Installation & Setup: Beginning balances don't need to be entered before current transactions

Beginning balances can be entered at any time for customers, vendors, employees, inventory items, and job records. This is different from beginning balances for your chart of accounts. Record beginning balances for customers, vendors, employees, inventory items and job records for historical purposes. They have no bearing on your current General Ledger.  The beginning balances are reflected in the reports such as the Accounts Receivable Aging, Accounts Payable Aging, Item Costing, Employee (Quarterly, Yearly, etc.) Earnings Reports.

It is important, however, to enter the beginning balances for your chart of accounts before other transactions are posted.  If you have posted transactions, Peachtree Accounting assumes that you are entering adjustments to your accounts for a period in a prior year.

To enter beginning balances for your accounts, select Chart of Accounts from the Maintain menu. Peachtree displays the Main Chart of Accounts window.

1.      Select the Beginning Balances button.

2.      Select the period in which you want to enter beginning balances.

3.      Select OK.

4.      Click or tab to any of the blank, white cells in the grid to add an amount.

Enter all the beginning balances for the accounts. If necessary, you can enter a negative amount; with a minus sign before the number.

5.      Select OK when you are through entering beginning balances.

-- by Gayle Raines, Director of Training at Baytek, an Authorized Peachtree Resource Center.