Hi everyone, Im using Sage instant accounts package and find it great, easy to use etc. I will be setting myself up as self employed bookkeeper in the next few weeks and Im looking at other software as I understand that the only way to have multiple accounts on sage instatnt is to delete and re-load all the time. I downloaded a free trial of VT transactions + as its been raved about on here. Im not sure whats gone amiss but Im stuck trying to enter the opening balances! I thought id do a practice exam and first question is enter the opening balances for example...plant & machinery, vehicles, prepayments etc. In sage its dead easy but Im lost with this programme...
What you have to do is enter those type of balances using a journal entry.
In Sage, if you use the OB option in the nominal account, it automatically puts the other half of the entry into Suspense A/c. With VT you have to enter it manually, into the Opening Balances Contra a/c.
So for an asset, say P&M, open the journal, enter the appropriate date (use the last day of previous accounting period) etc, Enter the amount in the DR column, select FA-Plant & machinery, then Cost b/ fwd. In the next row enter the balncing amount in the CR column, select Creditors in the ledger column, and Opening balance contra, in the analysis column.
Do that for all your balances, reversing the DR and CR inputs, for liability accounts.
When all opening balances are entered, the Opening balance contra should be zero, if the TB you are working from balanced. If you do not have the Capital figures, the opening balance contra account balance should, in theory, be the amount needed to be entered as the Capital - B/fwd.
You could also enter a full TB into a single journal entry usin the Trial Balance Style, with out the need for the Contra a/c.
The help guide also gives instruction for entering individual supplier and customer OBs, with individual invoices.
VT is a lot different to Sage, and to be honest I never liked it when I first started using it. Now I understand it better, it is my weapon of choice, and wont use anything else, unless forced to by the clients preference.
