How to resolve Silverfin Sync Issues, Unbalanced and Retained Earnings errors

If you have set the sync up for your client and it is failing or the sync has completed and you are seeing the 'Unbalanced' warning con the client home page then follow these steps 

If you are using a Sage desktop Sync

  1. If your sync is not completing check the username and password.  To sync with Silverfin the password must be set i.e. cannot be blank.  If there is no password then load Sage and set the password then update the sync in Silverfin with the new password.  In certain versions of Sage only passwords of 10 characters can be used so be aware of long passwords.
  2. If your sync has finished processing but no data has been imported then you will need to contact an admin see if there is an error and to provide details (a champion or Mark / Adrian).  This is likely a non zero P&L brought forward balance that will need to be cleared following the Sage article here  Please ensure this is corrected in the clients sage system or a note made for future years to avoid this when syncing from new backups in the future.

Unbalanced Warnings / Retained Earnings Errors

The unbalanced warning is due to the credits and debits in Silverfin across all nominal codes not balancing.  For balance sheet codes from a bookkeeping sync Silverfin automatically ensures opening balances are brought forwards however this is not applicable for profit & loss codes as defined in Silverfin.  As a result we often see unbalanced warnings where the mapping is not correct.

Steps to identify the cause of 'unbalanced' warnings and how to resolve

  1. Check the Silverfin mapping is accurate.  It is critical that any Balance Sheet / P&L codes in the client bookkeeping system are mapped to Silverfin Balance Sheet / P&L codes.  If a Balance sheet code is mapped to a Silverfin P&L code (or vice versa) then you will likely get an unbalanced warning.  To check this, extract a P&L report from the client bookkeeping system and check this to the Silverfin P&L codes and correct mapping as necessary.  Areas to check are
    1. In the client bookkeeping system check that codes have been allocated to the P&L or Balance sheet and this matches to Silverfin  If you have changed the account code setup in Sage then a resync will be required.  In order to do this go to edit client > Syncs and select the bottom option to replace bookeeping data.  This will reload all bookeeping data from the Sage backup.
    2. Dividends - ensure these are mapped to the correct code.  310101 - Dividends paid (equity) / 310150 - Dividends Paid (P&L).  Using the correct code will not only address unbalanced errors but also populate the SOIRE correctly
  2. Xero client using Foreign exchange transactions.  If your client is using Xero premium subscription with foreign currencies in Xero then ensure the correct Silverfin sync is used.  See here on how to switch to a TB only (FX) sync
  3. Back posting into the P&L impacting prior years profit / loss (or Sage non Zero P&L codes).  This is often the case in Sage where the P&L is cleared down as part of the year end however back posting results in non zero balances.  To find the cause of this, run a P&L report for the year before the unbalanced period in Silverfin and look for non zero P&L balances.  Reverse the journal in sage that created these entries if possible or journal the P&L balances to code 3200 - Profit & Loss Account in Sage and then resync to Silverfin.  You may need to enter the journal in the following year to ensure that the balances are correct.  Exporting an Opening TB report from Sage can also help identify these codes.
  4. Previous year imported manually and current year imported from a sync.  We have seen unbalanced errors due to opening balances not being brought forward where prior year has been loaded manually (e.g. as an export from DAPA) and then sync enabled for the current year. You can enable the opening balances roll forward  in the 'edit client' option within the periods tab
  5. Unbalanced by prior year profit / loss.  This can be the case with Sage clients where the year end has not been run.  To check this, open the Sage backup, and in the bottom right corner there will be a month and a year. This is the month 1 of the Sage year. I.e. if this says January 2019 that means Sage is sitting in the December 2019 year end. If you were working on a December 2020 year end period in Silverfin this would cause the 2020 period to be unbalanced.  You will need to run the 2019 year end in order to work on the 2020 year end