Limited time. 50% OFF QuickBooks for 3 months.

Buy now & save
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements
Get unlimited expert tax help and powerful accounting in one place. Check out QuickBooks Online + Live Expert Tax.
dadcowell
Level 2

Loan Balance

Good afternoon,

My church borrowed money (about 450,000)years ago against its building and property.

I just now see that the balance that the bank says that we owe is about 12,000 less than quick books shows.

Can I write a journal debiting the loan and crediting open balance equity for the 12,000 difference?

Solved
Best answer March 13, 2024

Best Answers
ReymondO
Moderator

Loan Balance

Hi there, @dadcowell.

 

Yes, you can create a journal entry debiting the loan and crediting open balance equity to record the 12,000 difference. 

 

I'd suggest reviewing your bank statement when recording this transaction in QuickBooks. This will ensure that your QuickBooks record matches with your real-life bank account. 

 

To make sure your journal entry is accurate, I'd recommend reaching out to your accountant. They can review your records and provide you with the right info to make sure your books are correct. 

 

With regards to recording loans and their payments, you can check out this article as your guidance: How to set up your liability account to track the loans and pay them in QuickBooks.

 

In addition, you can use this resource as a reference to know the basic accounting terms QuickBooks: Learn common accounting terms.

 

If you have further questions about recording loan differences or other QuickBooks-related concerns, just add them to the thread. I'm always here to help you out. Have a good one.

View solution in original post

2 Comments 2
ReymondO
Moderator

Loan Balance

Hi there, @dadcowell.

 

Yes, you can create a journal entry debiting the loan and crediting open balance equity to record the 12,000 difference. 

 

I'd suggest reviewing your bank statement when recording this transaction in QuickBooks. This will ensure that your QuickBooks record matches with your real-life bank account. 

 

To make sure your journal entry is accurate, I'd recommend reaching out to your accountant. They can review your records and provide you with the right info to make sure your books are correct. 

 

With regards to recording loans and their payments, you can check out this article as your guidance: How to set up your liability account to track the loans and pay them in QuickBooks.

 

In addition, you can use this resource as a reference to know the basic accounting terms QuickBooks: Learn common accounting terms.

 

If you have further questions about recording loan differences or other QuickBooks-related concerns, just add them to the thread. I'm always here to help you out. Have a good one.

Rainflurry
Level 14

Loan Balance

@dadcowell 

 

Opening Balance Equity (OBE) should be used as a last resort.  It's like kicking the can down the road - someone will have to figure it out at some point.  Personally, I would try and locate an amortization schedule for the loan and see where the principal balance got off.  Presumably, the bank has received the payments so somehow $12K wasn't allocated to the loan payable liability account.  Was it assigned to interest, thereby overstating the interest expense in a prior year(s)?  I suppose there are a few possibilities but making a journal entry and reclassifying the $12K as OBE is dodging the issue.   

Get answers fast!
Log in and ask our experts your toughest QuickBooks questions today.

Need to get in touch?

Contact us
Sign in for the best experience
Ask questions, get answers, and join our large community of QuickBooks users.
Sign In / Sign Up