Opening Balance Differences

Overview

The Opening Balance Differences bookkeeping data check feature automatically identifies situations where the balance sheet in the bookkeeping package of a UK Limited Company differs to the statutory accounts filed at Companies House.

In particular, the Net Assets/Liabilities value is compared for consistency.

The purpose of the check is to ensure that the ongoing financial data within the bookkeeping package remains accurate.

Details provided for each issue

• Period Ended (as per Companies House accounts filed)
• Net Assets/Liabilities (as per Companies House accounts filed)
• Net Assets/Liabilities (as per bookkeeping software on the same date)
• Difference – Any difference found between the statutory accounts filed and bookkeeping software

Potential reasons why there is an opening balance difference

1. Final period adjustments entered on to accounts production software were not entered onto the underlying bookkeeping software first.
2. Opening balance journal (to account for year end adjustments) has not been posted to underlying bookkeeping software.
3. Opening balance journal was posted with a transaction date within the new financial year, instead of the financial period in which the adjustments relate.
4. Transactions have been posted to the financial period with the difference in error, whereas they should have been posted within the new financial year. Was the ‘lock date’ set preventing the client from posting late transations?
5. Transactions dated in the financial period with the difference have been deleted or voided in the underlying bookkeeping package (for example, an old sales invoice has been deleted, instead of having a credit note raised in the current financial year).
6. A negligible rounding difference exists resulting in a very low value difference (see the “Settings Options” section below regarding setting a minimum difference threshold).

Show Late Transactions

If an opening balance difference has been detected then the “Show Late Transactions” button will allow you to view the most recent transactions that were posted to the financial period (or earlier). This will allow you to quickly identify whether year end adjustments/opening balance journals have been posted correctly and will help you to identify whether any transactions have been posted to the financial period after the accounts have been finalized and/or submitted to Companies House.

Dismiss Item

If you decide that a particular opening balance difference does not require amendment, then you can click the “Dismiss” button to hide the item and prevent that issue from appearing in the list again.

Show All Results

You can quickly include all previously dismissed issues, by enabling the “Show All Results” toggle.

This allows you to recheck and edit any opening balance differences that have previously been dismissed in error.

Settings Options

The options page will allow you to amend the minimum opening balance difference value that will trigger an issue to be identified by the opening balance differences bookkeeping check. By default, a difference of £1 or more will result in an issue being flagged for your review.