Smart Books
Enter your opening balances
Start your books from the right numbers: what is in the bank, what customers owe and what you owe.
Before you start
Who this is for
Businesses moving to Smart Books part-way through their life, from another software, a spreadsheet or paper books.
Before you start
- Your closing balances from the last day before you start — usually your accountant’s trial balance.
- A list of unpaid customer and supplier bills, if you want to track them bill by bill.
Steps
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Step 1: Pick the right financial year
At the top of the screen, check that the financial year you are starting from is selected. Opening balances are saved for that year.
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Step 2: Open the account
Go to Masters → Accounts and open the account — for example your bank.
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Step 3: Enter the amount and whether it is Dr or Cr
In the Opening balance section, type the Amount and choose the Balance type: Dr for money you have or are owed, Cr for money you owe.
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Step 4: List unpaid bills for customers and suppliers
For a customer or supplier with Bill-by-bill on, add each unpaid invoice under Opening bills (bill-by-bill), so you can later mark them paid one by one.
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Step 5: Do many accounts at once
For lots of accounts, use Operations → Bulk Update → Account Opening Balance instead of opening each one.
Tip: Stock opening values come from the Inventory app when your company keeps stock there.
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Step 6: Check the totals
Open Reports → Trial Balance. The Dr and Cr totals should match; if they do not, an opening balance is missing or on the wrong side.
What happens next
Your reports now start from the same numbers your old books ended on, and unpaid bills are ready to be settled when the money arrives.
Questions
I am starting a brand-new business. Do I need this?
Usually not. If you are starting from zero, you can skip opening balances, except perhaps the cash or capital you started with.
I use Tally or Busy today. Can I bring the balances across?
Yes — the Migration wizard under Operations → Imports brings in your accounts and lets you choose how opening balances are posted.
Ready? Try it now.
Open Smart Books in a new tab and follow along.