When:

• Moving from a manual system to Sage Pastel Accounting
• Moving from another accounting package to Sage Pastel Accounting
• Company data is corrupted or previous balances were brought in incorrectly

NOTE: It is preferred to wait till the start of a new financial year to do take on balances. However adjustments to the current balances can be done.

What is needed to do the take on balance:

You would need a Trial Balance that has been signed off by Auditors or an Accountant

Additional Reports:

• Customer Age Analysis
• Supplier Age Analysis
• Inventory Valuation Report

Take on Balance process

1.     Create a new company, it is recommended to use the Setup Assistant when creating a new company

2.     Import or capture all Customers, Suppliers and Inventory accounts

In Sage Pastel Partner, you will not be able to process directly to customer or supplier Control accounts, therefore you would need to create sub-accounts for the Opening Balance/ Suspense account in order to capture the Trial Balance.

Creating the accounts

• Select Edit > General Ledger > Accounts
• Select the magnifying glass
• Search for the Opening balance/suspense account and make sure the account number is 9990/000
• Select the New icon

• Enter the Main Account Number 9990
• Enter the Sub Account Number 001
• Give the sub account a description i.e. Customers
• Select the Save Icon

Following the same steps as above to create the following accounts:

• 001 - Customers
• 002 – Suppliers
• 003 – Inventory
• 004 – General Ledger (Bank)

Capturing the balances

Trial Balance

• Select Process > Journals > General Journal
• If you are processing opening balances for last year, you would need to select Settings at the bottom of the Journal screen if you are processing for the current year you can leave the settings as is.

• De-select This Year Transactions
• De-select Tax Processing
• Select OK to close this window
• Capture the Trial Balance exactly as it appears or your report, with the exception of the Customer, Supplier, Inventory and Bank accounts these must be posted to the Opening Balance/ Suspense Sub accounts created

Below is an example of a Trial Balance, this report should be entered as is on the journal. All debit balances should be entered in the debit column and all credit balances should be entered in the credit column.

• Once the Trial Balance is captured you should see the In Balance script at the bottom right of the screen, select Update

It is recommended to make a backup before updating the batch. Should the Trial Balance be incorrectly captured you will be able to restore the backup and make the necessary corrections.

Customer Journal

• Select Process > Journals > Customer Journal
• If you are processing opening balances for last year, you would need to select Settings at the bottom of the Journal screen if you are processing for the current year you can leave the settings as is.
• In the Contra Account column, select the sub account for customers
• De-select This Year Transactions
• De-select Tax Processing
• Select OK to close this window

• Should you wish to create the customer ageing, you would need to select the period the Invoices were processed in.

• Select the customer account, insert the invoice number in the reference column and ensure the balance is entered in the debit column, the contra account will be the account that was setup.

Supplier Journal

• Select Process > Journals > Supplier Journal
• If you are processing opening balances for last year, you would need to select Settings at the bottom of the Journal screen if you are processing for the current year you can leave the settings as is.
• In the Contra Account column, select the sub account for customers
• De-select This Year Transactions
• De-select Tax Processing
• Select OK to close this window

• Should you wish to create the supplier ageing, you would need to select the period the Invoices were processed in.

• Select the supplier account, insert the invoice number in the reference column and ensure the balance is entered in the debit column, the contra account will be the account that was setup

Inventory Journal

• Select Process > Inventory Journal
• To process in Last Year, click the drop down menu next to Period, select the last period of last year

• Enter each Item code in the Inventory Code column
• Enter the quantity on hand in the In column
• Enter the unit cost in the Unit Cost column
• In the GL Account column select the Inventory Suspense account for each line
• Select Update

Cash Book

• Select Process > Cashbook > Process Cashbook
• Select the cashbook to process in by selecting the drop-down list next to Cash Books
• Select Settings

• De-select This Year Transactions
• De-select Tax Processing
• Depending on the opening balance you will select the Payment or Receipt tab. If the suspense account shows a credit you would need to process a debit which will be on the payment side. If the suspense account shows a debit you would need to process a receipt to credit the suspense account.

• Enter the Bank Suspense account in the Account column
• Enter the Amount under the Bank Amount column
• Select Update

Viewing the Trial Balance

Go to View > General Ledger > Financial Reports > Trial Balance

Compare this Trial Balance to the one you worked from, it should be exactly the same.

All the suspense accounts should have a 0 balance and the control accounts should show as per your original Trial Balance