How to Set a GL Account's Opening Balance

When you bring an existing property onto URBI, its accounts rarely start at zero. This guide shows how to record an account's opening balance (its balance from inception) so your general ledger reflects reality from day one. URBI records the opening balance as a proper balanced journal entry, so your books stay balanced and every change is logged.

Who can do this: Staff, property managers, and board members with the KORE accounting tier and a manager role. Opening balances apply to balance-sheet accounts only (Asset, Liability, and Equity), Revenue and Expense accounts reset each period and do not have an opening balance.

Set an opening balance

1. Open Chart of Accounts. Go to your property's Accounting settings and open the Chart of Accounts. Find the account you want (for example, a bank account under Assets) and click to edit it.

2. Turn on the Opening balance toggle. In the edit form you'll see an Opening balance switch. Turn it on and the opening-balance fields slide into view. (On a Revenue or Expense account you'll instead see a short note explaining that those accounts don't take an opening balance.)

3. Enter the amount and as-of date. Type the account's balance from inception, and pick the as-of date the balance applies to (usually your opening/onboarding date). If you choose a date that falls after the account already has activity, URBI shows a gentle warning, an opening balance should normally lead the ledger.

4. Choose the offset account (optional). Every opening balance is balanced against an offset account. URBI defaults this to 3050 Opening Balance Equity, which is correct for most situations. You can pick a different account if your bookkeeping requires it; if you choose a Revenue or Expense account, URBI shows a soft warning because it will affect your profit and loss.

5. Click Save account and confirm. Saving your account changes takes effect right away. Because posting an opening balance moves money in your ledger, URBI then shows a confirmation with a preview of the journal entry (the debit/credit against your account and the offset) and a summary of what will happen. Review it and confirm to post the balancing entry.

6. Done. The opening balance is posted. It appears as the earliest entry in that account's ledger, and the account's Opening balance tile updates to show the value and the date you set.

Adjust or clear an opening balance later

• Adjust: Reopen the account, change the amount (and/or date or offset), and Save. URBI voids the previous opening-balance entry and posts a fresh one reconciled to your new target, all audit-logged.
• Clear: Turn the Opening balance toggle off (or set the amount to zero) and Save. URBI voids the manual opening-balance entry. If the property was onboarded with an imported balance for this account, clearing your manual entry leaves the imported balance in place.

If the account is in a closed period

Opening balances can only be changed in an open accounting period. If the entry you're adjusting (or the date you picked) falls in a closed or locked fiscal period, URBI blocks the change and tells you which entry or date is affected. Use the Go to period settings link in that message to reopen the period first, then make your change.

Good to know

• Setting an opening balance never changes any imported history, if a balance was brought in during onboarding, your manual entry reconciles the account to your target rather than overwriting the import.
• Every set, adjust, and clear is written to your accounting audit log with who did it and when.
• The opening balance is a real, balanced journal entry, so your trial balance and financial reports stay in balance automatically.