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General Ledger Trial Balance or Balance Sheet is out of balance

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Summary

What to do when a General Ledger Trial Balance or Consolidated company is out of balance or assets do not equal liabilities.

Resolution

Note: Before running the data tests listed below, ensure the Balance Sheet financial report in Sage 50 is out of balance, the steps below should only be used when the Balance Sheet financial report displays an out of balance scenario. If you have recently changed the account type of one of your general ledger accounts and discover the Balance Sheet is out of balance follow the steps below to resolve the issue.


Always create a backup of your data before proceeding with advanced solutions. If necessary, seek the assistance of a qualified Sage business partner, network administrator, or Sage customer support analyst.

Section 1: Run the Chart of Accounts/Journal Synchronization test (most common fix)

  1. Run Chart of Accounts/Journal Synchronization test. Follow How do I run the Chart of Accounts Journal Synchronization test?.

Section 2: Improperly customized or damaged report

  • If you’re using a customized Trial Balance report or Balance Sheet report, run the standard version of the report
  • If the custom version is out of balance, delete the customized report and recreate it. Use the standard report to start, or correct the custom report

Section 3: Damaged Transaction(s)

  1. Select Reports & Forms. Then select General Ledger.
  2. Select General Ledger report.
  3. Select Options.
  4. Change Time Frame to All.
  5. Click OK.
  6. If the error At least one damaged transaction has been found in account [ID] in the period beginning [date]... occurs, refer to Error: "At least one damaged transaction has been found in account [number] in the period beginning [date]....". Otherwise contact Sage Support at 866-747-3888 for further assistance.

Section 4: Consolidated Company is out of balance

  1. Open one of the subsidiary companies.
  2. Select Reports & Forms. Then select General Ledger.
  3. Double-click General Ledger Trial Balance and then scroll to the bottom.
  4. Do debits equal credits?
  5. Repeat steps 1-4 for all subsidiary companies until all trial balances are in balance.
  6. Reconsolidate the consolidated company. Refer to How do I reconsolidate my consolidated company?.
  7. Verify that the consolidated company is in balance.