When you try to save a financial account in Microsoft Office Accounting Professional or in Microsoft Office Accounting Express, you may receive the following error message: For example, this behavior occurs when you click Save and Close in the dialog box of the financial account.

This problem may occur if either of the following conditions is true:

• This account has been used in a transaction.
• This account contains an opening balance.

In this case, the Include in cash-basis reports check box cannot be selected, or it cannot be cleared. If you want to include the financial account in cash-basis reports, you have to select the Include in cash-basis reports check box before you associate transactions with the financial account.

Note When you create a financial account and then type an opening balance amount in the Opening Balance field, a journal entry transaction is created.

To work around this problem, follow these steps.

Step 1: Create a new financial account

1. On the Company menu, click New Account.
2. In the Select Account Type dialog box, select the financial account type that is the same as the account type of the original account.
3. Click OK.
4. In the New financial account dialog box, type a name in the Account name box, and then click to select the Include in cash-basis reports check box.
5. Enter all the required information, and then click Save and Close.

Step 2: Create a journal entry to move the balance of the original account to the new financial account

To create a journal entry, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

Use this method for financial accounts that have a typical debit balance. For example, you can use this method for any of the following types of financial accounts:

• Expense
• Other expense
• Cash
• Bank
• Other current asset
• Inventory asset
• Other asset
• Fixed asset
• Cost of goods sold

Note Follow these steps if the original account has a positive balance.

1. On the Company menu, click New Journal Entry.
2. In the first row of the journal entry, select the new financial account that you created in the Account column, and then type the balance of the original account in the Debit column.
3. In the second row of the journal entry, select the original account in the Account column, and then type the balance of the original account in the Credit column.
4. Click Save and Close.
5. Verify that the balance of the original account is zero.

Method 2

Use this method for financial accounts that have a typical credit balance. For example, you can use this method for any of the following types of financial accounts:

• Income
• Other income
• Credit card
• Payroll liability
• Current liability
• Long-term liability
• Equity

Note Follow these steps if the original account has a positive balance.

1. On the Company menu, click New Journal Entry.
2. In the first row of the journal entry, select the original account in the Account column, and then type the balance of the original account in the Debit column.
3. In the second row of the journal entry, select the new financial account that you created in the Account column, and then type the balance of the original account in the Credit column.
4. Click Save and Close.
5. Verify that the balance of the original account is zero.

Step 3: Make the original account inactive

1. On the Company menu, point to Company Lists, and then click Chart of Accounts.
2. In the Charts of Accounts pane, right-click the original financial account, and then click Open Selected Items.
   
   Note The original financial account has an amount of $0.00 in the Balance column in the Charts of Accounts pane.
3. Click to clear the Active check box.
   
   Note When you clear the Active check box for a financial account, the account will be removed from the drop-down list on the transaction forms.
4. Click Save and Close.