Retained Earnings to Period Start Line in Financial Reports

In Versa, there is a line called " Retained Earnings to Period Start " in balance sheets and income statement reports, this is a calculated figure and not a general ledger account.

This number is derived from taking the total revenue minus total expense from periods prior to the reporting period. This is done so you are not required to empty the balances of all revenue and expense accounts at the end of the fiscal year and deposit them into the retained earning GL account.

If you want to track retained earnings in a dedicated general ledger account and do not wish for the system to calculate this number all the time, you can create a new account for retained earnings and at the end of every fiscal year, create a GL entry that will empty out all revenue, contra revenue, expense and contra expense into the new retained earning GL account.  If a revenue account has a credit balance of 1000, you would debit 1000 in this revenue account and credit the retained earning account. Continue to do this for every fiscal year. If all the revenue accounts and credit accounts are cleared for the year, the retained earning to period start for the next fiscal period would be zero. This GL account can also be to used to close owner withdrawal or corporate dividends at year ends.

The total of Retained Earnings to Period Start and the Retained Earning Account created by you would be the balance of your retained earnings for the business.