The opening balance is your account's starting point in Financio. It represents the balance on the day you begin tracking, and all future transactions build from this foundation.
What is an Opening Balance?
The opening balance is the amount of money in an account on a specific date. Financio uses this as the baseline to calculate your running balance as you add transactions.
Example: If your savings account had $5,000 on January 1st, and you add a $200 deposit on January 5th, your balance becomes $5,200.
Setting the Opening Balance
When creating an account you'll provide a starting balance and the date it was accurate. The field names vary by type: Starting Balance / Starting Balance Date on bank, credit card, cash and investment accounts; Initial Value / Date of Initial Value on assets; Amount Owed / Balance Date on loans.
Use a Recent Statement
The easiest approach is to use the closing balance from your most recent bank statement. The statement date becomes your opening balance date.
Opening Balance by Account Type
Different account types handle opening balances slightly differently:
Bank Accounts and Cash
Enter the positive balance shown in your account.
Example: $3,500.00
Credit Cards
Enter a negative amount if you owe money, or zero if the card is paid off.
Example: -$1,200.00 (you owe $1,200)
Investments
Enter your initial cash deposit, not the current market value of holdings. Shares you already own are recorded separately, using Add Existing Holding on the account, so there is no need to work them into the starting balance. See Tracking Investments.
Example: $10,000.00 (your original deposit)
Assets
Enter what the asset was worth when you started tracking it. The form asks for the initial value of the asset when acquired. Later changes are recorded as valuations, not by editing this figure.
Example: $750,000.00 (property value)
Loans
Enter the amount you owe as a positive number. Financio will store it as negative internally.
Example: Enter 450000 for a $450,000 mortgage
Loan Balances
When adding a loan, enter the outstanding balance (what you owe) as a positive number. Financio automatically treats loans as debts that reduce your net worth.
Why the Date Matters
The opening balance date determines:
- When your balance history begins
- Which transactions affect your balance
- How your net worth is calculated over time
Transactions dated before the opening balance date won't affect your running balance calculations.
Importing Historical Transactions
If you want to track historical transactions from before your opening balance date:
- Set your opening balance to an earlier date
- Adjust the opening balance to match that earlier date
- Import or enter all transactions since then
Example: To track a full year of history:
- Set opening balance date to January 1st of last year
- Enter the balance your account had on January 1st
- Import all transactions from January 1st onwards
Adjusting the Opening Balance
If you made an error with your opening balance:
- Go to Tracking → Accounts and click the account to open it
- Click Manage Account (Manage Asset on an asset, Edit Loan on a loan)
- Update the starting balance or its date
- Click Save Changes
- Open the Tracking tab, tap Accounts, then tap the account
- Tap the gear icon in the top right
- Update the starting balance or its date
- Tap Save
Your running balance will recalculate automatically based on the new opening balance.
Common Issues
Balance doesn't match my bank
If your Financio balance doesn't match your actual bank balance:
- Check that all transactions have been entered
- Verify the opening balance amount is correct
- Confirm the opening balance date matches when you started tracking
- Look for duplicate or missing transactions
Negative balance showing incorrectly
For credit cards, remember:
- Negative balance = you owe money
- Positive balance = you have credit (rare)
If your credit card shows a positive balance when you owe money, edit the account and enter the opening balance as a negative number.