Opening Balances Guide

Overview

An opening balance (also called a beginning balance) is what a customer owed you, or what you owed a vendor, before you started using QBM. You enter these when a company goes live or moves to QBM from another system, so that customer and vendor balances, statements, aging, Receive Payments, and Pay Bills all start from the correct figures.

In QBM, customer and vendor opening balances are entered per partner, directly on the customer or vendor record. You open the record, go to the Details tab, and click the Edit… button next to Opening Balance. This opens the Enter Beginning Balances window, where you can list one or more outstanding documents.

Before You Start

• The customer or vendor record should already be created (or you can enter the opening balance while creating it — see the note about new records below).
• Prepare a list of each outstanding document you want to carry forward: original document number, original date, reference, and the amount still unpaid.
• Confirm the partner's control account on the Details tab is correct — the A/R Account for customers, or the A/P Account for vendors. Opening-balance entries post against this account.
• Decide on a consistent opening-balance date. This is usually your go-live cut-over date or the original document date.
• You need permission to edit the customer / vendor record. If your company closes accounting periods, you may also be prompted for the closing (period) password — see Closed Accounting Periods.

Where To Access It

Customers

Open the Customer Details screen for the customer, switch to the Details tab, and click the Edit… button next to the Opening Balance field.

Vendors

Open the Vendor Details screen for the vendor, switch to the Details tab, and click the Edit… button next to the Opening Balance field.

The Enter Beginning Balances Window

Clicking Edit… opens a window titled “Enter Beginning Balances”. It is a simple grid where each row is one outstanding document (one old invoice or bill, or a credit). You can add as many rows as you need.

• Add a row: a blank entry row sits at the top of the grid — type into it to start a new line.
• Edit a row: click any cell and type. Amounts, dates, numbers, references and descriptions are all editable.
• Delete a row: select the row and press the grid’s delete (remove) action.
• OK saves your entries; Cancel discards them (if you made changes, QBM first asks whether you want to save them).

Grid Columns

The Enter Beginning Balances grid shows the following columns (the Currency and Rate columns appear only when multi-currency is enabled in company options):

Create a Customer Opening Balance

1. Open the customer in Customer Details (from the Customer List or Customer Center).
2. Go to the Details tab and confirm the A/R Account and Currency are correct.
3. Click Edit… next to Opening Balance to open Enter Beginning Balances.
4. In the top blank row, enter the original invoice Number, Reference (optional), Date, and the unpaid Amount. Adjust the Description if needed.
5. Repeat for each outstanding invoice. To record a customer credit, enter a negative amount — it is saved as a credit memo.
6. Review every row, then click OK.
7. Back on the Details tab, confirm the read-only Balance now reflects the entered total.

Each row becomes a posted customer opening document on the customer’s A/R account, so it appears in the customer statement, receivables aging, and is available in Receive Payments for collection.

Create a Vendor Opening Balance

1. Open the vendor in Vendor Details (from the Vendor List or Vendor Center).
2. Go to the Details tab and confirm the A/P Account and Currency are correct.
3. Click Edit… next to Opening Balance to open Enter Beginning Balances.
4. In the top blank row, enter the original bill Number, Reference (optional), Date, and the unpaid Amount. Adjust the Description if needed.
5. Repeat for each outstanding bill. To record a vendor credit, enter a negative amount — it is saved as a credit memo.
6. Review every row, then click OK.
7. Back on the Details tab, confirm the read-only Balance now reflects the entered total.

Each row becomes a posted vendor opening document on the vendor’s A/P account, so it appears in the vendor statement, payables aging, and is available in Pay Bills for payment.

How QBM Records It

When you click OK, QBM turns each valid row into a real, posted document and tags it as an opening balance:

QBM completes the double entry automatically so the books stay balanced — the partner’s control account (A/R or A/P) is updated, and QBM posts the matching offset. After saving, the read-only Balance field on the Details tab refreshes to include the new opening balance.

Editing or Removing Balances

Opening balances are not one-time-only. To change them, open the same partner, go to the Details tab, and click Edit… again. The Enter Beginning Balances window reloads the existing opening-balance documents so you can:

• Add more rows for documents you missed.
• Change the amount, date, number, reference, or description of an existing row.
• Delete a row to remove that opening document — the corresponding posted document is removed when you click OK.

Multi-Currency Balances

If multi-currency is enabled in company options, the grid shows extra Currency and Rate columns so you can carry forward balances in a foreign currency.

• Leave a row on the base currency for local-currency balances; its rate stays at 1.
• For a foreign-currency row, pick the currency and QBM pre-fills a rate — the last sell rate for customers and the last buy rate for vendors. Override it if the original document used a different rate.
• If multi-currency is off, these columns are hidden and everything is entered in the base currency.

Closed Accounting Periods

QBM checks the earliest date among the rows you entered. If that date falls inside an accounting period that has been closed (a closing-book date is set), QBM prompts for the closing (period) password before it saves the opening balances. Enter the correct password to proceed, or choose an entry date that is in an open period.

Verify After Setup

1. On the Details tab, confirm the read-only Balance matches what you intended for that partner.
2. Run the customer / vendor statement and the aging report and confirm the open items and totals are correct.
3. Check that the opening documents are visible in Receive Payments (customers) or Pay Bills (vendors).
4. Review the Trial Balance so the totals carried into A/R and A/P agree with your source figures before you go live.

Best Practice

• Use clear, consistent References so old balances can be traced back to the source documents or system.
• Keep the opening-balance date consistent across partners (usually the go-live cut-over date).
• Enter customer credits and vendor credits as negative amounts rather than separate workarounds.
• Do not mix opening balances with new-period transactions.
• Double-check the control account (A/R / A/P) and currency on the Details tab before saving.

Related Guides

• Opening Balance Entry Grid Guide — column-by-column detail of the Enter Beginning Balances grid.
• Customer Setup & Customer Details Guide
• Vendor Setup & Vendor Details Guide
• Receive Payments & Customer Statements Guide
• Purchase Invoices & Pay Bills Guide
• Chart of Accounts Guide