Modules»General Ledger»Balance Sheet Doesn't Balance
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Last modified on 2/23/2016 12:17 PM by User.

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Balance Sheet Doesn't Balance

The total of the ASSETS does not equal the total of the LIABILITY & OWNERS EQUITY on the Balance Sheet.    If this should happen, follow the instructions below:

 

1st:  Print the Balance Sheets for prior periods to find the first month when it did not balance.  For example, if the Balance Sheet balanced as of 12/31/15, start with the next month, January 2016 and continue until the month that is not balanced is found.

 

2nd : Go to the YTD Master (Task 20)

  • Print Selected YTD Records (Sub-task 4)
    • Pre-print preview to screen
    • All divisions
    • All transaction #’s
    • All Batch #’s
    • All sources
    • All types
    • All amounts
    • Print report by: 2) G/L Account Number / Sub-division / TRX date
    • All G/L account #’s
    • Starting TRX date: Use the first day of the month which it first went off balance. With this example 01/01/16
    • Ending TRX date: Use the last day of the month which it first went off balance. With this example 01/31/16
    • Suppress detail records? Enter key
    • Go to the Last page

 

The Grand Totals: should be zero!

 

If the Grand Totals of the YTD Master file report ARE NOT ZERO, it means the debits and credits don’t equal each other.   The next step is to find out what batch posting was out of balance.  There are 3 different ways to find this information.

 

  1. Look at the above report, jot down each BATCH#.  Then print the YTD Master (Task 20) again for each batch number individually until the batch number that is out of balance is found
  2. You can re-print the above YTD Master report (per the example for January 2016 dates) export it as a spreadsheet.  Look in the “Basic System Information” section of our website at the document titled Export Data from Profits Plus
    1. Once the YTD Master report is in the spreadsheet, sort it by batch number
    2. Sub-total each batch number to find out which batch number has a balance (under ‘balanced’ conditions, the total will be zero)
  3. Find the original hard copies of the batches.  Look at each one to find the one that was out of balance

 

Once the ‘Out of Balance’ batch is found, determine what is missing or incorrect.  Each scenario is probably different, so you may have to do some investigating to determine the cause of the imbalance.   Once you have determined what is incorrect, go to:

 

  • Manual TRX Entry & Editing (Task 1)
    • Enter (ADD) New Transaction (Sub-task 1)

 

The name of the transactions can be something like: TO CORRECT BATCH #1234.  The date should be the date of the original batch, in this example it would be a January 2016 date.  This manual G/L transaction will be out of balance.  For example, if you found you are off balance $90.00. 

 

THE ORIGNAL BATCH SHOULD HAVE BEEN:

712-00-01 Bank Charges                                 Debit  100.00

101-00-01 Cash in Checking                                                    Credit 100.00

 

BUT IT WAS:

712-00-01 Bank Charges                                 Debit 10.00

101-00-01 Cash in Checking                                                    Credit 100.00  

 

THE CORRECTING ENTRY WOULE BE:

712-00-01 Bank Charges                                 Debit 90.00

 

When you are finished with the entry, you will receive this message:

Debits and Credits do NOT balance

Do you want to leave it that way? (YES/NO): YES

Answer: YES

Post the G/L entry, re-run the Balance Sheet to verify it now balances.

 

 

If the Grand Totals of the YTD Master file report ARE ZERO, it means something isn’t going to the balance sheet correctly.  Two reports will need to be printed:

 

REPORT #1   Financial Statements (Task 10)

  1. Period dates: START: 01/01/16      END: 01/31/16--per the example  (use dates for the month the balance sheet is first out of balance)
  2. Division numbers: All
  3. Income statement? N           with supporting schedules ? N
  4. Balance sheet? Y                 with supporting schedules? N
  5. Working capital? N
  6. Print a separate report for each division? N
  7. Print today’s date and time? Y
  8. Change format? N
  9. Rollup divisions into one line? N
  10. Show statement codes in description column? Y
    • By answering a Y to field #10, the statement codes will print on the financial statement in the description column.    For example, the balance sheet may have a line for CASH IN BANK P131IP.  This information is then used to find out all of the G/L account numbers that also have the same statement code (this is explained below).
  11. Use consolidated ratios in supporting schedules? Y

 

 

 

 

 

REPORT #2: G/L Trial Balance (Task 9) in Statement code order:

  1. G/L transaction dates: Start 01/01/16  End 01/31/16—again using dates as per the example (use the same date range as in Report #1)
  2. G/L account numbers: Start 000-00            End 499-99 (to get only balance sheet accounts)
  3. G/L department numbers: ALL
  4. G/L transaction numbers: ALL
  5. G/L Statement codes: ALL
  6.  G/L division numbers: ALL
  7. G/L sub-divisions; ALL
  8.  Print transaction detail (Y/N): N if you don’t want to see all of the debits/credits in each account or Y if you do
  9. Print zero balance account? (Y/N): N
  10. Single, Double, Triple spaced: (S,D,T):
  11. Print order: Acct # or Statement code? (A,S): S
    • By answering an S in field #10, the report will print in the same order as report #1: Balance Sheet.  The financial statement codes will print on the report, with subtotals for each IP statement code.   
  12. Print department subtotals? N
  13. Print major account subtotals? N
  14. Print major account summary? N

 

Note: The wording on lines 12, 13 and 14 can be changed to reflect something more meaningful to the user (go to: 4/32/22/2). 

  • ‘Department’ is the middle 2 digits of the G/L account number
  • ‘Major’ represents the first 3 digits of the G/L account number. 

 

If the G/L Trial Balance has a message similar to this at the top of the report:

Statement code

102-00-01 Petty Cash             ERROR: Invalid statement code  150.00

In account master

 

  • This message means G/L account #102-00-01 (Petty Cash) has something wrong with the statement code. 
    • To correct the statement code, go into Account Master (Task 17), Change Existing G/L Act # record (Sub-task 2). 
      • Type in the G/L account number
      • Correct field 3 - Fin St. code:
  • After correcting the statement code, print a new Balance sheet to see if it balances.

 

If the G/L Trial Balance doesn’t have the message regarding an invalid statement code or if correcting the statement code doesn’t correct the imbalance of the balance sheet, then:

Check each line on the Balance Sheet against the Statement Code totals of the G/L Trial Balance.  For example:

The Balance Sheet has a line:  CASH IN BANK B131IP         $68,450.00. 

The G/L Trial Balance Statement with code B131IP Totals:       $68,300.00. 

The $150.00 difference would need to be found. 

  • Look at the accounts before and after the B131VS accounts. 
  • Look at all the accounts which make up the B131VS.  Do they all belong there?  At this point contact us for assistance.