Eve 'n You can
Fix an Out of Balance GL

ONE-SIDED!!! OUT OF BALANCE!!!??? But I Didn't DO Anything!!!

Computers... God love 'em.

If your balance sheet turns up out of balance, you can correct it by using the Check/Repair GL option from the Utilities menu. From the menus at the top of your TOPS screen choose UTILITIES, then from the dropdown choose Check/Repair GL.

Click OK to the WARNING>>> Ooooh!!! Scary!!!

QUICK FUN FACT: Did you know you can only learn 7 things in one day!!!???
I read that somewhere...but I may be mistaken so don't quote me on it.

Anyway...

Use the GL Out of Balance screen to enter a one-sided correcting entry to any general ledger account number to fix the problem. TOPS Professional™ does NOT ALLOW posting of out of balance entries. However, the General Ledger can become out of balance if computer power is lost in the middle of posting transactions (AR, AP, PR, or Journal Entries) to the General Ledger, or maybe your network dropped. Also, the computer can lose transactions from the hard disk when equipment errors occur. BUT NO WORRIES!!! The Check/repair GL option allows you to find and correct these problems.

*jumps up* HOORAY !!!

You can only make one balancing entry per period. You may need to make further journal entries to completely fix all the GL accounts involved in a lost data or posting error problem.

THE TOPS SCREEN WILL SHOW YOU: The current period dates, out of balance amount, and number of months that are not in balance.

*****VERY IMPORTANT: YOU NEED TO READ OR YOU WILL CAUSE YOURSELF MORE GRIEF THAN IF YOU DIDN’T READ WHAT I'M ABOUT TO WRITE*****

The Check/Repair GL feature tells you what month & year the error occurs. To cut back on going BLIND looking for numbers, simply print the balance sheet to screen starting with the 15th of the month/year it says the error came from. If it's IN balance, try the 5th of the month, then toggle the days till you find the EXACT day the balance sheet goes out of balance!!! It will NOT be out of balance the day before... only the day of the out of balance occurrence. Once you find the DAY... you can simply print the general ledger report with detail for JUST THAT DAY to find the correct offset. :)

FYI: I just wrote the above important part without taking a breath.

YOU FILL IN THE BLANKS FOR:

• Offset Account #: Type the General Ledger account number or click Browse to select the General Ledger account number where the entry should be made. If you do not know the correct account number, you can use a temporary (suspense) account number to complete the screen and later make a regular journal entry to move this entry to the correct account number.
• Trans. Day of the Month: Type the day of the month to complete the effective date of this entry to the General Ledger. The utility program already knows the month and year since it is the period that is out of balance. For example enter 10 for 10th.
• Reference: Type the original description for the transaction if known. Every General Ledger transaction must have a description. If you do not know the original description, you can enter a description such as, Correct Out of Balance GL.

We recommend that you run the Check/repair GL option again to verify that the entry was properly made and that the General Ledger is back in balance.

by Eve DuBose,
Support Technician