USA Does Equity always equal A - L?

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I thought I understood accounting, but....I have an app spitting out a balance sheet where equity does not equal the difference between A and L. I understand that accountants don't simply subtract L from A, that it has to balance with the accounts in E, but I am having trouble finding any imbalances or problems in my transaction data.

I've attached it below for anyone who wants to join me on this madness.
 

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Counterofbeans

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To answer your question, overwhelmingly, the answer is yes, A-L=E.

I'm guessing that you're simply missing an account that needs to be grouped to the balance sheet/income statement, as it would seem very strange to have a one-sided J/E. Review all accounts in your TB and make sure they are grouped to the appropriate financial statement
 
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I checked the TB and debits do not equal credits. The difference is exactly the same as equity:eek:pening balances.

This app is driving me mad. It's supposed to make my life easier, and all it's done so far is defy the primary rule of accounting and furthermore given me no explanation as to why it has done this...
 

Counterofbeans

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Well, that's clearly your problem. I have no clue how you can record a one-sided JE, but once you resolve that, you'll have your answer
 
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Are you sure it's a one sided JE? Wouldn't my accounts be out of balance if that were the case?
 
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I think it has to do with the unrealized gains listed on the b/s. All other accounts balance out. The unrealized gains I can find accounted for nowhere.
 

bklynboy

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Did you close out CY earnings to retained earnings? Also you have cumulative unrealized yet no invested assets - where is this coming from? What I like to do is a rollforward start with the last time it balanced and show +/- to see where the error may be.
 
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I did do that, and the problem was still there. The only invested asset that would gain value I can think of was that some of those accounts were in a different currency (USD). I got so frustrated with the problem that I ended up entering the balances into a new file and started anew.

I have to wonder if it's a bug in the program. I can't figure out how else an accounting app would manage to spit out an unbalanced balance sheet with no recorded imbalances anywhere in my file...
 

Counterofbeans

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I think it has to do with the unrealized gains listed on the b/s. All other accounts balance out. The unrealized gains I can find accounted for nowhere.
Look back in the system to the JE that recorded such unrealized gain...A one-sided JE just doesn't make sense (or else that's a significant mistake)

I'm thinking that you will find an account that isn't mapped to your financial statements/balance sheet. Like I said above, double check your entire TB and make sure that (1) it balances to zero and (2) all accounts are mapped to your financial statements.
 

Samir

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Like I said in the other thread, it looks like you don't have any capital accounts set up, so your opening balances are taking the place of those capital accounts.
 

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