Understand the initial balance created during a bank import
After a completed bank import, QuickStart can create an Initial Balance journal entry when the imported closing balance differs from the transactions included in the imported history. It derives the amount from the closing balance and imported transactions, dates the entry one day before the earliest imported transaction, and uses Opening Balance Equity as the offset.
QuickStart calculates the initial balance from the imported closing balance and the imported transaction amounts. The journal entry is dated one day before the earliest imported transaction and uses Opening Balance Equity for the offsetting entry. If that account does not exist, QuickStart creates equity account 3200 Opening Balance Equity.
QuickStart does not create the journal entry when the imported data does not contain a closing balance or when the calculated initial balance is zero.
QuickStart creates only one initial balance for an account. If an initial balance already exists for the account, later imports do not create another one.
The Initial Balance entry supplies the opening amount needed to compare the imported bank activity with the balance in QuickStart. Review the entry before changing or deleting it because doing so can affect the account balance used during reconciliation.