Article ID: 8723

Correcting an Imbalance That Begins at Your Start Date Between the General Bank Journal and the G/L and There Are Months Closed

The imbalance between the General Bank Journal and G/L also appears in the Journal/G/L column under the General Bank section of the G/L Reconciliation Report.

Take the following steps if the imbalance occurs from the very beginning of your books and there are closed months:

  1. Click Reports, select Journal, and General Bank... to open the General Bank Journal window.
  2. Enter 1/1/1982 in the Start Date box and today's date in the End Date box.
  3. Select Date in the Sort by box.
  4. Select Default from the Layout drop-down list.
  5. Select Both in the Include box.
  6. Select Output options.
  7. Click the Other tab.
  8. Click to uncheck the Daily Totals box.
  9. Click to check the Totals Only box.
  10. Leave all other fields and options on the Common, Matters, and Other tabs at their default values.
  11. Click OK to run the report.
  12. Locate the Open Bal figure for the General Bank under the Bank Account Summary section.
  13. Take one of the following actions:
    • Continue to the next step and do not make any adjusting entries if the Open Bal figure is correct.
    • Enter a Firm Receipt for the amount of the imbalance and allocate it to the General Bank G/L control account if the Open Bal figure is incorrect.
     NOTE: Enter a negative amount to adjust the balance down and a positive amount to adjust the balance up. The adjustment corrects your imbalance and you do not need to continue to the next step. Refer to your firm's accountant if you are not sure when to date the correcting entry.
  14. Return to the program's desktop.
  15. Click G/L, select General Journal, and Report... to open the General Journal window.
  16. Enter 1/1/1982 in the Start Date box.
  17. Enter the start date for your books in the End Date box.
  18. Select Output options.
  19. Click OK to run the report.
  20. Make a note of any incorrect debits and credits to the General Bank G/L control account (1000).
    NOTE: If you do not see any debits or credits to the General Bank G/L accounts, no G/L opening balances exist.
  21. Enter a G/L Adjustment in the amount of the imbalance.
    NOTE: A debit to the General Bank G/L account increases the balance and a credit decreases the balance.
  22. Rerun the G/L Reconciliation Report and check mark Reread G/L Information to ensure there is no longer an imbalance.