> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.equated.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set up opening balances

> Give every account a starting line, so your books begin from proven numbers.

Opening balances are where your books start. Every bank account gets an opening balance at a chosen date; everything before that date stays out of the ledger, and everything after flows in from the feed. Posting the opening **is** each account's first reconciliation.

You'll find the setup at **Reconciliation** — it stays there until you finish, and the dashboard reminds you. Prefer to be walked through it? The **Use your AI agent** card at the top copies a kickoff prompt for your assistant.

## Coming from QuickBooks

Equated pulls your trial balance and does most of the work. Everything opens on one cutover date (usually the day your books start in Equated) — every account cuts over together, so balances that reference each other stay consistent.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Connect your banks">
    Equated lists the banks it found in your QuickBooks chart. Connect each one; skip any that no longer matter — an unconnected bank simply keeps its QuickBooks balance.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review what synced">
    Right after a bank connects, a review shows every account it brought: each is matched to its QuickBooks account (a continuation) or marked new. Fix any match and continue. This same review appears any time you connect a bank later.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm each connected bank from its statement">
    Connected banks are confirmed one by one, in the account's own currency, from the statement ending on or just before the cutover. QuickBooks and the feed prefill dated references — the statement is the truth.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Banks without a feed: nothing to do">
    They post automatically at their QuickBooks balances, each to its own account. Connect them later whenever you want live feeds.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review Other balances">
    Receivables, tax, loans, and equity come prefilled from the trial balance. Edit lines, add missing ones, or use <b>Reset from QuickBooks</b> to re-pull the latest figures.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Watch the remainder, then finish">
    The <b>Remaining → Opening Balance Equity</b> readout should sit near \$0.00 on a full trial balance — expand it to see the drafted entry and what's still keeping it off zero. A small leftover is usually exchange-rate differences; a large one is a missed account. Finish setup posts everything.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Starting fresh

No prior system? The left rail is your opening balance sheet: bank accounts and non-bank lines grouped under Assets, Liabilities, and Equity. Each bank opens on its own statement date with its own balance — banks are optional and can open later from Reconciliation. **Add a line** for each non-bank balance (receivables, loans, owner equity); they all share the books-start date, and every line needs an account picked before you can post.

Have a trial balance export from other software? Ask your AI agent to read it and draft the lines for you. Nothing to enter at all? **Start with empty books** posts nothing, and your books simply begin at the start date.

## Changing your mind

* Each opened bank has **Undo opening** — the entry is voided and the draft comes back with your numbers intact.
* The posted batch can be reopened (**Reopen opening balances** in the Reconciliation header), returning setup to an editable draft until you finish again.

## Connecting a bank later

Connect from Reconciliation's **Add account** any time. You don't set an opening balance for it here — its first statement does that, worked out from what's happened since your books began. See [The first statement for an account](/workflows/reconcile-an-account#the-first-statement-for-an-account).

If unmatched QuickBooks accounts remain, the same review pops so the new feed can continue one of them: the books already hold its cutover balance, so its first statement should come out with nothing left to carry in. When the feed can't reach back far enough to continue an old account, keep it as its own account and move the old balance across with one journal entry.

<Tip>
  Wondering what Opening Balance Equity is? See [Reconciliation](/concepts/reconciliation#opening-balances).
</Tip>