Opening balance
In accounting, opening balance means an account's balance at the start of a period — exactly the prior period's closing balance. A P&L account opens a new fiscal year at zero, because its balance closed to retained earnings.
- Layer
- Lexicon
- Defined in
- Lexicon
- Components
- 1
Not a rule
Bookkeeping convention — not codified. US GAAP governs recognition, measurement and presentation — not the mechanics a bookkeeper uses to get there. Anyone citing a standard for this word is citing the wrong thing.
Every citation in this system, with the text we read and the date we checked it, is in US GAAP and where these rules come from.
Opening balance, in use
Quoted from the document that use the word — what it does to an interface, in the spec's own sentence.
Opening balance row, closing balance row, and both tie to the trial balance.
For founders
The same idea written for a founder: what it costs a startup that ignores it, and what to do in a real month.
- General ledger and double-entry bookkeeping, explainedHow double entry works: journal entries, debits and credits, normal balances, running balances, the trial balance, and why posted entries are reversed.
- Bank reconciliation step by stepMatch the bank statement to the books, clear deposits in transit and outstanding checks, book the fees, and reach a $0.00 difference every month.
What it is not called
Each of these is a real word for a different thing. Using it here is what makes a product read as though it was built by someone who has not done the work.
- starting balance
- brought forward in UI copy
Components that render this
The concept is not documentation-only. These are the components that name it in their specification, grouped and stated exactly as the catalog states them.
9Accounting core (GL)
Family specComponents that render the terms it depends on
Little in the catalog names this concept outright, but its definition is built out of others that are named. These render fiscal year, account, period.
2Cards
Family spec3Payments
Family spec4Swaps & FX
Family spec5Ledger & tables
Family spec- PeriodPickerFiscal-aware. Never assumes January.
- TrialBalanceAll accounts with the debit=credit proof.
- FluxAnalysisPeriod-over-period explanations.
- ProfitAndLossP&L with period comparison and variance.
- StatementTableThe shared shell: hierarchy, periods, rules.
- StatementToolbarBasis, period, comparison, currency, consolidation.
- AccountPickerShows the normal balance. Blocks non-postable accounts.
- AccountTieOutEvery BS account, proven against its evidence.
- ChartOfAccountsHierarchy, statement mapping, unsupported-account flags.
- DimensionPickerEntity always required; renders what the account demands.
- RevenueWaterfallDeferred balance recognizing by future period.
11Payables (AP)
Family specTerms this one depends on
- Retained earningsAccumulated net income not distributed to owners — where the P&L lands on the balance sheet
- Fiscal yearThe twelve-month (or 52–53 week) reporting year an entity has chosen, which need not start in January
- AccountA GL account in the chart of accounts. Always qualify when a bank account is meant.
- PeriodA fiscal reporting window
Also in Foundations
Defined in Lexicon. This page is generated from that document, so the two cannot disagree.