Step 5. Import Opening Trial Balance

Prerequisites 

• Prior to performing the import, your Chart of Accounts must be set up in Accounting Seed. For more information, refer to the Design Your Chart of Accounts article. 
• Prior to performing the import, read the Create/Enter Opening Balances Overview article.    
• The best practice is to complete the following steps before importing your opening Trial Balance:
  --  Step 1. Extract Legacy Data from your Current System 
  --  Step 2. Migrate Open Accounts Receivable
  --  Step 3. Migrate Open Accounts Payable
  --  If applicable: Step 4. Migrate Opening Inventory Balances

Overview 

Your Opening Period Trial Balance in Accounting Seed will be the Closed YTD (Year-to-Date) Trial Balance of the last period in your legacy Accounting system. For example, if your go-live date in Accounting Seed is 05/01, then your opening balances will be the closing balances as of 04/30 in your legacy system. 

Your Opening Trial Balance will be entered by creating a Journal Entry utilizing the Accounting Seed Opening Trial Balance template and uploading the completed file. 

Note: If you have less than 25 General Ledger (GL) Accounts, you might find it easier to manually create the Journal Entry Lines, as well as enter your Opening Trial Balance manually. 

Journal Entries in Accounting Seed are composed of two elements:

• Master (Journal Entry Header) 
• Detail (Journal Entry Lines).

All Journal Entry Lines must be referenced to a Journal Entry Header. This is done by:

1. Manually create a Journal Entry Header in Accounting Seed
2. Populate the Opening Trial Balance template with the appropriate data for the Journal Entry Lines (GL Account, Amount, references, etc.).
   Note: This template will be used to upload the Journal Entry Lines that will create your Opening GL Account balances.   

Mapping your legacy Chart of Accounts to your new Chart of Accounts in Accounting Seed should be done prior to creating the Journal Entry Lines.

Use this article to learn more about:

• The Use of Opening Balance Clearing Account
• Step 1 - Create a Journal Entry Header
• Step 2 - Create Journal Entry Lines
• Step 3 - Post the Journal Entry

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Use of Opening Balance Clearing Account

The opening balances for your Accounts Receivable (A/R), Accounts Payable (A/P), and Inventory accounts will NOT be posted to your A/R, A/P, and Inventory control GL Accounts in this step. Those GL Account balances are populated when you perform: Step 2. Migrate Open Accounts Receivable, Step 3. Migrate Open Accounts Payable, and Step 4. Migrate Opening Inventory Balances (if applicable).

The entry to record the GL balances for your opening A/R, A/P, and Inventory accounts must be posted to the same Clearing GL Account as indicated in the Create/Enter Opening Balances Overview article:

• Opening Accounts Receivable (A/R): 3900-AR Clearing
• Opening Accounts Payable (A/P): 3901-AP Clearing
• Opening Inventory Balances: 3902-Inventory Clearing

The GL Accounts that you post our opening balances to for these three GL Accounts MUST be the same GL Accounts that were used when you imported your opening balances using the appropriate Import Templates. For instructions, refer to each template.

Note: You will enter the Clearing Account in the Import file where you are to populate the respective Debit or Credit GL Account. 

Once the uploads for your opening A/R, opening A/P, and opening Inventory and Trial Balance are complete, the balance in the Clearing Account should be zero ($0). 

The sample screen below provides examples of the Ending Trial Balance from a legacy system and the associated Journal Entry Lines that will be imported into Accounting Seed to create opening balances. Review this sample screen and note that the Opening Balances GL Account is used for A/R, A/P, and Inventory Control GL Accounts in the example. 

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Step 1 - Create a Journal Entry Header

Important: The Journal Entry Header for the Trial Balance should be manually created in Accounting Seed and it must be created prior to uploading the Opening Balance Journal Entry Line upload file. 

For step instructions on how to create a Journal Entry, refer to the Create or Clone a Journal Entry article.

• The date of the Journal Entry Header should be just prior to the go-live date. For example, if you are going live on May 1, then you will want to upload the April 30 Trial Balance with a date of 4/30.
• Once this entry has been created, make a note of the Salesforce ID for the Journal Entry Header. This will be used to populate the Journal Entry SF ID column in the template. The sample screen below provides the location of the Salesforce ID.
  
  
  Note: Click here to view the above image in full screen. 

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Step 2 - Create Journal Entry Lines

1. Download the Opening Trial Balance template that is located in the Import Templates article.
2. Before moving forward, read the Guidance tab on the Opening Trial Balance carefully and completely.
3. On the Journal Entry Line worksheet, enter the Salesforce ID for your Journal Entry Header that was created in Step 1 - Create Journal Entry Header into the Journal Entry SF ID column.
   Note: This is a required field and will be entered on every line that will be populated for your Journal Entry.
4. Using the ending balance information from your legacy system, complete the Journey Entry line worksheet, which is a tab within the Import Template file.
   
   1. Required fields include the following:
      
      1. GL Account Name or GL Account SF ID
         Note: When possible, it is best to use the GL Account SF ID. However, if you use the GL Account Name, make sure it is entered exactly as it displays in Accounting Seed.
      2. Either the Debit or the Credit field
   2. Optional fields include the following:
      
      1. Reference
         
      2. Customer or Vendor Account Name or SF ID
      3. GL Variables
      4. Product Name or Product SF ID
      5. Project Name or Project SF ID
      6. Project Task Name or Project Task SF ID
5. After the worksheet has been completed, right-click the Journal Entry Line tab and select Move or Copy.
   
   
   
   
6. From the Move or Copy dialog box, select New Book from the drop-down list and click the Create a copy checkbox.
   
   
   
7. Click OK to create a copy of the worksheet.
   Note: Making a copy will maintain the integrity of your original “master” worksheet.
8. Make the following edits in preparation for the import:
   
   1. Delete any rows and columns that are not pertinent to the upload, such as the Row 1: Instruction row, Key legend, etc.
   2. If you are using the SF ID for any fields, delete the column that only has the field name, and remove SF ID from the column header name. This will allow it to automatically map. 
   3. If you are using the name for any fields, delete the SF ID column.
9. Save the file as a .CSV (comma delimited) file.
10. Use either the Salesforce Data Loader or the Data Import Wizard to import this file. Refer to the Salesforce knowledge articles on the importing process and how to use the Data Import Wizard or Data loader.
11. If using the Data Import Wizard do the following:
    
    1. Navigate to Setup and search for and select the Data Import Wizard.
    2. Under Import your data in 2 easy steps!, click Launch Wizard.
       
       
       
       
    3. Select the Custom Objects tab.
    4. Scroll through the list of Objects and select Journal Entry Lines.
    5. Under What do you want to do, click Add New Records.
       
       1. For Which GL Account field in your file do you want to match against to set the GL Account lookup field? Select either GL Account Name or Salesforce ID (depending upon which one was used).
       2. For Which Journal Entry field in your file specifies the Master/Detail relationship?, this field will be pre-populated with the Salesforce ID. If you are using the Journal Entry Name, select it from the drop-down list instead of the Salesforce ID.
       3. If you included optional fields such as Account Name, GL Accounting Variables, complete the related fields for Name or Salesforce ID (depending upon which one was used).
    6. Under Where is your data located?, click CSV and then click Choose File. Search for and select the .CSV file. Select the Custom Objects tab.
       
       
       
       
    7. Click Next. The Edit Field Mapping: Journal Entry Lines displays. The import file has been auto-mapped to existing Salesforce fields.
    8. Map any unmapped fields if they are to be included in the import.
    9. Click Next. The Review & Start Import screen displays. The status will display the number of fields to be imported.
    10. Click Start Import. A message display to indicate that the import has started.
    11. Click OK to view the import status.
        Note: You can click Previous to return to the Edit Field Mapping screen to make any additional mapping edits, as necessary.
        
    12. When the import process completes, the Bulk Data Load Job Detail screen displays. Under Batches, review the Records Processed and Records Failed status. If there is an error, open the Results file to identify the error, and correct it, as necessary.
        Note: Typical errors may include items such as the GL Account Name is wrong or there is a dollar amount or character in a Debit or Credit field that should be blank.

At the end of the import process, you will receive an email with a snapshot of the import results.

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Step 3 - Post the Journal Entry  

Once your data has been successfully uploaded into Accounting Seed, you are ready to post the Journal Entry. 

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Create Entries tab. Then, under the Ledger menu, click Journal Entries.
2. Select a list view such as All. Typically, you want to select a list view other than the Recently Viewed. 
3. Click the Journal Entry Name to open it. 
4. Click Post. 

Congratulations! Your Opening Trial Balances are now entered into Accounting Seed.

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