If you wrote a check or made a payment at the end of the previous year but it didn't clear the bank until the following year, you can record it in Ambrook so the expense appears on last year's Profit & Loss for tax purposes — without affecting your bank reconciliation or account balances.
This works by creating a check in Ambrook dated in the previous year, then clearing it to the bank transaction that posted in the current year. The expense will show on the prior year's reports, while the bank transaction stays on its actual clearing date for reconciliation.
This method works for any type of payment, not just checks. If you made a payment in one year that didn't clear until the next, you can use these same steps.
Walk through the steps with Katie in this video, or read below.
Before You Start
Your account's start date in Ambrook must be on or before the date you wrote the check or made the payment. If your books start on January 1 of the current year, but you wrote the check in December, you'll need to update the account start date first.
To update your account start date:
Navigate to Accounts on the far left sidebar.
Click on the account the check/transaction was written from.
Scroll down and click the pencil button next to the start date.
Change the start date to on or before the date you plan to use for the check (e.g., 12/31 of the previous year).
Save your changes.
Important: If you update the account starting date, you'll also need to update the account starting balance from the same screen. Check your bank statement or account to confirm what the correct balance is as of the new starting date.
If You Previously Excluded the Bank Transaction
If you already excluded the transaction from your ledger while figuring out how to handle it, you'll need to unexclude it first.
Navigate to Ledger.
Click Filter, then Status, then select Excluded Only.
Find the excluded transaction.
Click the three-dot menu (⋯) on the far right of the transaction and select Undo Exclusion.
Remove the filter to return to your full ledger view.
Recording the Expense in the Previous Year
In the Ledger, click + New, then select Check.
Select the "From You" option.
Enter the payee/vendor name (e.g., "John Brown").
Select the account the check was written from. This must match the account the bank transaction is on.
Set the check date to the date you actually wrote the check or want the expense to appear on your books (e.g., 12/30/2025).
Enter the check number and amount. The amount must exactly match the cleared bank transaction.
Optionally add a memo (e.g., "Farm supplies").
Set the status to Pending.
Click Save.
Clearing the Check to the Bank Transaction
Find the check you just created in the Ledger.
Click the three-dot menu (⋯) and select Clear.
Select the matching bank transaction from the current year (e.g., the January transaction).
Click Done.
Categorize the transaction with the appropriate expense category.
Verify Your Reports
After completing these steps, the expense will appear on your cash-basis Profit & Loss report in the previous year (e.g., December 2025), while the bank transaction remains on its actual clearing date (e.g., January 2026) for reconciliation and balance purposes. You can verify this in the Reports tab by switching between this year and last year on your Profit & Loss.
Tip: This situation usually applies to just a handful of transactions at the very end of the year. If you have many transactions to adjust, contact support and we can help you work through them efficiently.