Hi I need to put accounts onto Sage going back to 2011. There is an opening bank balance of £500 which was cash paid in from the previous year. How do I account for this in Sage so that it isn't sitting in the suspense account?
As an accountant I would never suggest entering everything back to 2011. If accounts have been prepared since then, I would just enter journals to correct the balances as at the last set of accounts and make sure the customers/suppliers balances are right!
DR Suspense £500 / CR Cash £500 - or am I missing something.
Are you saying the £500 cash was paid into the bank just before the year end, but not entered on Sage until after the year end? If this is correct, then the Bank & Cash balances would have been incorrect at the year end accounts!
This may be a bit off topic for you (I'm not sure what you mean by "they want everything put onto Sage").
You could start recording detailed transactions with effect from the start of the current year. Then, you could use the Nominal record import template (normally in C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts\Import Templates) and only populate the Refn (Nominal Code) and Prior Year Month 1 to Prior Yr5 Month 12 columns to record previous year outcomes without the need to record any transactions. Enter everything as positive values - don't enter sales, liability or ownership items as negatives to denote credits. Sage enters debit or credit depending on the COA section the nominal code is assigned to. Then it would have every monthly balance on Sage going back to 2011.
If this might be an option for you, I have an Excel spreadsheet that will report on the six years of balance data that is available. I'll happily send you a copy if you send me a message telling me what version of Sage you're on.
