Opening balances and reconciliation

Methods and settings

Enter a coherent starting position

In Advanced, open Opening balances above the Balance Sheet. Enter the applicable cash, receivables, inventory, payables, PP&E, debt, equity and other supported balances for the date before the first model period. Use the same currency and display unit throughout. Opening balances are shared Base data.

The first forecast may follow several historical periods. In that case, the historical results roll forward from the opening position and establish the forecast’s starting state. Do not enter the last actual closing cash again as an unrelated first-forecast cash input. If the model has no actual periods, Simple also provides an opening revenue input to establish a base for growth.

Read the balance difference

The basic check is Assets − Liabilities and Equity. A difference means the supplied starting position does not reconcile under the supported classifications. Review missing or duplicated balances, signs and the distinction between book equity and an economic Equity Value. The diagnostic does not create profit, expense, cash or debt to hide the difference.

For a synthetic opening position, assets of 1,000 and liabilities of 600 require book equity of 400. A valuation estimate of 1,500 is not a substitute for that 400. Equity & distributions and Ownership explain the different concepts.

Allocate opening values consistently

Detailed asset and debt schedules have their own opening components. They must describe the same economic balances as the statement starting position. Asset-linked depreciation requires remaining life for opening net book value. Active committed financing allocates existing debt to facilities; an opening allocation is not a new cash draw.

If classified non-current positions exceed the available opening balance, or an actual working-capital stock conflicts with available flows, correct the source assumptions. Adding a manual cash flow to conceal the mismatch can double count the economics.

Changing the historical boundary

Removing the earliest actual year can carry its closing position into opening balances so the remaining chronology continues. Some historical transaction cohorts prevent that operation because their continuation cannot be safely inferred. Adding an earlier actual year instead extends the chronology with new historical inputs.

Review the period controls, then use Undo if the boundary change was unintended. Opening balances are not a general ledger import, transaction history or jurisdiction-specific accounting conversion.