Starting up Quickbooks as of Oct. 1st from another accounting program. Do I create a journal entry to add the opening balances of the balance sheet?

It's great to hear that you're getting set up with QuickBooks, Donna.

Creating a journal entry is the most professional and accurate method for entering all your balance sheet opening balances. This ensures that your assets, liabilities, and equity are perfectly in balance from day one, which is crucial for the health of your books. For this method, I suggest working with a professional accountant to ensure everything is recorded correctly.

Alternatively, you can manually enter an opening balance for each account as you create it in the Chart of Accounts. This method is a good choice if you're only setting up a few accounts, like a bank account or a petty cash account. When you're bringing over your balances, it's a great practice to make sure your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts mirrors the one from your previous accounting program so your financial records will be consistent.

Here's how to create an account in the Chart of Accounts:

1. Go to My Apps, then click Accounting.
2. Hit the Chart of accounts.
3. Click New account.
   
   
4. From there, enter important details, including the Opening balance.
5. Once done, hit Save.
   
   

For detailed information about adding an account to your Chart of Accounts, feel free to check out this article: Add an account to your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

The Community is always here if you have other questions or concerns.

@donna-hadwen 

Do you need to convert data from the old program or just need to carry over the ending balance?