G/L Out of Balance

by Michelle
(Port Alberni, BC)

The Trial Balance Report

The Trial Balance Report

I am ready to do August month end and close the G/L for that month, but, when I tried, it said my G/L is out of balance!


Where would I even begin to look for the error???

Any information would be appreciated.



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Michelle, you didn't mention what software you were using. It indeed is very unusual for a General Ledger to be out of balance now-a-days. Having said that, I too have had that happen to me.

I would start by running your Trial Balance report. You can calculate the difference between totals debits and total credits to give you an idea what amount you are looking for.

Once you have the amount your trial balance is out, some tricks to try initially:

1. Do you have a transposition error? Yes if the difference is divisible by 9. I.E. 1523 should be 1253. 1523-1253=270/9=30
2. Do you have a slide error? Yes if the difference is divisible by 9. I.E. 11 should be 110. 110-11=99/9=11
3. Is the difference divisible by 2? If yes, then it means you booked a debit as a credit or vice versa.

As you run through these checks, does the number seem familiar to you ... as in do you recognize it ... does it ring a bell?

In my case, when my G/L was, I did recognize the amount. Through some kind of a fluke, the accounting software booked one of my entries twice. Once I found it. I just deleted both entries and reentered the transaction.

Running the trial balance is where I would start. Does anything look off? If you are using QBO, I might even go the account reconciliation screen and quickly check the "changes" column. Is something showing up there that you weren't expecting?

Once you've done a little hunting around, feel free to post back.

Comments for G/L Out of Balance

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Sep 15, 2015
G/L out of Balance
by: MICHELLE

The software I use is called Kalypso, not a well known one and probably only in Canada.

When I do a G/L transaction summary it says the G/L is in balance, but yet, when I try to close the G/L it says it isn't. So, at a loss!

Sep 15, 2015
Michelle
by: Laura

Perhaps check that your A/R and A/P sub ledgers are in sync with your G/L accounts.

If the program has a trial balance report (it is different from a G/L Transaction Summary, I'd still start there.

You might also consider reviewing transactions where something "went wrong" or you had trouble with it or you tried to post something to a closed period.

Or you might look at any audit trail reports the program has to see if something sticks out there.

Otherwise you will have to start a G/L review, account by account, looking for something that doesn't look right such as:

1. Is there a debit amount/transaction in an account than normally has credits; or vice versa?
2. Does an account have a large transaction when most transaction are smaller in nature?
3. Is there a transaction "type" that doesn't belong in that type of account such as a bank deposit to an expense account?

If that fails, you might try to backup and restore to see if that corrects the problem ... or you restore your last backup where things were working correctly and re-input your data.

Sep 15, 2015
G/L Out of Balance
by: MICHELLE

I DIDN'T RECORD A GST REMITTANCE IN THE G/L AT END OF JUNE WHEN I WAS SUPPOSED TO, CAN I ENTER IT TO END OF AUGUST????????

Sep 16, 2015
Michelle
by: Lake

Are you saying you close your month BEFORE you have done your bank reconciliations? I can't think of any other way you'd miss entering a remittance Michelle.

Not knowing how Kalypso works, if your prior periods are closed, then yes record your GST remittance in August with a reference note back to the date the transaction actually took place.

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