BC.OPENINGBALANCE

Overview

The BC.OPENINGBALANCE function returns the opening (beginning) balance of a GL account (at the beginning of the specified reporting period or date).

This function requires the Velixo for Business Central extension to be installed in your Business Central environment.

Business Central creates year-end closing entries when you close a fiscal year. These entries are excluded from the result by default. Set IncludeClosingEntries to TRUE to include them, for example to report on the closing activity itself, or to calculate retained earnings the way the Business Central UI does.

To return the closing balance of a GL account, use the BC.CLOSINGBALANCE function.

This feature supports Drilldown – a functionality that lets you list all underlying transactions for a formula.

Syntax

=BC.OPENINGBALANCE(
    ConnectionName,
    Account,
    AccountCategory,
    AccountSubcategory,
    AsOf,
    Dimensions,
    UseReportingCurrency,
    IncludeClosingEntries
)

Arguments

Argument	Required/Optional	Description
`ConnectionName`	Optional	Provide one of the following values: Connection name as defined in Connection Manager. Velixo range expression defining a set of connection names. An array of settings as described in the Multiple connections per formula article. We recommend using the VX.SETTINGS function to construct the array. OR Omit the argument to return results for all compatible connections with default aggregation settings.
`Account`	Optional if `AccountCategory` or `AccountSubcategory` is specified	The code of the general ledger account, a spill range, or a cell range containing account codes. For example, `10100`, `A1:A10`, or `A1#` Supports Velixo range expressions for specifying multiple values.
`AccountCategory`	Optional if `Account` or `AccountSubcategory` is specified	One or more account category names, visible in the Business Central Chart of Accounts. The following values are accepted: `Assets`, `Liabilities`, `Equity`, `Income`, `Cost of Goods Sold`, `Expense` Supports Velixo range expressions for specifying multiple values.
`AccountSubcategory`	Optional if `Account` or `AccountCategory` is specified	One or more account subcategory names. Use the BC.EXPANDACCOUNTSUBCATEGORYRANGE function to retrieve available subaccount names. Supports Velixo range expressions for specifying multiple values.
`AsOf`	Required	Balances will be calculated as of this date
`Dimensions`	Optional	A two-column Excel range where the first column contains the name of a dimension and the second column contains a semicolon-separated list of values for that dimension You can specify dimension values using ranges, wildcards, and other techniques. You can also use the VX.SETTINGS function to create the dimension array. See the Using Dimensions article for more details.
`UseReportingCurrency`	Optional	When a reporting currency is configured for your organization, set this argument to `TRUE` to return the results using the configured currency. Accepted values: `TRUE` or `FALSE` Default value: `FALSE`
`IncludeClosingEntries`	Optional	If `TRUE`, the year-end closing entries are included in the calculation. If `FALSE`, closing entries are removed from the returned amount. Accepted values: `TRUE` or `FALSE` Default value: `FALSE` Specifying this argument requires the Velixo for Business Central extension version 2026.7 or later. This applies to `FALSE` as well as `TRUE`. Omitting the argument, or pointing it at an empty cell, does not require the update.

Examples

Opening balance for a single account

=BC.OPENINGBALANCE(
    "BC",
    "11110",
    ,
    ,
    "2025-1-1"
)

Description: Returns the opening balance of the account “11110” at the beginning of January 2025.

Result:

Excel worksheet showing BC.OPENINGBALANCE returning the opening balance for account 11110 at start of January 2025 in Business Central

Closing balance in specified dimensions

=BC.OPENINGBALANCE(
  "BC",
  "11110",
  ,
  ,
  "2025-01-31",
  {"DEPARTMENT","SALES";"AREA","*"}

Description: Returns the opening balance for results tagged as dimension value Department - Sales, and all Area dimension values except empty ones in the account “61100” at the end of January 2025.

Result:

Excel worksheet showing BC.OPENINGBALANCE with dimension filter returning the opening balance for account 11110 filtered by Department and Area dimensions