You don't have to be a computer expert to fix balance sheets out of balance in QuickBooks. With the simple steps provided in this post, you can fix your balance sheet within minutes when it’s out of balance in QuickBooks Desktop.
Remember that the total number of assets you have should match your total liabilities on your Balance Sheet. If there is any discrepancy, this error may occur. Though you don't need to be a professional accountant to fix a balance sheet out of a balance issue, we recommend you first ask your bookkeeper or accountant for help before you continue. In case you need advice from an expert, you can call our certified experts.
Following are the steps that you can perform on your own to fix the balance sheet out of balance in QuickBooks.
Step 1: Run the report on accrual basis
- Go to the Reports menu, select Company & Financial, followed by Balance Sheet Summary.
- Select Customize Report.
- Check the Display tab and select Accrual under Report Basis.
- Select OK.
If the issue persists or the out of balance issue is in cash only, or if it's still out of balance after you rebuild the file, move on to the next step.
Step 2: Know the date your balance sheet went out of balance
In order to find the transaction or transactions causing the problem, find the date the report went out of balance.
- On the Reports menu, select Company & Financials followed by Balance Sheet Summary.
- Select Customize Report.
- On the Display tab, go to the Dates dropdown and select All.
- Go to the Report Basis section and select Accrual (If your balance sheet is out of balance in accrual only). Otherwise, select Cash.
- In the Columns section, select Year from the Display columns by dropdown.
- Select OK.
- Compare your Total Assets to Total Liabilities & Equity. Find when your balance sheet goes out of balance.
- After finding the year, repeat the above steps to spot the exact date.
- This time, in the column section drop-down, select Month.
- Again, follow the steps as mentioned above, select Week.
- And finally, once you find the week, repeat the steps. This time, select Day.
- Note the date your report went out and continue to the next step.
Step 3: Spot the transactions making your balance sheet out of balance
- Run a Custom Transaction Detail report for the date balance sheet went out of balance.
- Open the Reports menu and select Custom Report followed by Transaction Detail.
- Once the Modify Report window is up, find the Report Date Range section.
- Enter the date the report out of balance issue occurred in the From and to fields.
- Go to the Report Basis section and select Accrual (If your balance sheet is out of balance in accrual only). Otherwise, select Cash.
- In the Columns section, click on the Amount checkbox and uncheck Account, Split, Clr, and Class. This will make the report easier to read.
- Select the Paid Amount column and then OK.
- The ending balance given in the Paid Amount column should match the amount that is out of balance. Check the report and find the transaction or transactions that add up to this amount.
If you can't find the transactions, continue to Advanced troubleshooting for Balance Sheet issues.
Step 4: Change the date of transactions and then Re-date them
- After you find the transaction(s) causing the problem, change the dates on them. Note down their current dates and edit them on each transaction to a day 20 years in the future.
- Save each transaction.
- Click Refresh the report, if the correct transactions are found, the Paid Amount column will now be zero.
- Find the transactions you dated for a date in the future and change them back to their original date.
If the issue persists, proceed to the next step.
Step 5: Delete and enter the transactions again
If step 4 doesn't fix the problem, then you should delete the transactions and reenter them.
We hope that you are able to fix the balance sheet out of balance in QuickBooks desktop by following the steps provided herein. If the sheet still shows out of balance after, contact our QuickBooks 24X7 error support experts at 1-800-761-1787 for advanced troubleshooting.
