Set Up Conversion Date and Balances in Acxite

Getting started with a new accounting system is a significant step, and Acxite makes it straightforward. This article will guide you through the crucial process of setting up your conversion date and opening balances in Acxite.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, please ensure you have the following:

• Access to Your Previous Accounting System: You will need to retrieve financial reports from your old software or spreadsheets.
• A Trial Balance Report: This is the most important document. Run a Trial Balance report from your previous system dated on the last day before your Acxite conversion date.
• Administrator Access in Acxite: You need the correct permissions to access business settings and enter conversion balances.

Understand Key Concepts

Before entering any data, it is vital to understand two fundamental concepts:

• Conversion Date: This is the official start date for your accounting in any accounting software. No transactions dated before this day can be entered into the system. It is also known as a “cut-off date.” For example, if you choose 1st April as your conversion date, your opening balances will reflect your financial position at the close of business on 31st March. The best practice is to choose a date that aligns with the start of a new financial year to simplify reconciliation.
• Opening Balances: These are the closing balances from your previous accounting system at the conversion date for every account in your Chart of Accounts (e.g., bank accounts, sales ledger, purchase ledger, loans). These are also known as the conversion balances.

Migrate Your Business from Receipt Bot

If you are an existing Receipt Bot user, you can seamlessly migrate your business to Acxite. Our system allows you to use your Receipt Bot credentials and import your business data with just a few clicks.

Step 1 – Log in to the Acxite application using your existing Receipt Bot username and password.

Step 2 – Upon successful login, you will be directed to the Import Businesses page. This page will display a list of all businesses currently set up in your Receipt Bot account.

Step 3 – For each business you wish to import, you must perform two actions:

• Tick the checkbox next to the business name to select it for import.
• Set the Accounting Period Start Date. This date will become the official Conversion Date for that business in Acxite. Any documents or data in Receipt Bot dated before this date will not be imported.

Step 4 – Once you have selected all the businesses and set their respective start dates, click the Import Selected Businesses button.

Acxite will create the business accounts and import all relevant document data from Receipt Bot from your specified conversion date onwards. The next step is to enter the opening balances for each imported business.

Selecting Conversion Date

While Acxite gives you the flexibility to set your conversion date in the past, we strongly recommend choosing a date that is recent. The safest and most common practice is to set your conversion date as the beginning of your current financial year. This ensures a clean cut-off and simplifies the process of entering opening balances from your previous system.

Setting a conversion date far in the past is risky. To generate an accurate Profit & Loss statement and Balance Sheet, Acxite needs a complete record of every single transaction from that date onwards. Data imported from Receipt Bot often only includes purchase documents and may be missing essential information like sales invoices, bank transactions, payroll entries, or journals that were recorded in your old accounting software.

Therefore, only set a past conversion date if you are absolutely certain that Receipt Bot contains a full transaction history for the period and you have an accurate Trial Balance to use for your opening balances on that earlier date.

Set up the Accounting Period Start Date Individually

This feature is arriving soon.

Enter Your Opening Balances

After setting your conversion date (either through the Receipt Bot import or manually), you must enter your opening balances at the accounting period start date. These figures should come directly from a Trial Balance report generated by your previous accounting software.

This feature is arriving soon.

Pro Tip: If your business operates on a cash basis, the process can be simplified. You may only need to input the opening balances for your bank accounts, assets you possess and the equity.

Troubleshoot Unbalanced Opening Balances

For your accounts to be correct from day one, the total in the Debits column on the Conversion Balances page must exactly match the total in the Credits (£) column.

Follow these steps to find the problem:

• Review Your Data Entry: The most common issues are simple typing errors. Carefully check each figure you have entered against your Trial Balance report. Pay close attention to numbers placed in the wrong column. For example, a positive bank balance is a Debit, but a bank loan or overdraft is a liability and belongs in the Credits column.
• Check for Missing Accounts: Ensure you have not forgotten to enter any accounts from your old system. It is easy to miss items like Director’s Loans, Share Capital, or other financing agreements.

If your balances still do not match after checking these points, the issue is likely with the Trial Balance report from your previous software. We strongly recommend you contact your accountant or bookkeeper to help you resolve the discrepancy. Ensuring these opening figures and the accounting period start date are correct is essential for accurate accounting in Acxite.

Frequently Asked Questions