How to find unbalanced journal entries and abnormal balances

What is it for?

The Unbalanced entries and abnormal balances diagnosis looks, in a period, for (a) journal entries where the sum of debits is not equal to the sum of credits and (b) posting accounts whose balance is on the opposite side to the one the AT table expects (for example, a cash account with a credit balance). It only reports: it corrects nothing.

When to use it?

• When the control line of the trial balance shows that the sum of debits is not equal to the sum of credits.
• Before closing the period or submitting the SAF-T and the IES.
• Do not use it as a list of errors: a balance on the unexpected side may be right (for example, an authorised overdraft). Each case needs the accountant's assessment.

Where to find it?

Audit › Integrity › Unbalanced entries and abnormal balances, with the Auditor or Fiscal officer profile. The Accountant profile does not have the Audit menu.

Before you start

• Profile: fiscal officer. The example is Empresa Demonstração, Lda, from 01/01/2026 to 31/12/2026.

How to use it

1. Open Audit › Integrity › Unbalanced entries and abnormal balances. A screen opens with Period start, Period end and Include draft entries (off). The Company field only appears for users who work with more than one company.
2. Type the two dates, 01/01/2026 and 31/12/2026, and click Diagnose.
3. Read the two counters: Unbalanced Count and Anomalous Count. In the example, 0 and 1: account 111 Caixa has −€100.00, with an expected Debit balance (type Balance on the unexpected side).
4. Click Open on the line to see the account's movements. In the example there is a single line: journal entry OD/2026/00142 of 30/10/2026, “Curso”, with €100.00 credited to cash. Before it, the movement that brings money into the cash account is missing.
5. To also include entries not yet posted, tick Include draft entries and diagnose again (in the example the result was the same).
6. Change the period and diagnose again: the result changes with it. From 01/01/2026 to 30/09/2026, the example also shows 0 and 1, but the abnormal balance is a different one: account 2322 Ao pessoal, with −€36,972.06 and an expected Debit balance, from the payroll posted up to September in the demonstration (the templates from October use 2312). The cash account no longer appears. Up to 31/12/2026 that account is no longer on the unexpected side. So always diagnose the period you are going to submit or close.
7. To diagnose another company, first switch company in the selector at the top (or turn both on) and only then open the diagnosis: the Company field only offers the companies active in that selector.

Expected result

• With no findings, both counters stay at 0 and the screen says: “Nothing to flag in this period: every entry balances and no account has a balance on the unexpected side.” You can see this, for example, from 01/01/2020 to 31/03/2020 in Empresa Demonstração.
• Each finding opens the journal entry or the account's movements, for the accountant to decide; the diagnosis never changes data.

Important notes

• It only sees the accounts and sides of the AT table that have an exact “D” or “C”; accounts with another kind of legend are left out (they are not guessed). So an account that does not appear is not guaranteed to be right.
• Income statement accounts (income and expenses) count only from the start of the fiscal year; balance sheet accounts count from the beginning up to the end date.
• The diagnosis is per company. The Company field only accepts the companies active in the company selector at the top: if you type the name of another one, it is not found (“No records”). Switch company in the selector before opening the diagnosis. So “Nothing to flag” in a new company may simply be the right company with no movements, not an error.
• An unbalanced journal entry cannot be created through the product: when saving, even as a draft, the screen refuses it with “The entry is not balanced, so it cannot be saved or confirmed: … Débito 100,00 € ≠ Crédito 60,00 €”. That is why the unbalanced entries counter normally stays at 0; Pending on-screen validation: an unbalanced journal entry appearing in the diagnosis, which the product does not let you create (only after an import or migration, which the demonstration does not have).

Common problems

The diagnosis does not open

• Cause: the profile is Accountant, without the Audit menu.
• What to do: ask a fiscal officer or the Auditor to run it, or use the trial balance.

“Nothing to flag in this period” appears and you expected findings

• Cause: there are no findings in the chosen period and company, or the company is not the one you wanted.
• What to do: check the company, in the selector at the top, and the dates.

Balance on the unexpected side in a cash account

• Cause: the cash account paid out before it received money (the example) or an incoming movement has not been posted.
• What to do: open the finding, check the journal entry and, if it is wrong, reverse it and post it again. Pending validation by a certified accountant: the accounting treatment of a cash account in credit.