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The opening balance sheet of an incorporation

⏱ 4 min readUpdated on

The financial plan of a company to be incorporated presents its opening balance sheet. Fiplan builds it from the entries of the first month: the contribution, and whatever you mark as present from incorporation.

What it is for

In an incorporation file, the window of an investment, financing or receivable or debt line offers the In the opening balance sheet (at incorporation) switch (bilan d'ouverture / openingsbalans). When it is on, the line is an item of the company's assets and liabilities present from incorporation, before any operating transaction: its Start period is set to the first month of the plan.

An existing company has no opening balance sheet: what it owns comes in through its prior-year (N-1) balance sheet.

Steps

  1. Open the line (for example the loan, in Financing & Contributions).
  2. Turn on In the opening balance sheet (at incorporation): the Start period moves to the first month of the plan and is locked.
  3. Click Save.
  4. Read the opening balance sheet in Results, Balance Sheet tab, and in the report.
The “Bilan d'ouverture” (opening balance sheet) block of the Balance Sheet screen: assets, liabilities, cash, and the breakdown by account.
The “Bilan d'ouverture” (opening balance sheet) block of the Balance Sheet screen: assets, liabilities, cash, and the breakdown by account.

Worked example · Boulangerie Dupont SRL

Without marking anything, the bakery's opening balance sheet shows only the contribution: €20,000.00 of cash, €20,000.00 of contribution.

If the loan of €40,000.00 is taken out at incorporation and marked in the opening balance sheet, its funds received in the first month enter the starting balance sheet:

Opening balance sheetAssetsLiabilities
Cash60,000.00
Contribution20,000.00
Bank loan40,000.00
Total60,000.0060,000.00

Pitfalls

Only the first month counts. Fiplan keeps the entries of the marked lines dated in the first month of the plan, and no expense or income.
The opening balance sheet is checked. It must balance, contain no income statement account, and its cash cannot be negative: each check is shown with its verdict.
Marking a line changes no figure of the plan. It only chooses what the starting balance sheet shows; the journal, the balance sheets of the financial years and the cash stay the same.

What it changes · incorporation

① Income statementNo effect€0.00The opening balance sheet contains no expense and no income.
② CashThe starting cash€60,000.00The contribution and the loan funds, on the day of incorporation.
③ Balance sheetThe total of the opening balance sheet€60,000.00Assets = liabilities, on day one.

Source

Companies and Associations Code (CSA / WVV), art. 5:4, § 2, 3° (SRL) — and 6:5, 7:3 for the SC and the SA: the financial plan includes an opening balance sheet.

Fiplan convention (bilan-ouverture.ts): the opening balance sheet is a cut of the journal at the first month, on the marked lines only, with no class 6 or 7.