Reconciliation Issues

Hello, I've been doing payroll checks using my QuickBooks for a construction client since 2022 and now he wants me to start his bookkeeping starting the first month of this year 2023. The problem with this is the bank set up where he pays his employees from. My QB has been producing payroll checks using this bank set up without any beginning balance or other transactions ever made so the check register is way into the negative amounts. I tried to insert an opening balance equity amount that would give me the same balance as his actual bank statement at the beginning of January 2023. When I tried to reconcile January, the difference section which should say zero, has a number that is way off because all payroll transactions that I have made appear in checks and payments column. The opening balance equity amount appears as a deposit so I figured I'd leave it out. The whole thing is a mess in the reconciliation even though all the January transactions are correctly inputted. Is there a better way to start this bookkeeping even if payroll has been processed for many months now all on its own?