Follow the steps below to confirm if General Ledger is out of balance. We provide different solutions based on the cause. If you need in-depth assistance with reconciling your General Ledger, contact your Sage Business Partner.

This attachment gives an overview of some of the reports commonly used in the solutions below.

Attachment: ExplanationOfGLReports.pdf

Verify GL is out of balance

1. Open Sage Desktop.
2. If you don’t see a task list to the left side of the screen, choose View, Tasks.
3. Under Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate/Applications, select Additional Tools.
4. Double-click on Reconciliation.
5. Find Application Procedures in the bottom left and select General Ledger.
6. Follow step 1 to Post Entries.
7. Follow step 2 to run the Current Ledger.
8. Look at the grand totals on the last page.
   Tip: Press END on your keyboard twice to skip to the last page.
9. Your ledger is in balance if your grand totals show the following:

If your ledger shows anything other than the above, you're out of balance. Compare your grand totals with the table below and choose the appropriate option to reconcile General Ledger.

Debits don't equal Credits

Various issues cause unequal debits and credits. Some causes:

• Out of balance batch
• A batch that's split across two different accounting periods
• A General Ledger account was deleted
• Amounts were posted to a Unit account

Account deleted

See more information on determining whether a General Ledger account was deleted. Otherwise, determine the issue as follows.

Split batch or out of balance batch

To find an out of balance or split batch, move to Step 4 in the Reconciliation Tool to print the Totals by Batch report. You can find this report under Reports, Reconciliation, Totals by Batch (CR).

If possible, correct the batch in the application of origin; otherwise correct the batch in General Ledger. See more information about posting a one-sided or out of balance entry.

1. If any applications show an amount in the Difference column, double-click that amount. It will drill down to the batch information.
2. Find the batch or batches that show a difference and double-click the difference amount. It will drill down into the entries that make up that batch.
3. If the batch is out of balance:
   1. Verify the rest of the batch is in the New file in Inquiry, Entries by Batch.
   2. If you find the remainder of the batch in the new file, post the out of balance batch in GL.
   3. If the rest of the batch isn't in the new file, use Record Entries in General Ledger to make it balance or reverse it.
   4. If the batch is in balance, continue with the next step.
4. Review each batch to check for accounting dates in different periods or missing/duplicated entries. See the Reconciliation Tool, follow Step 5, second option "Entries Spanning Two Accounting Periods" for more information. Also, see information about finding batches causing a General Ledger period to be out of balance in total debits and credits.
5. If the batch is in balance (the debits equal the credits), but some entries are in different accounting periods:
   1. Reverse the entries that are in the incorrect period.
   2. Record the entries in the proper period.
6. If the batch includes more than one prefix, in the Reconciliation Tool, follow Step 5, third option, "Inter-company discrepancy."
7. If the batch is in balance (the debits equal the credits), but some entries are in different prefixes:
   1. Record intercompany transactions to fix the discrepancy.

Amounts posted to a unit account

1. From the Reports menu, select Entries, Entries by Account.
2. Select GL Transaction (current), and select GL Transaction (history) if available.
3. Click OK and then click Conditions.
4. Click Index, select GL - Account, and click OK.
5. Under Field, select Account Type.
6. Under Operator, select Equal to.
7. Under Value, select Units.
8. Click OK and click Add.
9. Under Field, select Accounting Date.
10. Under Operator, select Greater or equal to.
11. Under Value, enter the beginning date of the out of balance period.
12. Click OK and click Add.
13. Repeat steps 9-11, but under Operator, select Less or equal to and under Value, enter the ending date of the out of balance period.
14. Click OK twice and click Print Preview.
15. If amounts print on the report, review the setup of the accounts listed in Setup, Accounts.
16. Determine if you need to change the account type or if you need to reclassify the amounts to other accounts.

Debits equal Credits, Beginning/Ending Balances don't match

The activity of the General Ledger master file doesn't match the transactions in the transaction file. Look for accounts that appear on your ledger with exclamation points (!!) next to the ending balances. In the Reconciliation Tool, follow the directions in the Notes column for Step 2 Current Ledger. See information about double exclamation marks (!!) on the Current Ledger or Year-to-date Ledger.

Debits equal Credits, Beginning/Ending Balances match

The out of balance situation has carried forward from a prior period. Print your Year-to-date Ledger for prior periods until you find the out of balance period as follows:

1. From the Reports menu, select Year-to-date Ledger.
   Note: If you use both cash and accrual accounting, select your accounting method and click OK.
2. Select the Modify date range check box and enter the first and last day of your prior period.
3. Click Print Preview and look at the grand totals on the last page of your report.
4. Repeat these steps for each prior period until you find a period that has a beginning balance of zero.
5. Check the table below:

Debits equal Credits, Beginning/Ending Balances both 0.00

Prior year adjustments

Confirm if your ledger is out of balance due to prior year adjustments. In the Reconciliation Tool, follow the steps in Step 5, first option, "Entries have been made to a prior year."
You can also check for prior year adjustments.

If your Current Ledger is out of balance after closing or reversing prior year adjustments, see information about closing prior year adjustments to retained earnings.

The prior year wasn't closed

There's also a chance that the prior year didn't get closed as expected. Check the YTD Ledger for the first period of the current year in real life. The first period will begin and end out of balance by the amount of the Net Income/Loss of the closing year. See more information on how to close the fiscal year.

Retained Earnings account deleted

The Retained Earnings account may have been deleted. Or deleted and re-added without updating the balances on the Master file (Account Setup balance boxes) to match what the Transaction file shows. Check the Accounts Inquiry for both Current and History. You can't view both files at the same time, so print them out for comparison. See steps to correct the Master file balances.

Other Options

If the options above don't resolve your issue, consider the following options.

Entries made to a suspense account

Entries were made to the suspense account or the fiscal year was closed with an amount in suspense.

Wrong account type in General Ledger

A General Ledger account had the wrong account type (balance sheet account vs. income statement account) when you closed the fiscal year.

• A General Ledger account type was incorrectly set as an asset, liability, equity, or suspense when you closed the fiscal year
• A General Ledger account type was incorrectly set up as an income or expense account when you closed the fiscal year

Incorrect balances in Account setup

You have incorrect totals in Setup, Accounts, Balances due to using audit setup activity or because the General Ledger application ended unexpectedly. Contact Sage Support for assistance.

The current balance for my retained earnings account is incorrect.

Changes made in Record Entries

If the Accounting Method is Both, and you delete entries in Record Entries, it's possible to delete the wrong line.

You moved an amount from the Credit column to the Debit or vice versa in Record Entries. Compare the YTD Ledger to the Totals by Batch report. If you moved the amount:

• The Year To Date Ledger shows the Debits don't equal the Credits
• The Totals by Batch report shows there aren't any out of balance batches

Condition the Totals by Batch report to Accrual or Cash Equal To Accrual to see the entries.

How do I recreate a deleted General Ledger account?