Upload your Trial Balance

Rows that were skipped

If the import skipped group-total rows, the overview shows how many. Open that list, tick the rows that are real ledgers, and select Include selected. A group total you include is then counted as its own ledger, so only include a row when its children are not already in the trial balance.

A file whose month columns are balance-sheet closings and profit-and-loss movements on the same sheet is read that way: balance-sheet months are the change between columns, and profit-and-loss months — including foreign-exchange gain or loss — are added up for the closing. A file with Opening, Period and Closing columns, and a Financial Statement Classification column, is read as movements, and that classification is what the statements use. When you upload the previous month first, its closing balances become this file's opening balances.

Upload a Trial Balance

From the home page, select Upload Trial Balance. The page opens with a three-step tracker: File uploaded, Match columns and Import ledgers.

1. Drag and drop your file, or select Browse files. Supported formats are .xlsx, .xls and .csv.

2. Choose the Financial year and Period month.

3. Select Upload Trial Balance. FireAI uploads and reads the file while an Importing Trial Balance screen shows four steps: Reading file, Detecting accounts, Checking periods and Preparing Trial Balance. A step gets a green tick once it is done.

4. When the last step is ticked, the Which columns hold your ledger names? page opens. Check the Ledger name column and the Group / tagging column — FireAI marks its suggestions with a Suggested tag, and each option shows sample values from your file. Each list shows four options at a time; scroll within it to see the rest. Use Replace file to start again with another file, or Cancel to go back.

5. Select Next. The Set up your reporting page asks two questions, and you pick one answer for each:

   • Reporting structure — Continue with default schema (recommended) or Create new schema.
   • Report template — Use default template (recommended) or Create custom template.

   Create new schema and Create custom template are not selected straight away. They first open a page where you make your changes, and the option is only selected when you finish there:

   • Create new schema imports your file and lets FireAI design the reporting structure from your ledgers, which can take a minute. The Schema Mapping page then shows your Balance Sheet structure as a tree, with the number of ledgers mapped to every line. Use the search box to find a line by name or code, and Collapse all to fold the tree. Select any line (or press Enter on it) to see its details on the right: its code, the first mapped ledgers (with View all ledgers to open Mapping Studio), its reporting path and whether it is a system or custom line. Select Finalize Mapping to return to Set up your reporting with Create new schema selected, or Ignore to return without selecting it.
   • Create custom template opens the Templates page, where you manage the formats used for your MIS reports: upload a sample Excel for Custom MIS, Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow (Indirect), Cash Flow (Direct) or Notes to Accounts, replace or download a sample, and see the built-in and saved layouts. Under the sample cards, Trial Balance format lets you upload a sample trial balance and confirm its ledger-name column, its optional group / tagging column and its import style (Version 1 classic, or Version 2 monthly Opening | Debit | Credit | Closing bands). FireAI test-reads the sample with those choices and saves them for the entity; the sample itself imports no ledgers and changes no mappings or statements. Every later trial balance upload then opens Match columns with the same columns and style already selected and a note saying so. If a new file's headers differ from the sample, the note says that instead and the usual suggestions are used — you can always change the selection before importing. Use Replace sample TB, Download or Remove on that row to manage it. Select Finalize Template to return with Create custom template selected, or Ignore to return without selecting it. Samples are saved as soon as you upload them.

   If you keep Continue with default schema, FireAI skips the AI step and uses its standard reporting structure.

6. Select Import trial balance. FireAI imports your accounts and periods, then prepares account mappings. When the import finishes, a Trial Balance imported successfully page shows the file and sheet that were imported. Select Back to return to the upload page.

The page also shows how many periods are in the file and that FireAI checks, for each month, that total debits equal total credits.

Your Trial Balance after import

Once an entity has an imported Trial Balance, the Trial Balance tab opens on it instead of the upload page. It has three sections:

1. Import & validation — the periods found in the file, the number of ledgers, and whether debits equal credits in every period. If rows were skipped (usually "Total for…" lines whose ledgers were already imported), they are counted under Import exceptions.
2. Standardised Trial Balance — every ledger with its Opening, Debit, Credit and Closing for each month. Ledgers are grouped under Assets (current and non-current), Liabilities (current and non-current), Equity, Income and Expenses; select a group name to fold or unfold it. Search by ledger name or account tag, scroll sideways to move between months, and use the page buttons under the table to move through the ledgers. Closing balances are calculated from the opening balance and the month's debits and credits.
3. Upload history — earlier uploads, as described below.

Select Apply trial balance & Next → to continue to Mapping Studio, or Ignore to return to the Overview. Use Upload trial balance at the top right to import another file; the back arrow on the upload page brings you back.

Audit trail

Select Audit Trail in the toolbar above the Standardised Trial Balance to open a panel listing every change made to the values on this Trial Balance, newest first and grouped by day. Each entry shows who changed it, when, the ledger and month, the old and new value, and the effect on the closing balance. Several values changed in one save are summarised; select Expand to see each one. Filter by date, search by account name, or narrow to Opening, Debit, Credit or Closing. Edit values opens the editing screen for ledger values; changes saved there appear here. Importing a file is not an edit; imports are listed in Upload history.

Upload history

Every earlier upload for the entity is listed with its periods, ledgers and upload time. The latest successfully imported file is tagged Current. Use the download button to get the original file, or the more button to delete an upload.