Opening balance sheet
The opening balance sheet is the state of assets and liabilities on the first day of a financial year; it matches the closing balance sheet of the prior year, and the income accounts start at zero.
Definition
When a business starts, it contains the contributions: cash, bank balances, items brought in. On a conversion — sole proprietorship to GmbH — it is the result of a valuation and therefore a tax-relevant event.
When changing software it is the takeover point: balances per account, open items per customer and supplier, fixed assets with residual values. Whoever takes over only the balances loses receivables monitoring.
Where to read it
What the software must be able to do
Check at migration: can balances, open items and fixed assets be imported separately? An import that only knows the balance sheet shifts the detail work into the first month in the new program.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Bookkeeping and retention: Accrual principle Accrued liabilities Annual accounts Association accounting Balance sheet Balance sheet total Book value Break-even point Business assets Business expenses Cash book Cash flow statement Cash receipts Contribution margin Cost centre Current assets Debit and credit Depreciation Double-entry bookkeeping Duty to keep accounts EBIT EBITDA Equity Equity ratio Financial year Fixed assets Fixed costs Foreign currency General ledger Gross profit Hidden reserves Income statement Inventory count Journal Journal entry Liabilities Liquidity Loss carry-forward Membership dues Net profit Overheads Pass-through item Prepaid expenses Provision Record-keeping ordinance Reserves Retained profit Simple accounts Swiss SME chart of accounts Tamper resistance Turnover Value adjustment Variable costs Volunteer-run structure Voucher Year-end closing modules