When onboarding your HOA to Vlge, one of the most important decisions is how to bring in your financial history.
🔎 What Financial History?
Associations have at least two types of history that are important for different reasons. The first is the Unit Ledger (or charges and payments per property). The second is traditional banking transactions - payments to vendors for services, reimbursements to individuals for association expenses, and capital improvements related to reserves. Some Associations consider Reserve tracking to be its own set of financial history - so you might bring in 6 months of Unit Ledger, 6 months of banking transactions, and the entire history of reserve tracking.
There are three supported approaches (Options below), depending on how much history you want and how your prior system was managed.
🚦 Choosing the Right Import Method
Use this quick guide:
If you want… | Choose… |
Full financial history and reporting | Full History Import |
A clean start with correct balances only | Opening Balance Only |
A clean start + recent transaction visibility | Opening Balance + Recent Activity (Recommended) |
🧾 Option 1: Full History Import
What it does
Every historical charge and payment is imported and posted to the general ledger.
Example
2022 charge → Journal entry dated 2022
2023 payment → Journal entry dated 2023
Pros
Full historical reporting in Vlge
Complete audit trail
Matches your prior system exactly
Cons
Slower import (hundreds or thousands of entries)
Requires a fully configured chart of accounts
May post into prior (closed) accounting periods
You still pick a recent date to start formal bank reconciliation — importing years of activity does not mean you re-reconcile every historical month in Vlge
Best for
Smaller HOAs
Clean, well-structured historical data
Organizations that want full reporting continuity
📊 Option 2: Opening Balance Only
What it does
You start fresh in Vlge with a single opening journal entry that represents your HOA’s financial position at cutover.
Example Journal Entry
Dr Accounts Receivable $X
Dr Bank Account $Y
Cr Opening Balance Equity $X + $Y
If you cut over mid-year, the difference between your assets and the liabilities + equity you enter is usually this year’s net income. You do not have to fold it into Opening Balance Equity: if you have imported a Budget vs Actuals or Income Statement for the year, the Opening Balances tool can recognize that income from the import so the Balance Sheet shows it as Current Year Net Income. See When your numbers don’t balance.
Pros
Fast and simple
Clean accounting start date
No risk of historical inconsistencies
Cons
No transaction history in Vlge
Residents won’t see past charges/payments
Best for
Larger HOAs
Messy or inconsistent prior data
Teams that want a fresh start
The first formal bank reconciliation is the first statement after cutover. The beginning balance is the cash you booked in the opening journal entry. No historical reconciliation is needed.
⭐ Option 3: Opening Balance + Recent Activity (Recommended)
This is the most balanced approach for most HOAs.
What it does
You import recent transactions (e.g., last 3-12 months)
You create an adjusted opening balance for everything before that
How it works
Step 1: Choose a cutoff date
Example:
Go-live date: Jan 1, 2026
Import history from: July–December 2025
Step 2: Import recent transactions
These are imported as real journal entries, using their original dates.
Step 3: Create opening balances
Opening balances represent everything before the import window.
Example:
Date | Activity | Amount |
Before July | Existing balance | $1,000 |
July | Charge | +$200 |
August | Payment | -$150 |
In Vlge:
Opening Balance → $1,000
July Charge → +$200
August Payment → -$150
👉 Final balance = $1,050 (correct)
Pros
Residents see recent history
Clean accounting cutover
Faster than full history import
Avoids overwhelming the system
Cons
Older history not visible in Vlge
Prior-period reports are limited
Best for
Most HOAs transitioning from another system
Teams that want clarity + usability
Plan to formally reconcile the imported recent window, then continue monthly. Do not reconcile months before the opening-balance date.
⚠️ Important: Avoid This Mistake
Do not:
Import transactions and include them in your opening balance
This will double count and break your financials.
👉 Opening balances must only include activity before your imported history
🧠 Understanding Sub-ledger vs General Ledger
Vlge tracks:
Unit Ledger (Subledger) → Per-home charges and payments
General Ledger (GL) → Financial statements
These must always match:
Total unit balances = Accounts Receivable in the GL
What happens in each method?
Method | GL Impact | Unit Ledger |
Full History | Every row posts to GL | Full detail |
Opening Balance | One JE only | No history |
Hybrid (Recommended) | Opening JE + recent JEs | Recent + summary |
How do I import transactions?
In Financial Dashboard - scroll down to Setup and look for Import Tools. Import Bank Transactions to bring in all transactions.
🔍 After Import: Required Checks
Before going live, always:
1. Reconcile Accounts Receivable
Total unit balances must equal GL A/R
2. Tie Out Bank Cash
GL cash must match your bank statement as of the cutover date. This is a number check, not a full historical reconciliation.
3. Lock Opening Entry
Do not edit it - use adjustments if needed
4. Review Reports
Run Balance Sheet — it warns you at the top if the opening entry disagrees with your imported actuals
Run Income Statement
🏦 Bank Reconciliation: What Is Expected
Importing history and reconciling history are different jobs.
The checks above prove your cutover numbers. They are always required.
Formal bank reconciliation - pairing each bank-statement line to a GL cash line and finalizing the month under Financials → Bank Reconciliation - is a going-forward discipline. You do not need to recreate every historical month in Vlge.
Pick a reconciliation start date
Choose the last statement you can prove from the prior system, or the first full month you will operate in Vlge. Reconcile from that date forward.
Import method | Typical reconciliation approach |
Full History | Import as much history as you want for reporting. Still start formal Vlge reconciliations at a recent date (a bank change, fiscal year-end, or go-live month). Older imported months stay as ledger history - they are not months you re-close in Vlge. |
Opening Balance Only | First formal recon is the first statement after cutover. Beginning balance = the cash you booked in the opening journal entry. No historical recon. |
Opening Balance + Recent Activity | Reconciling the imported recent window is common and recommended. Those months are short enough to close cleanly. Use one catch-up reconciliation through the cutoff if needed, then monthly statements going forward. Do not reconcile months before the opening-balance date. |
What to do instead of reconciling all history
Keep the prior system’s bank statements and reconciliation PDFs as the audit trail for closed periods.
In Vlge, start the first reconciliation in catch-up mode and enter the beginning balance from that last proven statement.
From that point, reconcile each new statement as it arrives.
Reconstructing years of monthly reconciliations in Vlge is unusual. Associations that bring full unit-ledger or bank history still pick a recent start date and move forward.
🧩 Final Recommendation
For most HOAs, we recommend:
Opening Balance + Recent Activity
It gives you:
Accurate accounting
Useful resident visibility
A clean, manageable transition
A short window of recent months you can formally reconcile, then a clear monthly cadence from go-live onward
Tools for this work
Opening Balances — post the cutover journal entry in Import Tools.
Importing Unit Ledger History — CSV how-to, including Full history vs Subledger-only.
Bank Reconciliation — how to close statements from your start date forward.