Manual uploads:

Follow this guidance if you are manually uploading the data from your bookkeeping system to Silverfin.

If this is your first year using Silverfin, we recommend you to upload a comparative as well as a current year trial balance/general ledger. This means that you will have comparative balances while working through the working papers or producing management accounts, or if you are using Silverfin for accounts production, comparative balances for the year end accounts.

1. Manually uploading data for year 1 (comparative)

  1. Download the comparative year’s trial balance from the bookkeeping system.
  2. Download the GL template and upload the trial balance to Silverfin in this format. Detailed-Silverfin-upload-data.xlsx
  3. Follow the steps covered in the article on manual uploads to upload the data to Silverfin. We recommend you upload the GL TB.

Differences between the balances in the bookkeeping system, the accounts production system, and Silverfin?
Unfortunately, if you have not previously back posted the adjustments made in the account production system to the bookkeeping system, there will be a discrepancy in Silverfin for the comparative year.

How to fix this?
Our recommendation:

  1. Download the trial balance per the accounts production system
  2. Download the trial balance in Silverfin. 
  3. Put the trial balance’s side by side in excel
  4. Check for differences in the accounts (Note - the chart of accounts will be different, so match as best as you can)
  5. Post the adjustments directly in Silverfin. 

Now, your comparative year balances should match the accounts that were filed and you’re ready to move onto the current year’s file.

Once you have mapped your file, you can start working on the file.

2. Adjustments

Should I post my adjustments in Silverfin or in the bookkeeping system?
As there is no live sync, we recommend posting all adjustments in Silverfin when working through the file.

What do I do if a new journal is posted in the bookkeeping system while I am working on the file?

You have two options:

  1. If you know where the journal was posted, you can manually post the journal in Silverfin, to reflect the new balance
  2. If you’re not sure where the journal was posted, you can re-upload the trial balance. Don’t worry, you won’t lose any work you’ve already done in Silverfin!


How do I post adjustments back to the bookkeeping system?

If my client is responsible for posting adjustments:

  1. Post the adjustments in Silverfin as you work through the file
  2. After the file is reviewed and you are confident that there will not be any more adjustments, download the adjustments from Silverfin and send to your client. If they are importing into Xero, you can download the Xero adjustment upload file, which can be directly downloaded into Xero without changing the format.
  3. Make sure your client informs you when they have posted the adjustments. Don’t forget, there is no live sync, so do not mark the adjustments as posted in Silverfin.

If I am responsible for posting adjustments:

  1. Post the adjustments in Silverfin as you work through the file
  2. After the file is reviewed and you are confident that there will not be any more adjustments, download the adjustments from Silverfin. If you are importing into Xero, you can download the Xero adjustment upload file, which can be directly downloaded into Xero without changing the format.
  3. Don’t forget, there is no live sync, so do not mark the adjustments as posted in Silverfin.

3. Lock the file

It’s important to lock the file once the file is complete (at 100% or as close as possible) to stop any Silverfin updates unreconciling templates.

4. Accounts Production: If you are using a 3rd party account production system;

  1. Download the export file. This is an excel file that will map the Silverfin trial balance to the accounts production one. We configure this file with confirmation of the codes from your firm’s champions. If you do not have an export file, please contact your Silverfin champion or your customer success manager.
  2. Review the codes and populate the accounts that codes are needed for
  3. Import or manually enter into the accounts production system
  4. Prepare and finalise accounts


What if I need to post an adjustment at this stage?
This is not an ideal scenario but is unavoidable in some cases. Not to worry, there are simple steps to follow. The bookkeeping system needs to match Silverfin and the accounts production system:

  1. Post the adjustment in the account production system
  2. Post the adjustment in the bookkeeping system
  3. Post the adjustment in Silverfin. Do not mark as posted

The preparer and reviewer should check that balances match in all three systems.

5. Rolling over a file to the next year/period:

There are two steps which will be explained below:

  1. Copy data from prior year to current in Silverfin
  2. Upload manual data for year 2


Copy data:
Copying data roles over your file to the next period. Any workings you have done will be transferred to the following year’s file.

Upload manual data
There are 2 options:

1. Upload the transactions for the period:

  • We recommend this method for Sage 50 manual uploads.
  • Navigate to the edit client screen. Then navigate to “Periods

  • Click the pencil icon for the year you want to import the data into

  • Tick “Opening balances” to roll forward the opening balances to the current year
  • Tick “Retained earnings” to move the P&L balances from the prior year into the retained earnings account in the current year. Don’t forget to select the retained earnings account underneath. Now your file is set up and ready to import data.

  • Download the transactional movements in the accounts for the period from the bookkeeping system and follow the same steps as above (step 1) to import into Silverfin.
  • Only new accounts will have to be mapped.

2. Upload entire trial balance/general ledger for the period:

  • Download the trial balance/general ledger from the bookkeeping system and follow the same steps as above (Step 1) to import into Silverfin.
  • As you are importing a balanced trial balance/general ledger, you do not need to roll forward the retained earnings or opening balances.
  • If your bookkeeping system was closed after the adjustments were posted relating to the prior year, your current year transactional movement that you have downloaded will contain opening balance adjustments. You will have to remove these before uploading the excel to Silverifn. If you do not do this, balances will be duplicated.
  • Only new accounts will have to be mapped once uploaded.


For both cases, balances should once again be checked against the bookkeeping and accounts production system.

How do I change from a manual upload to a sync?

Please read our separate article on this subject for more information.

This currently does not work for Sage 50 or Xero TB syncs

Syncs:

Follow this guidance if you are syncing data from your bookkeeping system to Silverfin.

1. Setting up a sync

  1. Connect Silverfin to the bookkeeping system
  2. Ensure that the trial balance does not show an unbalanced warning. 
  3. Check the brought forward retained earnings to the amount per the bookkeeping system

Once you have mapped your file, you can start working on the file.

2. Adjustments

Should I post my adjustments in Silverfin or in the bookkeeping system?

We recommend posting the adjustments in Silverfin for three reasons:

  • Efficiency and ease
  • You are always working with live data
  • No downtime to wait for the file to resync

    What do I do if a new journal is posted in the bookkeeping system while I am working on the file?
    As there is a live sync, the data will always be up to date. Silverfin syncs automatically overnight, so you will always be working with live data.


    How do I post adjustments back to the bookkeeping system?

    If my client is responsible for posting adjustments:
  1. Post the adjustments in Silverfin as you work through the file
  2. After the file is reviewed and you are confident that there will not be any more adjustments, download the adjustments from Silverfin and send to your client. If you are importing into Xero, you can download the Xero adjustment upload file, which can be directly downloaded into Xero without changing the format.
  3. Make sure your client informs you when they have posted the adjustments.
  4. Resync the file in Silverfin
  5. Mark the adjustments as posted in Silverfin. If you do not do this step, the adjustments will be double-counted.

If I am responsible for posting adjustments:

  1. Post the adjustments in Silverfin as you work through the file
  2. After the file is reviewed and you are confident that there will not be any more adjustments, download the adjustments from Silverfin. If you are importing into Xero, you can download the Xero adjustment upload file, which can be directly downloaded into Xero without changing the format.
  3. Post the adjustments into the bookkeeping system
  4. Resync the file in Silverfin
  5. Mark the adjustments as posted in Silverfin. If you do not do this step, the adjustments will be double-counted.


What to do when the adjustments have resynced in Silverfin as new accounts (suffixes)?

After syncing, the adjustments imported may appear as a suffix code, and not in the same account as their workings. This is because Silverfin is recognising the adjustment as a new account. If this happens, follow the following steps:

Recommended method:

  1. Post the adjustment in Silverfin for the new account
  2. Navigate to accounts, click edit, change original account number and name to match the bookkeeping’s number and name
  3. Create account in bookkeeping system and ensure name is the same as it is in Silverfin
  4. Resync data and the new accounts will be synced with one another. If the data is synced before you change the original account number and name in Silverfin, you will get an error and this method will not work. Don’t forget, the file will automatically sync overnight.


Alternative method:

If it is not possible to change the name and account number in Silverfin before the file is synced, follow these steps:

  1. Go into the new account (suffix) that will be unreconciled as there are no working in that account
  2. Navigate to the comparative reconciliation at the bottom of the template
  3. Click actions → Change comparative account
  4. Change the comparative account to the account that the workings are in
  5. Click actions → Copy below template data above. This reconciliation will now be reconciled

3. Lock the file

It’s important to lock the file at this stage to stop any Silverfin updates unreconciling templates that you have already reconciled.

Locking a file does not stop new data flowing through from the sync. However, you will be notified if the balances have changed prior to locking. 

4. Accounts Production: If you are using a 3rd party account production system;

  1. Download the export file
  2. Review the codes and populate the accounts that codes are needed for
  3. Import or manually enter into the accounts production system
  4. Prepare and finalise accounts



What if I need to post an adjustment at this stage?
This is not an ideal scenario but is unavoidable in some cases. Not to worry, there are simple steps to follow. The bookkeeping system needs to match Silverfin and the accounts production system:

  1. Post the adjustment in the account production system
  2. Post the adjustment in the bookkeeping system
  3. Resync Silverfin to include the adjustment


The preparer and reviewer need to check that the balances match in all three systems.

5. Rolling over a file to the next year/period:

  1. Copy data from the prior period to the current period. 
  2. As you have a live sync set up, data should already be in Silverfin
  3. Ensure that the trial balance does not show an unbalanced warning. 
  4. Check the brought forward retained earnings match the amount per the bookkeeping system


Balances should once again be checked against the bookkeeping and accounts production system.

How do I change from sync to a manual upload?

This does not work for Sage 50 or Xero TB syncs

FAQ’s

Can I start my sync from a certain date?

Yes you start the sync from a certain date. This does not currently work for Sage 50 and Xero TB syncs. 

Can I use Silverfin for syncing with a Xero file with FX transactions?

Yes, but there are certain limitations. Please read the article about this subject for more information.

How can I tell if data has changed since I last worked on a file with a sync?

While you are working through the file and the file is unlocked, there is no way to see if new data has been imported. You will however notice that previously reconciled templates might now be unreconciled, as the data has changed.

If you have completed your file and locked the file, you will get a warning on the overview screen to let you know that the data has changed since you have locked the file.

What will happen if I re-upload data for a period that already has data?
If you reupload and replace a trial balance/general ledger, you will not lose your workings! The only thing will change is the data you are reconciling to.