything all over the place.
I know I have been a constant nag on this but what can I do, as I said I do this regularly and I cannot help but to get ticked every time I do it. As you might have already guessed I am doing one right now.
I really really hope @lubos has a change of mind on this because it would really make this less of a chore.
I do. You joined the forum less than 2 years ago. I joined 6 1/2 years ago and have been moderator for more than 4. During that time, starting balances have, indeed, been a common topic. But most questions have centered on misunderstanding of the need to use then at all and when (or if) to set start dates.
I have to disagree with this. Compared to the previous scheme, questions about how to enter starting balances (as opposed to whether they should be used at all) have decreased since the change.
For a professional accountant like you, an assembly line approach to entering starting balances may seem more logical. But the typical Manager user is an independent business operator with little accounting experience. Many do not grasp journal entries or the principles of double-entry accounting. For them, placing starting balances on the same screen with the rest of the details about accounts or subsidiary ledgers they are setting up is far more intuitive. At least, that is what the changing character of forum feedback tells me.
But enough of this subject. As I said, we disagree. And I doubt that after the extensive work involved in changing the scheme, the developer will revert.
I want to migrate accounting data from my previous accounting software to manager io. Since no starting balance like before, is there any easy way to input starting balance for cash and bank? i have 6 banks and 30 cash accounts.
In contrast, no opening balance shown under chart of account for cash and banks. but i can find others.
That is because you are looking at control accounts, which cannot have starting balances. You must enter the starting balances for the subsidiary ledgers, that is, for the individual bank and cash accounts.
but what can I do, as I said I do this regularly and I cannot help but to get ticked every time I do it. As you might have already guessed I am doing one right now.