Moving your existing books to Trio Ledger
You can move your current account amounts into Trio Ledger from the normal Accounts page. This brings over summary amounts, not every old transaction.
Choose a cutoff date
Choose the last date covered by your old bookkeeping records, such as September 1, 2026. You will bring the books into Trio Ledger through that date, then enter normal detailed transactions after it.
Get two reports from the old program
Run these reports:
- a Balance Sheet as of the cutoff date; and
- an Income Statement or Profit & Loss from January 1 through the cutoff date.
Report names vary between bookkeeping programs. You do not need a prior-year Balance Sheet.
Enter Balance Sheet account amounts
On Accounts, add the accounts you need and use Manage to enter the current amount from the Balance Sheet through the cutoff date. This may include Checking, Savings, credit cards, loans, Equipment / Property / Other Assets, and other applicable Balance Sheet accounts.
Enter Income and Expense year-to-date amounts
Income and Expense accounts also have Manage. Choose Set year-to-date amount, select the cutoff date, and enter the total shown on the old Income Statement through that date.
For example, if the old program shows $2,750 of Advertising expense through September 1:
Advertising → Manage → Set year-to-date amount → $2,750
Trio Ledger automatically records only the adjustment needed to reach that total, including any activity already entered in the account.
Let Opening equity handle the remainder
You normally do not need to figure out old retained earnings or prior-year owner equity just to get started. Trio Ledger can use Opening Equity for the remaining amount needed to balance the books.
If you already track specific equity accounts and want to preserve them, you may enter their balances too—for example Capital Stock, Retained Earnings, or distributions.
Do not separately enter current-year profit or loss as an equity amount if you are entering the YTD Income Statement. Your current-year profit or loss is created automatically from the income and expense amounts you enter.
Start using Trio Ledger
If you brought the books over through September 1, begin entering normal Trio Ledger transactions on September 2. Keep the old bookkeeping program as the detailed historical record before the cutoff date; Trio Ledger starts with summarized account amounts.