QuickBooks HelpQuickBooksHelpIntuit

Enter and manage opening balances in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit•1163• Updated 3 weeks ago

When you first add a real-life bank or credit card account to QuickBooks, you enter the account balance on the day you started tracking it in QuickBooks. This helps keep your QuickBooks accounts a match for your bank records.

If you connect your bank and credit card accounts, we add up the transactions you’ve made since the date you picked and use them to get your opening balance. But if you don’t, you can do so manually.

Note: If you’ve already created an account without an opening balance and want to add one, you can add an opening balance later with a journal entry.

The QuickBooks design has been updated! If this video doesn't match what you see in QuickBooks, use the in-app Search bar to navigate to the page you need.

Find flexible solutions for your growing business with QuickBooks Advanced. With unlimited chart of accounts and up to 25 users, you have room to grow. Learn more about QuickBooks Advanced today.

Enter an opening balance

Follow this link to complete the steps in product Open this link in a new window

  1. Select New.
  2. Name your account and select Bank, Asset, Credit card, Liabilities, or Equity, then select the appropriate type of account from the Detail dropdown. 
  3. If this account is a subaccount, check Make this a subaccount, then choose its Parent account.
  4. Enter the Opening balance of your account on the starting date you enter in As of. 
  5. (Optional) Add a Description to add extra information about this account.
  6. Select Save.
  • If this bank or credit card account is new, use the day you opened it at your bank.
  • If the bank or credit card account isn't new, use the beginning date for your next account statement.

If you need to change your opening balance to include older transactions, edit the start date and opening balance of your account.

  1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product .
  2. Locate the account and select View register.
  3. Select the opening balance entry. This entry will be the earliest in the list and show Opening balance equity as the payee.
  4. Edit the date, then the amount. If needed, select Edit to make your changes. 
  5. Select Save.

Next steps

If you need to check what you entered later, find the Opening Balance Equity account in your Chart of accounts. Follow this link to complete the steps in product . The Opening Balance Equity account tracks the opening balance for all your QuickBooks accounts.

Related links

QuickBooks LedgerQuickBooks Online AdvancedQuickBooks Online EssentialsQuickBooks Online PlusQuickBooks Online Simple Start