Opening Balances

Set starting balances for your accounts so your Balance Sheet and reports are accurate from day one.

If you're starting Kick mid-year, or migrating from another platform like QuickBooks, you need to set opening balances - the starting point for each account in your books as of the day before your bookkeeping begins in Kick.

Without opening balances, your Balance Sheet and Trial Balance (a listing of all account balances used to verify your books are in balance) won't reflect the true state of your business. Your Profit & Loss is available immediately and doesn't require them.

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What opening balances do

Opening balances establish where each account stands before Kick starts tracking. They answer the question: what did my business own and owe before I started using Kick?

Every opening balance generates a journal entry in the background - crediting or debiting the target account and offsetting to your equity account (typically Retained Earnings or Owner's Capital). You don't need to create these manually.

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When you need them

• You're starting Kick mid-year and your Balance Sheet needs to reflect existing cash, loan balances, and equity
• You're migrating from QuickBooks or another accounting platform
• Your Balance Sheet or Trial Balance shows balances that don't match your prior books

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How to set opening balances

Import from a prior Balance Sheet

If the Balance Sheet importer is available in your account:

1. Export your Balance Sheet from your previous accounting system as of the day before your Kick bookkeeping start date
2. Go to Accounting → Balance Sheet and click Import balances
3. Kick extracts your account balances and maps them to your chart of accounts
4. Review the mapping, confirm the balance sheet is balanced (assets = liabilities + equity), and submit

Send us your balances instead

If you don't have a Balance Sheet to import, the same Import balances window has an Or manually submit opening balances section below the upload area. Click Submit manually to open a form where you can send your balances to our team.

Set per account during reconciliation

When you reconcile a bank or credit card account for the first time, Kick prompts you to set the opening balance for that account. Click Set opening balance on any account, or Edit if one is already set, then enter the closing balance from your last statement before your Kick start date and save.

Setting balances this way needs a Basic plan or above.

→ Reconciliation

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Opening balance date

Opening balances are always set as of the day before your bookkeeping start date. For example, if your bookkeeping starts January 1, 2025, your opening balances are dated December 31, 2024.

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FAQs

Do I need opening balances to use Kick?

Not immediately - your Profit & Loss is available right away. But your Balance Sheet and Trial Balance won't be accurate until opening balances are set. If you only need P&L tracking, you can skip them for now.

What if I'm starting a brand new business with no prior history?

If your business is new and started fresh with Kick from day one, you may not need opening balances - or you may only need to enter your starting bank balance. Contact support if you're unsure.

Can I edit opening balances later?

Yes. Go to Accounting → Chart of Accounts, find the account, and click Remove opening balance or edit it. Changes require Admin permissions.