CDR Troubleshoot Balances Tool
Need to quickly post summary history to a new QuickBooks file? This article shows you how using the Troubleshoot Balances tool within QuickBooks Accountant.
Using the CDR “Troubleshoot Account Balances Tool” to post Monthly History
Several years ago a new client contacted me about migrating them to QuickBooks Enterprise from a legacy accounting system. While they had no interest in having any actual data details imported into their file, they did want sufficient history to permit them to run comparative month-by-month, quarterly and annual reports in QuickBooks. Further inquiry determined they actually wanted 2 prior years of such history. The question became, how do you quickly post ‘trial balances’ on a month-by-month basis for two years of history from an old system into QuickBooks since there is no ‘importer tool’ that will actually import a trial balance, as such?
The answer, make use of the Troubleshoot Account Balances Tool found within the Client Data Review (CDR) feature of QuickBooks Accountant version. The steps are quite easy actually, and depending on the number and complexity of the accounts, usually a month’s worth of data can be input, checked and verified within an hour.
One critical point to remember is that you need to always start this process, just as you would with any new QuickBooks file, by posting the initial balances for the month-end prior to the start of your first year of data. In the case of this example, the first month to which the opening balances would be posted was December 31, 2010. You can either use a journal entry to post those opening balances, or simply plug in the trial balance into you’re the Troubleshoot Account Balances Tool as you would for any new CDR review.
Note: This article is not intended to provide comprehensive instruction into use of either the Client Data Review (CDR) feature or the Troubleshoot Account Balances Tool, rather it is written solely for the purpose of describing how these Accountant Version functions can be used to post historical data.
Posting the initial opening balances
Set the Review Period for both the Review and the Troubleshoot Account Balances Tool to the appropriate month; remember you are posting the opening balances for the month end prior to the first month of history you want to summarize.
Enter the amounts from the starting trial balance you obtained from the prior system in the Balances in Accountant’s Records debit and credit columns.
Because the Balances in Client’s File columns will be blank, all of the figures you enter will post to the Difference columns.
Verify the accuracy of your entries; then click the View Suggested Adjustments button.
QuickBooks will display a journal entry dated as of the last day of the month of your review period. This journal entry will contain all of the opening balances you just posted.
When you are satisfied with the accuracy of the journal entry data, click Save & Close. QuickBooks posts this data to your file. Now you are ready to begin post each month’s data using a very similar approach.
Posting each month’s historical trial balance
Return to the CDR and reset the review period to the first month of history you wish to post. Then once again select the Troubleshoot Account Balances Tool, be certain to also set the review dates on the tool. (Note: I have observed that the dates on the tool do not always default accurately to the dates set for the review period.)
The Troubleshoot Account Balances Tool will now display the values posted during the initial posting described above. These values will appear in the Balances in Client’s File columns.
Now enter the values from the trial balance (obtained from your prior system) for the review period month (which should be your first actual ‘month’ of data for historical purposes) in the Balances in Accountant’s Records columns.
The difference in the value of the amounts you enter, from the amounts in the Balances in Client’s File columns, will be reflects in the Difference columns. These differences represent the ‘net changes’ in the trial balance from the prior month’s ending balance to the end of the review period.
Verify the accuracy of your entries; then click the View Suggested Adjustments button.
QuickBooks will display a journal entry dated as of the last day of the month of your review period. This journal entry will contain all of the ‘net changes’ in the trial balance from the prior month’s ending balance to the end of the review period.
When you are satisfied with the accuracy of the journal entry data, click Save & Close. QuickBooks posts this data to your file. Your first month’s net changes have now been posted.
Run a trial balance in QuickBooks for the period you just posted, they should be identical to the trial balance source document from the other system. (Note: If you run a Profit & Loss and a Balance Sheet for the month they will reflect the appropriate balances for their historical periods.)
Now you are ready to continue posting each successive month’s trial balance data using this same approach.
Conclusion
I seriously doubt that the team of individuals who developed the Troubleshoot Account Balances Tool ever envisioned its’ use for this purpose, but it serves as a valuable resource to easily and quickly post historical end of month trial balances to a new QuickBooks file for any period of time you want. From a conceptual standpoint the summary transactions posted in the form of journal entries using this approach are no different than the type of ‘summary transactions’ which QuickBooks posts when earlier periods of data condensed. Without a tool for the import of trial balances directly, the Troubleshoot Account Balances Tool serves as a valuable substitution.
William “Bill” Murphy