An account is a tool used to organize a business. Accounts keep track of the financial changes - additions and subtractions - that occur in regular business activity. Since accounts are the backbone of your MYOB AccountEdge financial records, ensuring your accounts work the way you want them to should be one of your highest priorities.

You can make changes and additions to your Accounts List in this portion of the Easy Setup Assistant. In addition, you'll use this portion of the Easy Setup Assistant to enter the beginning balances for your accounts.

Before you begin using this portion of the Easy Setup Assistant, we recommend that you have the following information available:

List of Accounts

You'll need a List of Accounts to begin using MYOB AccountEdge to track your business transactions. When you created your company file, you had a choice of three methods to choose from to build your accounts list:

• If you selected an accounts list provided by MYOB AccountEdge when you created your company file in the AccountEdge New Company File Assistant, you already have an extensive set of accounts that you can use to track your business activity, and you may not need to create any more accounts. Many AccountEdge users find they want to make at least a few changes or additions to their accounts. You can make those changes and additions in this portion of the Easy Setup Assistant.

• If you chose to build your own accounts list when you created your company file, MYOB AccountEdge provided you with the minimum number of basic accounts. You'll use this portion of the Easy Setup Assistant to build your accounts list by making changes and additions to the accounts provided.

• If you chose to import an accounts list from your accountant when you created your company file, MYOB AccountEdge provided you with the minimum number of basic accounts. You'll use this portion of the Easy Setup Assistant to build your accounts list by importing accounts from the file provided by your accountant or from the file you created using another computerized accounting system.

Opening Balances

The Opening Balances of your accounts is the balance of the accounts in your accounts list as of the last day prior your conversion month. You're not required to enter account balances before you start using MYOB AccountEdge, but your financial records may not be completely accurate if you don't.

If you or your accountant has a trial balance report for the month prior to your conversion month (that is, the month you begin using AccountEdge), the ending balance for each account for that month will be its opening balance in AccountEdge.

The types of accounts that you'll enter opening balances for depend upon whether your conversion month is the first month of your fiscal year or whether it is another month of your fiscal year. Choose the information that is correct for your company file:

• If your conversion month is the first month of your fiscal year

• If your conversion month isn't the first month of your fiscal year

Note:
You can add accounts at any time, and you can make certain kinds of changes to your accounts even after you've begun using them. (Maintaining accounts)