Entering the opening balance sheet

CONTENT

• Introduction
• Requirements
• A completed fractions registry
• Location
• Add the client receivables
  • Add your receivables accounts via import/export
  • Add client receivables and suppliers to the balance sheet
• Document your balance sheet
• Frequently asked questions

Introduction

The opening balance sheet is one of the most important steps to complete when you begin managing the finances of your property with UpperBee. It consists of entering the amounts in your assets and liabilities account on the first day of accounting in the system, allowing you to start accounting from the same point.

Requirements

• A completed fractions registry

• A completed supplier registry (optional, but highly recommended)
• A completed chart of accounts
• If your property is brand new and your assets and liabilities accounts are at 0, you can ignore this step.
• Setup the financial period of your property. If there is an error, please contact support@upperbee.com so our technical team can do the required changes. 
• A copy of your latest financial statement with the balance sheet, or a copy as of the first day of accounting within the system.
• Microsoft Excel is required for the import/export methods

Location

1) Go under FINANCES.

2) In the SUMMARY, select OPENING BALANCE SHEET.

Add the client receivables

If the residents owe sums to the property or paid in advance, it is important to indicate those amounts in the balance sheet in order to assure that their account statement starts with the correct balance.

Add your receivables accounts via import/export

Excel required

1) Under ACTIONS, select IMPORT / EXPORT CLIENT RECEIVABLES.

2) DOWNLOAD the Excel sheet.

3) Fill the information regarding the overpaid and/or outstanding fees for the concerned accounts. If a resident has outstanding fees, enter a positive number. If the resident paid in advance or has a credit to his receivables account, put a negative number (-400, for example).

4) Save the Excel sheet and upload it back into UpperBee.

Add client receivables and suppliers to the balance sheet

1) Go to ADD CLIENT RECEIVABLES OR SUPPLIER ACCOUNTS TO THE LIST.

2) Select the accounts with an outstanding balance or a credit, and then click ADD.

Document your balance sheet

The following calculation is applied to the balance sheet:

ASSETS + CLIENT RECEIVABLES = LIABILITIES + NET ASSET

A valid balance sheet can be published and will appear in green at the bottom of the page. A disparity between the assets and liabilities will create a difference and appear in red. You will not be able to publish your balance sheet.

1) Click on the balance of your asset accounts (bank accounts, amounts paid in advance, etc.) and enter the amounts according to your balance sheet.

2) If you added receivables accounts (amounts owed or paid in advance by the residents), enter them in the CLIENT RECEIVABLE BALANCE section. An outstanding balance will be entered as a positive number, whereas a credit will be entered as a negative.

3) If you added supplier accounts (amounts owed or paid in advance to the suppliers), enter them in the SUPPLIERS ACCOUNT BALANCE section. An balance TO BE PAID will be entered as a POSITIVE number, whereas an amount PAID IN ADVANCE will be entered as a NEGATIVE.

4) Add the reserves of your contingency funds.

5) Add your LIABILITIES (payables, etc) to the balance sheet.

6) Add the balance of your administrative funds into your NET ASSETS. If, after the exercise, the balance sheet is balanced, you will be able to publish it.

Frequently asked questions

Q: If I made a mistake in my balance sheet, can I publish a new one?

A: Yes. You can update your balance sheet, if your first financial year is open. When you close your first financial year in UpperBee, you won’t be able to edit it afterwards.

Q: What if I don’t have the specifics about the amounts owed to the suppliers?

A: In such case, you can add the total owed to the suppliers into the ACCOUNTS PAYABLE account, in the LIABILITIES section. You can always come back and distribute the amount among your suppliers when you have more details on the matter.

Q: What do I do when I pay the amounts that I owe to the suppliers?

A: Since the amount is in the balance sheet and owed to the supplier, we can presume that it was already added in the expenses. You can enter the invoices you paid to the suppliers in the system, and then cancel the impact of the invoice on your financial statement with a journal entry that will debit the supplier’s payable account and credit the expense account. The invoice will be managed in the system, and the invoice will have no impact in the current financial period.