Add a Conversion Balance

To enter your conversion balances into AccountsPortal, navigate to the Settings tab, select the Chart of Accounts tab and click on the Add Conversion Balance button.

• Transaction ID:  Automatically generated sequential number based on the Transaction Numbering settings for the Organisation. 
• Reference: Optionally enter any relevant text.
• Date: For new Conversion Balance transactions, the Date field will default to 1 day before the Conversion Date specified in the Organisation's setting. Although you can set this to an earlier date if you wish, you cannot choose a date greater than or equal to the Conversion Date.
• Add New Line Item: Enter a separate line item for each account that you are converting from your previous accounting system; you can add as many line items as you wish.  
• Account: Enter the account against which the value should be recorded. Use the drop down arrow to search available accounts or click in the field and enter free text to find matching values. If you cannot find an appropriate account, check your settings for the Chart of Accounts and create a new account if required. If you are unsure of any amounts or accounts, then you can post the item to the Conversion Suspense (account code 3200). This should only be seen as a temporary account and the value should be appropriately reposted before you finalise your year-end reporting.
• Description: Optionally enter a description for each line item.
• Debit / Credit: Enter a debit or credit for each line item. Consult your accountant if you are unsure as to the usage of debits and credits.
• Memo: Optionally enter any relevant text.

Once you have entered a Conversion Balance for each of your existing accounts, make sure that the total Debits equal the total Credits and then click the Save button.

Any Conversion Balances entered as above will be immediately reflected in the Conversion Balance: Debit and Conversion Balance: Credit columns in the Chart of Accounts.

NOTE

If you have added in conversion balances for the Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable accounts, you should consider adding the transactions which make up these balances. This will ensure that the Aged Receivables and Aged Payables reports correctly reflect the ageing on all outstanding invoices and credit notes.

Edit a Conversion Balance

If you have already entered a conversion balance for an account and you wish to change this, there are two options:

1. Edit the existing Conversion Balance transaction:
   • Navigate to the Journals tab
   • Identify the relevant transaction from the list and double click to open the original Conversion Balance transaction
   • Edit the transaction.
   • Click the Save button.
2. Enter a new Conversion Balance transaction. For example, if you originally entered a conversion balance of £100 for Accounts Receivable, but wish to edit this to £120, you can enter an additional Conversion Balance transaction for £20. See Adding a Conversion Balance for more information.

View Conversion Balances

To view Conversion Balances on a per-account basis, navigate to the Settings  tab, and then click on the Chart of Accounts tab. The Chart of Accounts will display each account with a corresponding Conversion Balance:Debit or Conversion Balance:Credit amount.

Additional details on each individual Conversion Balance transaction can also be viewed by navigating to the Journals tab, and double-clicking each Conversion Balance transaction in the list.

Adding Transactions before the Conversion Date

You can enter other transactions (such as invoices or purchase invoices), where the transaction date is earlier than the Conversion Date. For example, you may wish to enter a sales invoice or sales credit note that was issued from your previous accounting system, but is still oustanding after the Conversion Date. To do this:

• Ensure you have entered the appropriate VAT settings if you are VAT registered. You must carry out this step prior to entering the transactions which follow. This is especially important if you use the Cash Basis for VAT.
• Enter the sales invoice or sales credit note into AccountsPortal, making sure to use the original invoice date or credit note date (i.e. the date should be before the Conversion Date). Enter the line items as you would have in your previous accounting system taking special care to use the correct VAT Codes if you are VAT registered.
• Ensure that the Conversion Balance for the Accounts Receivable account includes the outstanding amount on the sales invoice or credit note at the Conversion Date.
• When you receive a payment on the above invoice (i.e. after the Conversion Date), proceed to capture the payment in AccountsPortal.
• Apply the same process for outstanding purchase invoices and purchase credit notes and ensure that the Conversion Balance for the Accounts Payable account includes the total of these outstanding transactions.

Note that with the exception of Conversion Balance transactions, any other transaction entered into AccountsPortal before the Conversion Date will not be taken into account for reporting purposes. The Aged Receivables and Aged Payables reports will, however, correctly reflect the ageing on all outstanding invoices or credit notes, including those entered before the Conversion Date.

Entering a transaction with a date before the Conversion Date displays a warning next to the date field