Entering Balances from Ledger Cards

Before you enter starting balances from your ledger cards, make sure you have collected every card in your practice. Separate the ledger cards into the following groups:

Ledger cards with balances (either positive or negative)
Ledger cards with a zero balance

To enter the cards with balances into PracticeWorks:

Determine the Responsible Party for the ledger card.
Select Activities > Load starting balances from ledger. The Load Starting Balance Pick List is displayed.
This is the same as the Person pick list.

Begin typing the last name of the responsible party in the Find field at the bottom of the window.
Select the name in the pick list, and click OK. The Load Starting Balance window is displayed.
In the Current balance field, enter the total balance on the account from the ledger card. For a credit (negative) balance, type a minus sign before the amount with no space. Press Tab to move to the next field.
For positive balance accounts, find the most recent charge entry on the card. It can be any type of charge, such as interest or insufficient funds, but not necessarily a procedure fee. Use the drop-down list to select the Producer for this fee. Press Tab to move to the next field.

If you do not pay anyone in your office based on collections, the producer on each entry should be one of the doctors or the facility you set up.
If you do pay employees based on collections, the producer for each entry should be the person who receives credit on this amount when it is paid.

For credit (negative) balance accounts, find the most recent entry on the ledger card that decreased the balance. It could be a payment, refund, or adjustment.

Use the drop-down list to select the Producer for this fee. Press Tab to move to the next field.

If you do not pay anyone in your office based on collections, the producer on each entry should be one of the doctors or the facility you set up.
If you do pay employees based on collections, select the producer who received credit on this amount or the person who authorized the adjustment or discount.

In the Date field, type the date of the entry in MM-DD-YY format. PracticeWorks inserts the dashes for you. Press Tab to move to the next field.
In the Amount field, type the amount of the entry. Remember to begin with a minus sign when entering a credit. Press Tab to move to the next entry line.
After you have allocated the entire amount, the system asks you if everything is correct. Click Yes. The Load Starting Balance Pick List is displayed.
Repeat steps 6 through 10 for each ledger card with a balance.