I’m sorry but I can’t figure out how to start a new post so I hope you don’t mind me adding to this one.
I have started using Quickfile to record details for my 2012-13 accounting year (1st April to 31st March). I need to import the balance of the Directors Loan Account from previous years, where the company owes me money, i.e. the DLA is in Debit (I think?!) and is a liability for the company. I have very limited accounting knowledge and don’t earn enough to employ an accountant.
I have already put in my current account balance as at 31/3/12 but this triggers a ‘suspense account’ and I don’t know what that is but it is skewing my Profit and Loss figures…
When you enter an opening bank balance it drops the counter entry into suspense. Which means the opening balance is unexplained. You would need to journal this balance out of suspense, this would usually be something that an accountant would do. If you have a trial balance from your previous accounting software what will explain where the 9998 balance should go.
Hmm, the thing is I don’t have an accountant! Doesn’t Quickfile allow me to do my own accounting? The cash left in the bank on 31/3/12 was the amount remaining from a £4000 loan I made to the company. I also paid for £1086 worth of expenses out of personal funds.
If you could walk me through the process of entering an opening balance for a) Director’s Loan Account, b) Start of Year Bank Balance and c) value of assets, I would be so grateful!
The previous accounting software I used was a trial version of Solar Accounts. I’m not sure where in that programme I would find the trial balance. Before that I was just using DIY spreadsheets in Excel…
OK I’ve found the Trial Balance in Solar. I have exported it into Excel and converted to csv. When I upload it to Quickfile it looks odd and above it says ‘Below is an extract of your CSV file. Please indicate where each field should be mapped to?’
I don’t understand what to do from here. Would it be easier to manually enter the whole trial balance into the Opening Balance journal?
To a degree but unfortunately there are aspects of accounting that can only be simplified so far. Setting up is always the biggest hurdle on any accounting system. I have a proposition for you, I’ll send you a separate PM to discuss further.