Open Account Balance Values

Initializing balance values, also known as opening balances, ensures that your Bkper accounts accurately reflect real-world values (e.g., cash, bank balances, loans, or credits) as of a specific date.

To initialize an account in Bkper, you post a transaction that sets the balance of a permanent (real) account to match its actual value on a given date.

For example, if your bank statement shows a balance of $44,500 on January 1st, you must post a transaction in Bkper that sets your bank account balance to $44,500 on 01/01. This ensures that your bookkeeping starts from an accurate position.

Since Bkper transactions must always have one “from” and one “to” account, the initial balance is recorded using an adjustment account. This is a non-permanent (incoming or outgoing) account used only for initialization. It has no impact on future financial reports and can be archived once its purpose is fulfilled.

For example:

01/01/2026 44,500 Adjustment Account >> Bank Account (for assets like cash or bank balances)

01/01/2026 50,000 Loan Payable >> Adjustment Account (for liabilities like loans)

Once all permanent accounts are initialized, the adjustment account can be ignored and archived. To ensure the adjustments account does not interfere with reports, it should not be part of a group hierarchy, such as an income statement.

Additionally, only permanent accounts (asset and liability type accounts) are initialized, as it does not make sense to set opening balances for non-permanent accounts (incoming or outgoing type accounts).

With opening balances set correctly, your Bkper book is ready for regular transaction recording and reconciliation.

Any changes to balances during bookkeeping — such as corrections or unexpected gains & losses — should be recorded using appropriate adjustment accounts based on accounting standards.