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Opening Balances: Kick Start

Zenya Allen
Zenya Allen
  • Updated

The steps below show you how to enter Opening Balances, currently held in your client account, to reconcile to your bank on a given date.

The process to start entering Opening Balances must begin with entering the Agency Opening Balances first, then the Landlord, followed by the corresponding Properties and Tenancies in turn.

If there is no reconciled account, use the Rolling Start process.
For more information on Opening Balances: Rolling Start, click here

This article includes: 

Agency Opening Balances

Ideally, you should pay out all agency fees from your client account so there are no Agency Opening Balances to enter.

However, if you have collected agency fees that are held in your client account, they need to be entered before any other Opening Balances are added. They are entered as one amount and not split in to the detail of how they were earned.

  1. Click Postings on the main toolbar
  2. Click Opening Balances on the dropdown menu
  3. Click Agency Opening Balances on the dropdown menu
    1. Select the Bank Account and Branch using the ... dots to search
    2. Enter an Opening Balance Date
    3. Enter the amount Opening Balance of your agency fees and VAT 
    4. Click Post Agency Update
    5. Click OK to confirm Update Complete
    6. Click OK and X to close

The agency fee entered will appear in Posting, Pay Agency Fees.
For more information on How do I pay agency fees, click here

Landlord Opening Balances

Any balance of money you are holding for a Landlord needs to be added as an Opening Balance.

  1. Click Postings on the main toolbar
  2. Click Opening Balances on the dropdown menu
  3. Click Landlord and Tenant Opening Balances on the dropdown menu
  4. Search for the relevant Landlord using Search Text by Name, Code or Status
    1. Alternatively, find the Landlord using Additional Options from the dropdown menu
    2. If searching for an archived record in Only Search Listable Records, select No
    3. Or select a Branch if multi branch is set up on your CFPwinMan
  5. Brought Forward Balances will display the Landlord's Properties, their Tenancies and Tenants
    1. Opening Balances Date - Select from the dropdown menu
    2. Statement Brought Forward Balance - Enter the amount if the Landlord had a balance
    3. Overseas Tax Held - Enter an amount if applicable
    4. Total Landlord Cash - The balance step 2 and 3 will appear as a total

If you entered a Statement Brought Forward Balance which is to be retained as a float or is always retained, you will need to go to the corresponding Landlord Information and retain the amount entered.
For more information on How can I add a float or retain all on a Landlords account, click here

Property Opening Balances

Any expenses to be paid to Contractors can be added as an the Opening Balance in the Property.

First, you will need to add your Contractors, so they can be selected against the expense you are adding.
For more information on How do I add a new contractor, click here

  1. Follow steps 1 to 5 of Landlord Opening Balances
  2. Double click on the Property address to add an expense payable to a Contractor
    1. Expense - Select the expense type
    2. Description - Type a brief explanation, as this appears on the Landlord Payment
    3. Amount - Enter the amount 
    4. VAT - Tick to add VAT to the amount
    5. Pay Cont - Select from the dropdown menu
    6. Click the ... to select the Contractor
    7. Click Close to save
  3. The Brought Forward Balances will display
    1. Each property listed for this Landlord, will show the total Amount of expenses
    2. Total Expenses - If the landlord has several properties, this is a total of all expenses 

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Tenant and Tenancy Opening Balances

You should enter amounts received from the Tenant or Tenancy which haven't yet been paid to your Landlord, Agency, or which are held as unallocated.

  1. Follow steps 1 to 5 of Landlord Opening Balances
  2. Double click on the Tenancy to add an Opening Balance or Arrears 
  3. The left column is a list of charge types
    1. Cash Column - Enter any amount you have received which are currently in your client account
    2. Outstanding Arrears - Enter an arrears amount next to the corresponding charge type i.e. if there are rent arrears, the total amount which they are in arrears is entered in the Rent, Outstanding Arrears column
    3. Unallocated cash (Land) - Enter any amount received from the Tenancy which has not yet been allocated to a Landlord invoice, such as rent 
    4. Unallocated cash (Ty/Tn) - Enter any amount received from the Tenancy which has not yet been allocated to a deposit or agency fee invoice
  4. Click Invoice if you want to raise a reoccurring invoice, such as for rent
    1. Tenancy Invoice will display the details of the invoice. Edit the invoice details, if required
    2. Click Close to save, if all details are correct
  5. Click Close to save
  6. The Brought Forward Balances will display
    1. The total Tenancy balance will display in the Amount column, any arrears will show in brackets
    2. Total Landlord cash will increase each time a Tenancy or Tenant balance is added
    3. Total Tenant/Tcy Arrears will show the total arrears

Repeat these steps for any individual Tenant balances

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Update balances

  1. If you are certain all entries entered are correct, click Update All
  2. Click OK to confirm Update Successful 
  3. Locate a Landlord will display for you to repeat the Opening Balance process for the next Landlord
  4. Click X to close the Brought Forward Balances panel

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If a Landlord is selected whose Opening Balances have been entered previously, a warning message is displayed. Either continue if correct to do so, or select a different Landlord.

A warning message will appear if entries have not been updated in Brought Forward Balances.

Joint ownership

Where the ownership of a Property is shared between two or more Landlords, the Opening Balances relating to that Property and its Tenancies and Tenants must be entered against the first Landlord only. 

If you attempt to enter Opening Balances for the shared Property under the second or subsequent Landlord, a message will appear specifying the name of the first Landlord record to enter the Opening Balances for that Property. 

The balances will automatically be shared when entered under the first Landlord.

Reconcile Balances

After entering all your Opening Balances, print out your Reconcile Balances report in full and retain it as this is your starting position in your cashbook.

The Reconcile Balances report should be produced at the end of every month and end of year.
For more information on the Reconcile Balances Report, click here

Bank Reconciliation

Before adding any other transactions, the Bank Reconciliation should be updated.

  1. Click Postings on the main toolbar
  2. Click Bank Reconciliation on the dropdown menu
  3. Click the ... dots to select the correct bank account 
    1. Edit the Date to be the opening balance date
    2. Cash balance @
      1. It should be the same as the total on the Reconcile Balances report
      2. It will also be the same as the figure in un-cleared items
      3. It will also be the same as your client bank account, less any un-presented cheques
    3. If this figure doesn't agree with your bank account, an amount has been added incorrectly. You should check the entries and correct the error before updating
    4. Tick Create PDF to save a .pdf version of the report
    5. Providing the figures are correct, click Tag All and then click Update 

A print out will generate, this should be kept as the first Cash Book printout and a .pdf version saved if ticked at step 4.
For more information on Bank Reconciliation, click here