---
title: Starting cash and coverage
section: Financial workflows
order: 11
summary: Reconcile opening balances and record which accounts and dates your evidence supports.
---

Starting cash anchors the forecast. Activity coverage determines how much confidence to place in the actuals that follow. Review both before interpreting a positive cash result as reliable.

## Reconcile starting cash

Open `/progress` and inspect the starting-cash control. Each cash account must tie to approved, identity-reviewed bank or brokerage evidence at the required boundary.

The match uses account identifier, reporting currency, entity and statement date. The control compares the evidenced balance with the ledger balance. It retains supporting statement references, journal lines, inputs and formula version.

| Finding | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| Account is unmapped | Review and map it to the correct approved statement identity |
| Balance differs | Inspect opening entries and omitted, duplicated or reversed activity |
| Statement date is wrong | Supply evidence for the actual boundary |
| Sources conflict | Resolve the conflict rather than selecting the convenient balance |
| Cash account is omitted | Include its supporting evidence and ledger treatment |
| Both supported balances are zero | A zero opening balance can reconcile normally |

Entering an opening cash amount is not a substitute for this review. A tie proves a specific arithmetic and evidence relationship; it does not certify that all books are complete.

## Review activity coverage

In `/reconciliation`, review each cash account’s imported activity and its date range. Record complete or partial coverage with a reason and supporting evidence as required. Revoke a prior assertion when it no longer applies.

A complete period can have no transactions if the evidence supports that conclusion. No rows alone is not evidence of no activity.

Coverage assertions are pinned to the reviewed source state. Changed evidence or postings can make prior coverage stale, prompting another review.

## Interpret assurance correctly

A cash goal can meet its numerical target while its assurance remains provisional. Missing coverage, unreconciled starting cash or unsupported forecast entries remain visible even when the calculated balance is positive.

Likewise, accepting an exception in a signed report documents a judgment. It does not change the underlying control to reconciled or complete.

## Correct in the right place

Use source comparison for corrected exports, journal controls for posted accounting, and expectation review for forecast timing. Avoid compensating for an accounting error by changing an unrelated forecast assumption.

After a correction, refresh Financial progress and inspect both the balance control and the current outlook. An earlier [preserved plan](/docs/goals-and-plans/) remains unchanged so that the change can be explained.