Setting up opening balances for your accounts

Setting up your opening balances is an important step to ensure accurate books.

Step-by-step instructions

Opening balances are the first entries you will record in Wafeq at the beginning of your accounting period. Let’s follow an example:

If you are moving to Wafeq on the 1st of January, you will need to do the following:

1. Export your trial balance from your previous software, indicating your closing balances as of the 31st of December. These balances will be the opening balances you will enter in Wafeq.
2. Go to the "Manual Journals" module in the side menu under the “For Accountants” section.
3. Click on "Add" to create a new manual journal entry.

In the header section, enter the date you are moving to Wafeq (in this case, January 1st). Optionally, you can add a reference and a note for additional context.

Now, it’s time to add the opening balances:

On the first line start recording the opening balances for your accounts. You will be working with a line item form that includes columns for a description, account selection, debits, credits, exchange rate (if applicable), and additional accounting dimensions such as contacts, projects, or branches.

• Prepare your external spreadsheet to organize your opening balances based on the fields in the line item form. The key columns in your spreadsheet should match those in the journal line item form.
• Copy the details from your previous software’s trial balance into the respective columns in your spreadsheet.
• Enter a short description such as "Opening balance from previous software" for each line item.
• Select the appropriate account from the drop-down menu. The account names should be case-sensitive to match what’s recorded in Wafeq.
• Enter positive balances in the Debit column for assets and expenses, and negative balances in the Credit column for liabilities and equity.
• For foreign currency accounts, ensure that you input the appropriate FX rate to convert the amounts to the base currency. Wafeq will use this rate to calculate the equivalent value.
• Add a final line item to record your Opening Balance Offset account, using either a debit or credit entry to balance the overall journal.
• Copy your spreadsheet data and paste them into the journal line items form in Wafeq.
• Check the summary section to confirm that the total debits and credits are equal, with zero remaining balance.
• Once all entries are confirmed, you can choose to "Save as Draft" if you want to review them later or "Save and Post" if you’re ready to finalize the journal.

After saving, you’ll be redirected to the Manual Journals list, where you can see the newly added entry, its status as posted, and a quick preview of the debits and credits by hovering over the book icon.

Watch our video to learn the detailed steps of adding manual journals:

Now, all your accounts’ opening balances are in Wafeq, and you can continue your bookkeeping with a solid foundation.