Setting up Opening Fund Balances
This article covers how to set up your opening fund balances within ExpensePlus as well as answering the most commonly asked questions.
Before setting up your opening fund balances, you will need to add all of your funds within the Fund Settings Screen.
If you are not yet ready to set up your Opening Balances, you can come back to this later and you can still use nearly all the features of ExpensePlus before this is done. If you are still awaiting your exact figures, you can use provisional figures and update these at a later date.
Note: If you are currently trialing ExpensePlus ahead of your new financial year when you plan to begin using it, then you will need to wait to set up your opening fund balances. Please send us a message using the yellow 'Send Us A Message' button above and we will reset your system start date for you to be the start of your new financial year.
Where do I set up Opening Fund Balances?
When you are ready to set up opening fund balances, within the Fund Settings Screen, click the 'Opening Balances' button.
This will take you to the Opening Balances Setup screen, which will guide you through the setup process.
1. Checking your Opening Accounting Basis
Your accounting basis is usually stated. You should check that it matches the accounting basis of your prior year accounts. If it is incorrect, you can edit it.
If your accounting basis is not stated, click the 'Set Accounting Basis' button at the top of the Opening Balances Setup screen:
This will take you to the system settings screen where you can check (or change) your accounting basis for ExpensePlus. Click on the edit button to the right, check the selected accounting basis is correct and then click submit in the popup that appears.
Find out more here: Choosing your Accounting Basis when setting up ExpensePlus
2a. Setting Cash Balances (Receipts & Payments Accounts)
If you selected your accounting basis as 'Receipts & Payments', you will then need to 'set cash balances' for each of your funds:
Enter the information from your prior year's accounts:
Note: If any of the funds you have set up are not showing on this screen, then you should go to the Fund Settings Screen, click on the fund in question, and set the answer to the question 'Did this Fund exist before you used ExpensePlus?' to 'Yes' as in the image below.
2b. Setting Balance Sheet Information (Accruals Based Accounts)
If you selected your accounting basis as 'Accruals' you will then need to 'Set Balance Sheet Information':
Once done, the totals in the top table should match the totals in the bottom table for each fund type. What has been entered should match your prior year accounts, and when you click 'Save Progress' you will be returned to the Opening Balance Setup Screen.
Note: If any of the funds you have set up are not showing on this screen, then you should go to the Fund Settings Screen, click on the fund in question, and set the answer to the question 'Did this Fund exist before you used ExpensePlus?' to 'Yes' as in the image below.
3. Setting Allocation Breakdown (Accruals Based Accounts only)
Once you have completed the setup of your Opening Balance Sheet Information, you will need to allocate the assets and liabilities on your balance sheet to your funds.
Cash Mismatch
If the total opening balances of all your Bank & Petty Cash Accounts do not match the total cash that was stated on your balance sheet, this additional section will appear at the bottom of the Opening Balance Setup screen. See more information about opening cash mismatches.
