Opening Balance Setup

The instructions in this article relate to Opening Balance Setup. The icon may be located on your StrataMax Desktop or found using the StrataMax Search.

This menu is used exclusively to set up a new building in your portfolio. It cannot be completed until the owner details have been entered into the Roll screen. For the entire process, refer to the Create A New Building article. 

Opening Balance Setup Features

• A simplified method of entering balances for the Current and Old Financial Years, including the Budget.
• Closing balances and creation of the prior (old) year.
• Real-time view of amounts entered to ensure that balancing amounts are entered.
• Highlighting each line being entered for ease of data entry and minimising errors.
• Easy entry of lot balances by each fund.
• Levy generation of levies already issued and due for the current year can be generated to allow for accurate reporting and arrears processing.
• Add new accounts.
• Calculation and processing of funds for system accounts.
• Save the balances for others to review or later process.
• Creates an Unpresented Receipt for Cash at Bank on the Bank Reconciliation pending the initial deposit.
• Preview Financials, including Lot Balances, before processing and creating transactions.

Handover Financial Reports

When entering the opening balances, the handover financial statements from the previous management company will be required. The financial reports should be checked to ensure that they are in balance. If the report doesn't balance, the previous management company will need to be consulted, otherwise it is recommended that qualified accountant be engaged. The reports will need to include:

1. Income & Expenditure / Profit & Loss.
2. Balance Sheet.
3. Lot Positions / Debtor Balances total the same amount as the Levy Arrears or Advance figures on the Balance Sheet.
4. Details for Balance Sheet accounts: Other Debtors, GST Reports, Unpaid Creditors, Bank Statements, etc.
5. All the same reports from the prior financial year if they also need to be entered.

Before entering Opening Balances

To make the process quicker and easier, it is recommended that the financial statements be reviewed and the accounts pre-coded with the intended account codes. This will ensure fast data entry and remove the requirement to add accounts during the data entry process. It is also recommended that the Process Date in the Opening Balance screen be the same date as the handover financials.

1. Review and mark the Income & Expenditure (Profit & Loss) statement and the Balance Sheet (if there are a few) on the handover financials with existing account codes in Account Maintenance.
   
2. If an account code is missing, use the Add Account to either add it from the Master Chart or create a new account code.

Using Opening Balance Setup

Open the Opening Balance Setup menu by searching for it or clicking the menu icon in the StrataMax icon (top left) > Property Info > Property Setup.

Add Account (button)

If an account code is required but unavailable when entering the balances (although it is recommended that all the necessary account codes are added before you start entering the figures). In that case, you can add it directly from within the Opening Balance Setup menu, provided it exists in the building's local chart of accounts.

1. Click the Add Account button located at the bottom of the menu.
   
2. When the 'Account Code List' window appears, search for the account code by typing the code number or part of the account code name into the search field in the top left.
3. Tag the account to add.
4. If the required account code does not exist, click the + button to add a new code. 
5. Click the OK button, and the account code will appear on the Opening Balance Setup screen.

Entering Income and Expenditure (both funds)

Referring to the handover financials, all funds will be entered using one screen, and the budget information can also be included. The instructions below refer to the Current Year; enter these figures into the (Old) columns if an Old Year is required.

1. Check the handover date of the financial statements to be entered and adjust the Process Date to match.
2. Scroll to the Administrative Fund section. Enter the Income into the Year to Date (Current) column. Enter the Budget (Current) if desired.
3. Enter all Expense items per the handover financials into the Year to Date (Current) column. Enter the Budget (Current) if desired.
   
4. Enter the Opening Admin. Balance into the Year to Date (Current) column. The total Administrative Fund Balance should match the balance sheet item for the handover of Administrative Owners Funds.
5. Repeat for the Sinking Fund section. Enter the Income into the Year to Date (Current) column. Enter the Budget (Current) if desired.
6. Enter all Expense items per the handover funds into the Year to Date (Current) column. Enter the Budget (Current) if desired.
7. Enter the Opening Sinking Fund Balance into the Year to Date (Current) column. The total Sinking Fund Balance should match the balance sheet item for the handover of Sinking Owners Funds.

Entering the Balance Sheet incl. Lot Balances

The balance sheet contains a single data entry screen for all funds and includes separate columns for each available fund to be entered. For any Debtor/ Lot Balances, the Administrative and Sinking fund invoice codes are included by default and can be set to include more if needed.

1. Scroll up in the Opening Balance Setup window to start the entry for the Balance Sheet items.
2. If further invoice codes are required for the Debtors/ Lot Balances, click the Invoice Codes drop-down selection in the top left and tick the required ones.
3. Referring to the handover Debtor/ Lot Balances report, enter each balance into their respective funds. Enter any account in arrears as a whole number, and enter any lots with credit balances using the—symbol.
   
   
4. After entering each lot, scroll to the bottom and check the totals for Arrears and Advance. These should total the handover Balance Sheet amounts/ Debtor/Lot Balances Report.
5. Enter any other Balance Sheet items, finishing with 012 Cash at Bank.

   For any outstanding GST amount, it is recommended to create/use a different account code with the number 061004 called GST Conversion Account (or similar) and enter the figure there. This amount should be reconciled with the prior GST reports (software/manager) and balanced to nil with a Creditor Invoice / Credit Note with the lodgement of the first period BAS.

   It should not be entered in the 061000 GST Clearing Account, as this is a system account used to accumulate GST and calculate and save the Business Activity Statement(BAS).

6. Click Preview Financials to view a copy of the draft financials, including the lot balances report. This is useful if someone needs to check the information before processing.

Processing Opening Balance Setup

1. Click the Save For Later button
2. Close the Opening Balance Setup menu.
3. Complete the Data Storage.
4. Open the Opening Balance Setup menu and click the Process button.

5. The process will complete the following steps:

   • Old Year (if entered) will be created, and transactions will be processed in the general ledger.
   • Current Year transactions will be written in the general ledger to balance the amount entered.
   • If the Generate Due Levies box is ticked, levies will be generated for all entered periods past their due date.
   • Adjustment transactions will be processed to balance the lot/debtor accounts.

Cash at Bank

Each fund's 012 Cash At Bank fields should be left until all other figures are entered. The figure on the handover financials should also match the expected funds, which the previous management company either transfers by EFT or issues to you as a cheque. An unpresented receipt to 012 Cash At Bank will sit on the Bank Reconciliation pending the initial deposit, which will be presented to this transaction.

If the figures are different, then it's possible that deposits or withdrawals occurred after the previous management company produced the handover financials. If this is the case, they should be engaged to provide details on any transactions so that adjustments can be made after the opening balances have been processed. When the initial deposit downloads, these adjustments are created in Journal Preparation or the Bank Reconciliation menu using Add Allocation.

Opening Balance Deposit Form (cheque)

Once the Opening Balance Setup screen has been processed and bank account details are loaded into the Bank Account Setup, a deposit form can be printed for the 012 Cash at Bank account. Once the funds have cleared into the bank account, the deposit form will automatically process the cheque in the Bank Reconciliation menu.

Refer to our Print Deposit Forms article for guidance on deposit forms.

Opening Balance Bank Reconciliation 

If the Cash at Bank balance was entered in account code 012 Cash At Bank during the Opening Balance Setup process and a deposit form was not created to deposit the funds, the instructions below apply when the opening balance transfer/deposit is presented in the Bank Reconciliation. The other standard account that can be used to post the bank balance is 011 Cash on Hand (if the building was transferred). Producing the Interactive Reports will confirm the account code used if unsure. 

1. Search or select Bank Reconciliation.
2. Highlight the opening balance transaction to expand the transaction information.
3. Click Match to Unpresented.
4. Tick the Receipt in the 'Select Unpresented' window.
   • Note that you must also tag the account code before proceeding.
5. Click Auto Reprocess once all transactions have been allocated as required.
6. If the Bank Reconciliation is not reconciled, it is recommended that you view the Bank Reconciliation Report and the Local Transactions for account  012 to begin the Reconciliation process.

Transfer In Opening Balance

If the building has been transferred and the funds are already reporting against 012 Cash at Bank, the below can assist with matching this first deposit in the Bank Reconciliation.

1. Search or select Process Bank Statements.
2. Locate the new Transfer In building. There will be a variance displayed.
   
   
3. Click the red ! to open the Bank Reconciliation Balance window. From the unreconciled items area, tick this item to match the deposit received for the new bank account. There should be no difference. Click Save.

(Legacy) Income and Expenditure (both funds)

The steps below must be completed for both funds: Admin and Capital Works/Sinking/Maintenance.

1. Enter all income under the Income section for the first fund to be entered (complete Old Year as well if entering) and ensure that the Total Admin. Fund Income figure matches the handover financials.
   
   
   
2. Enter all expenditure under the Expenditure - Admin. Fund section and ensure that the Total Admin. Expenditure figure matches the handover financials.
   
   
   
   
3. Check and ensure the Surplus/Deficit figure matches the handover figure.
   
   
4. Enter the 195 Opening Admin. Balance figure. This is the prior year closing value and may be appear in the handover financials reports at the bottom of the Income & Expenditure statement, or under the Balance Sheet.
   
   
   
   
5. Ensure that the Administrative Fund Balance matches the handover financials. This will likely appear in the handover financials at the bottom of the Income & Expenditure statement as 'Total Fund Balance' or 'Closing Fund Balance'. It may also be on the Balance Sheet as an asset.
6. Click the Save For Later button.

(Legacy) Balance Sheet – Debtor / Lot Balances

1. Select the Assets & Liabilities tab.
2. Under the Current Assets section, enter any investment account balances.
   • Do not enter the 012 Cash At Bank figure yet!
3. Click the icon next to Lot Balances to expand the list of lot accounts, and tick or untick each Levy Fund as needed.
   
   
4. Enter the lot balance for each lot account and fund as per the handover financials. This could be the page called 'Levy Positions' for example.
   • Enter a negative figure (red) if the lot is in credit / made a payment in advance.
   • Enter a positive figure (black) if the lot is in arrears.
5. Ensure that the Total in Advance and Total in Arrears figures match the totals on the handover financials (Arrears = Assets, Advance = Liabilities).
   
   
6. Enter any remaining assets as per the handover financials.
7. Under the Liabilities section enter any liability figures from the Balance Sheet on the handover financials, including clearing account balances if applicable.

Generate Due Levies

If the prior manager has issued levies for the current financial year and the due dates have passed for one or more of these, these can be generated based on the struck levies entered into Levy Management. 

Additional fields called Levy Balance and Levy Amount will appear under the Lot Balances section by ticking the Generate Due Levies box. These are where adjustments should be made to ensure the lot balance matches the handover financial reports after the levies are generated.