In QuickBooks Desktop software, the balance sheets can be prepared on a cash or accrual basis. The total asset should always equal total liabilities plus total equity. One of the most frequent errors encountered is ‘QuickBooks Balance Sheet out of Balance.’
This error is primarily due to the income or expense account refusing to allow a transaction to add up to the amount. There are various ways to resolve this issue. This article entails all the necessary information you need to rectify the error.
What Causes QuickBooks Balance Sheet to be Out of Balance?
Various causes may lead to the Balance Sheet out of Balance Error in QuickBooks. These include:
- An invoice may contain inventory that has been returned by a client or a discount item.
- A payment has been applied to the invoice, and a discount has been put in the Discount/Credit tab.
- A Credit Memo was open, so the user created a General Journal Entry (GJE) and linked it to the Credit Memo.
How to Fix QuickBooks Balance Sheet Out of Balance Issue?
To resolve the issue of a QuickBooks balance sheet that is out of balance, follow the methods outlined below.
Step 1: Calculate the Amount
- Head to the ‘Reports’ option, followed by ‘Company & Financial’ and then ‘Balance Sheet Standard.’
- Next, figure out how much your balance sheet is out of balance.
- Choose the ‘Modify Report’
- Now, make sure that you set ‘Dates to All’ and also change ‘Report Basis’ to ‘Accrual.’
Step 2: Figure out the Account Problem
- You need to ‘Export’ your ‘Chart of Accounts’ by following the steps below:
- Head to ‘File,’ followed by ‘Utilities.’
- Then go to ‘Export’ and choose ‘Lists to IIF Files.’
- Click on the ‘Chart of Accounts’ checkbox in the ‘Export’
- Click on ‘Ok.’
- You will have created delimited IIF files as a result of this export operation.
- Now, open this file in Ms. Excel.
- The ‘Name’ and ‘OBAMOUNT’ columns in the excel file will show you where the mismatch is occurring; now, try to figure out where the mismatch is occurring.
- If you’re still having issues with your QuickBooks balance sheet being out of balance, follow the subsequent step.
Step 3: Account identification is to be tested
- Return to QB software and open the ‘Chart of Accounts.’
- Then, to furnish a ‘QuickReport,’ double-click the account that you identified in Ms. Excel
If there are no transactions in this account, adjust the ‘Dates’ to ‘All Dates’ once more and subsequently follow the directions of Step 2 again.
You will successfully locate an account in the ‘Chart of Accounts’ that has a balance but does not add up to the transaction.
Step 4: To the Problem Account Record a Check for $0.1
Follow the instructions earmarked below:
- Select the ‘Banking’ option.
- Afterwards, choose ‘Write Checks,’
- In the ‘Expense,’ the tab enters the account identified previously.
Step 5: Run Rebuild Data Utility
- Click on ‘Files,’ and then select ‘Utilities.’
- Choose ‘Rebuild Data now’ to start rebuilding the data.
Step 6: After the test result, delete the previously created check
- Before proceeding ahead, delete the checks that you created in Step 4.
- Return to ‘Chart of Account’ by heading to ‘Company,’ followed by choosing ‘Chart of Accounts.’
- Determine which account is the source of the problem.
- If the account you’ve identified is a balance sheet account, double-click on it to QuickZoom it into the account register.
- Now locate the ‘$0.1 check’ and erase it by going to the ‘Edit’ option, followed by choosing ‘Delete.’
- The aforementioned procedure applies to the income statement account as well.
- Now, create a standard balance sheet using the same process as you followed in step 1, making sure to set ‘Dates to all’ and altering ‘Report Basis’ to ‘Accrual.’
We hope that the step-by-step procedure explained in this article helped you resolve the ‘QuickBooks balance sheet out of balance issue. However, if any of your questions were left unaddressed, please get in touch with our QuickBooks customer support team via our helpline 1-800-761-1787 for availing immediate assistance.
