Uncategorised income’ and ‘Uncategorised expense, and VAT Control opening balance

Chris_Atlantic · ‎August 23, 2022

Hi Team,

I currently use QuickBooks desktop premier and am planning to switch to QuickBooks Online plus. Currently, am doing testing with QuickBooks online to understand the functionalities of the system. As Intuit has put a hold on the migration feature, I’m trying an alternative way to migrate my data to QuickBooks online.

I was able to import the chart of accounts, product list, customers, and suppliers successfully. For the chart of accounts, I had to go to each account type and process the opening balance with the corresponding entry, triggering the opening balance. The customers' and suppliers' available opening balances were moved successfully as either a credit note or an invoice as an opening balance entry.

Despite the fact that these entries have been processed, I cannot see the opening balance entries (debtors / creditors) getting reflected under ‘Uncategorised income’ and ‘Uncategorised expense’

In QuickBooks desktop premier I would normally create a journal entry based on the figures that reflect in my P&L account and then offset these, but for some reason I am unable to determine why these entries do not appear in QuickBooks online.

The journal entry I would pass is

Uncategorised invoice Cr (depending on +/-)

Uncategorised expense Cr (depending on +/-)

To Opening Balance equity Dr

Simultaneously, due to migration, I also had an opening balance for VAT. This opening balance of VAT will be processed via journal entry and the same should appear in my VAT 100 report. For some reason, the journal entry created does not appear to reflect the balances in my VAT 100 report.

The journal entry I would process is

VAT control Dr (Purchase) – HMRC

VAT control cr (Sales) – HMRC

To Opening balance equity account

This should then reflect in my VAT 100 report, but in this case it does not reflect.

Any help in how to record the opening balances that was carried forward from previous company file would be helpful.

Cheers,

Shaun

MichelleBh · ‎August 23, 2022

The detailed information you've shared is very helpful, @shaun. I appreciate that.

Let me provide you with some information on the migration process as well as steps on how to fix missing VAT and debtors'/creditors' opening balances in your QuickBooks Online.

Ensure that the multi-currency and VAT are enabled before importing the data, as these will impact the imported lists. Check out this post to learn how to handle your VAT import and record previous firm opening balances: Enter customer opening balances in QuickBooks Online.

Once confirmed and the issue persists, I'd recommend logging into your account using a private browser to verify if this is a browser-related problem. Sometimes, the browser is full of frequently accessed page resources, thus causing websites like QuickBooks Online to act weirdly.

You can use the shortcut keys below:

Ctrl + Shift + N (Google Chrome)
Ctrl + Shift + P (Firefox)
Control + Option + P (Safari)
Ctrl + Shift + P (Microsoft Edge)

Once logged in, re-check if the VAT, debtors, and creditors opening balance are now visible in your account. If it's fixed, please return to your regular browser and press the CTRL+ Shift and Delete keys on the keyboard to clear the cache.

In addition, check out this hub to learn how to troubleshoot errors after conversion and create post-conversion checks to ensure that everything in your QuickBooks is working correctly: QuickBooks Desktop discontinuation support hub.

Lastly, you can bookmark our QuickBooks Online Help Articles and Video Tutorials for your future use. These contain various topics on how to manage your business.

Don't hesitate to get back on this thread if you're desperate for assistance with QuickBooks. I'll help you out. Take care always.

Chris_Atlantic · ‎August 24, 2022

Hi Michelle,

Many thanks for your response. I have attempted the same steps, but I do not understand why the opening balances are not reflecting in the following:

1. Uncategorised income and Uncategorised expenses - It’s my understanding that all opening balances (Customers / Suppliers) will reflect over here apart from debtors and services. This opening balance must then be transferred to an opening balance equity account. Or until and unless am doing something wrong.

2. VAT – Oening balance journal entry was processed, but the balance is not reflected in my VAT 100 report

Kindly refer to the snapshot.

Cheers,

Chris

Giovann_G · ‎August 24, 2022

Allow me to chime in and address your concerns, Chris.

It's nice to hear you're able to import the chart of accounts, product list, customers, and suppliers successfully. Including the customers' and suppliers' available opening balances either via a credit note or an invoice.

The Uncategorised Income and Expenses may not have any balances, so you can't see their opening balance. Did you create a journal entry for the Uncategorised Income and Expenses opening balance? If not, please ensure it has an opening balance before moving it to the opening balance equity account.

Check out this article for instructions on how to create a journal entry and mark it as reconciled to prevent it from appearing on future reconciliations: What to do if you didn't enter an opening balance in QuickBooks Online.

On the other hand, it isn't recommended to post your journal entry directly to the VAT control account since it won't reflect in the VAT 100 report. Instead, a VAT code can be used on the journal entry line against the relevant account. If you're unsure how to enter this, I recommend reaching out to your accountant for further assistance.

For future reference, I've added this article to learn how to file VAT returns and record tax payments in QuickBooks Online: File your VAT return and record tax payments in QuickBooks Online.

If you have further questions, let me know. I'll be around to help you.

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Uncategorised income’ and ‘Uncategorised expense, and VAT Control opening balance