## Documentation Index

Access the complete documentation index at:
https://www.zoho.com/us/books/help/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available documentation pages before proceeding.

# Opening Balance for Customers and Vendors

You could be carrying over your customer or vendor balances when you migrate from another accounting application to Zoho Books. You can record those balances in Zoho Books in the following ways:

*   [**Import customers or vendors**](/us/books/help/settings/opening-balances.html#import-balance) along with their opening balances in the **Customers** or **Vendors** module.
    
*   [**Import opening balances**](/us/books/help/settings/opening-balances.html#import-customers) for **Accounts Receivable** from customers and **Accounts Payable** from vendors in the _Opening Balances_ section.
    
*   [**Enter balances for new customers or vendors**](/us/books/help/settings/opening-balances.html#create) in the **Other Details** section of the customer or vendor _Creation_ page.
    
*   [**Enter balances for existing customers**](/us/books/help/settings/opening-balances.html#edit) in the **Outstanding Receivables** and for existing vendors in the Outstanding Payables section in the _Overview_ page.
    

**Insights:**

*   **Outstanding Receivables** in the customer _Overview_ page contains the total amount the customer owes you (for the invoices created) and also contains the opening balance you initially added for the customer.  
    
*   **Outstanding Payables** in the vendor _Overview_ page contains the total amount you owe your vendor (for the bills created) and also contains the opening balance you initially added for the vendor.  
    
*   **Outstanding Opening Balance** is the amount the customer owes you or you owe a vendor, excluding the sales and purchase transactions recorded in Zoho Books. Each time you record a payment (other than the payments for invoices or bills), the outstanding opening balance decreases.

If you want to view or update the opening balance you had entered:

*   Navigate to _Sales_ in the left sidebar and select **Customers**, or go to _Purchases_ and select **Vendors**.
*   Select the customer/vendor for whom you want to view or update the opening balance.
*   Click **View Opening Balance** below the _Receivables_ section.
*   Enter the new opening balance and click **Save**.

## Write Off Customer’s Opening Balance

You can also write off a customer’s opening balance from the customer’s Details page. Here’s how:

*   Go to _Sales_ on the left sidebar and select **Customers**.
    
*   Select the customer for whom you want to write off the opening balance.
    
*   In the _Details_ page, click **View Opening Balance** below the _Receivables_ table.
    
*   In the _Opening Balance_ pop-up, click **Write Off** next to the _Outstanding Opening Balance_ amount.
    
    ![Write Off](/books/help/images/contacts/ob-write-off.png)
*   In the _Write Off Opening Balance_ pop-up, enter the **Write Off Date** and **Reason for Write Off**.
    
    ![Write Off Pop-up](/books/help/images/contacts/ob-popup.png)
*   Click **Write Off**.
    

The opening balance of the customer’s opening balance will be written off. To cancel the write off:

*   In the _Details_ page, click **View Opening Balance** below the _Receivables_ table.
    
*   In the _Opening Balance_ pop-up, click **Cancel Write Off** next to the _Outstanding Opening Balance_ amount.
    
    ![Cancel Write Off](/books/help/images/contacts/cancel.png)

To add opening balance for your customer for different branches: Here’s how:

*   Go to _Sales_ on the left sidebar and select **Customers**.
    
*   Select the customer for whom you want to add an opening balance.
    
*   In the _Details_ page, click **View Opening Balance** below the _Receivables_ table.
    
*   In the _Opening Balance_ pop-up, click **Edit** to add opening balances for your customer for other branches.
    
*   Click **\+ Add Branch** below the table to add opening balance for multiple branches.
    
    ![Add Branch](/books/help/images/contacts/add-branch.png)
*   Click the dropdown and select the required **Branch Name** and enter the **Opening Balance** amount.
    
*   Click **Save**.
    

Similarly, you can record the opening balance for multiple branches.

To write off the customer’s opening balances for different branches:

*   In the _Details_ page, click **View Opening Balance** below the _Receivables_ table.
    
*   Click the _More_ icon next to the respective outstanding balance amount, and select **Write Off** from the dropdown.
    
    ![Branch Write Off](/books/help/images/contacts/branch-ob.png)
*   In the _Write Off Opening Balance_ pop-up, enter the **Write Off Date** and **Reason for Write Off**.
    
*   Click **Write Off**.
    

The opening balance of the customer’s opening balance for the respectivebranche will be written off. To cancel the write off:

*   In the _Details_ page, click **View Opening Balance** below the _Receivables_ table.
    
*   In the _Opening Balance_ pop-up, click the _More_ icon next to the respective branch and select **Cancel Write Off**.
    
    ![Cancel Branch Write Off](/books/help/images/contacts/cancel-branch-ob.png)

The write off will be canceled for the opening balance amount.

* * *

**Next >** [Link Customer and Vendor](/us/books/help/contacts/link-customer-and-vendor.html)