Starting balances: What they are, and how to enter them in Wave

A starting balance is the amount of funds in an account at the beginning of a new fiscal period.

When you're entering a bank or credit card account in Wave, you probably don't want to enter or import every single transaction from the entire history of that account.

To keep your balances and accounting records accurate, you'll need to enter the starting balance for those accounts on January 1 (or whatever date your business's fiscal year starts). 

Moving to Wave from another accounting system? Check out this article.

Enter a starting balance for bank accounts

1. Open the Transactions page.
2. Create an income transaction.
3. In the Description field, enter 'Starting balance'.
4. In the Date field, put in the starting balance date.
5. In the Account field, select the account for which you're setting a starting balance.
6. In the Amount field, enter the starting balance amount.
7. In the Category field, select Owner's Investment/Drawings or Owner's Equity (or an appropriate Equity account for your business).
8. Select Save.

Enter a starting balance for credit card and loan accounts

1. Open the Transactions page.
2. Create an expense transaction.
3. In the Description field, enter "Starting balance".
4. In the Date field, put in the starting balance date.
5. In the Account field, select the account for which you're setting a starting balance.
6. In the Amount field, enter the starting balance amount.
7. In the Category field, select Owner's Equity (or an appropriate Equity account for your business).
8. Select Save.

Enter a starting balance for non-payment accounts, like assets and liabilities

Journal transactions can only be created in the web version of Wave.

1. Open the Transactions page.
2. Create a journal transaction.
3. In the Description field, enter 'Starting balance'.
4. In the Date field, put in the starting balance date.

5. If the account is a liability account, enter the starting balance as a credit, and select the liability account you are entering the starting balance for. Enter a debit to your Owner's Equity account for the same amount.

   If the account is an asset account, enter the starting balance as a debit, and select the asset account you are entering the starting balance for. Enter a credit to your Owner's Equity account for the same amount.

6. Select Save.

Accounts Receivable is an asset account so the starting balance is entered as a debit.

Starting balance transaction when you connect your bank or credit card to Wave

When you connect your bank or credit card, Wave enters the starting balance for you so you don't have to. These starting balance transactions have the description "Starting balance for Account". 

If you enter transactions with dates prior to this starting balance transaction, then make sure you adjust the date and amount of this transaction so that it is the first transaction of the account. 

• How to manually add an income transaction
• How to manually add an expense transaction