What This Reconciliation Covers
This article explains how to reconcile the WIP Labor Inventory General Ledger in your accounting package against the balance Blackpurl reports. The goal is to confirm that all completed technician clocking entries recorded on active service jobs in Blackpurl match the corresponding General Ledger balance.
How Often to Reconcile
Perform this reconciliation at least once a month. The more frequently you run it, the easier it is to investigate and resolve any variances before they compound.
Understanding the WIP Labor Inventory General Ledger
The WIP Labor Inventory General Ledger account is only used by Blackpurl when labor costing on service jobs is based on actual technician clocking entries. This is covered under Option 2 of Technician Hour Costing Options in Blackpurl.
The total value of all WIP labor costs — that is, completed technician clocking entries on active service jobs — should always equal the balance of the WIP Labor Inventory General Ledger account in your accounting package. Before starting this reconciliation, confirm which General Ledger account is configured as your WIP Labor Inventory General Ledger and verify how technician hours are recorded on service jobs.
Important: Do Not Post Manual Entries to This Account
The WIP Labor Inventory General Ledger is a Blackpurl Control Account — Blackpurl manages it automatically. Posting entries manually or directly into your accounting package against this account will cause reconciliation issues.
As standard practice, never modify or delete a transaction or journal entry that was generated by the Blackpurl integration. If a correction is needed, make it in Blackpurl — not in your accounting package.
How to Perform the Reconciliation
Step 1: Run the Blackpurl Report
Run the WIP Labor Inventory Account report in Blackpurl to get the Blackpurl total. See Blackpurl Reporting - WIP Labor Inventory Account (no longer available) for instructions.
This report reflects the balance only at the moment it is generated, so run it outside business hours to avoid capturing a snapshot mid-transaction.
Tip: Set up scheduled reporting so Blackpurl automatically runs this report at a specific date and time and emails it to a Blackpurl user. See Scheduled Reporting for instructions.
Step 2: Run the Balance Sheet in Your Accounting Package
At the same time, run a Balance Sheet in Xero or QuickBooks Online as of the same reconciliation date. This gives you the current balance of the WIP Labor Inventory General Ledger account.
Step 3: Compare the Two Totals
Compare the total from the Blackpurl WIP Labor Inventory Account report against the WIP Labor Inventory General Ledger balance on your Balance Sheet. The two figures should match.
Resolving Variances
If you find a variance between the two totals, the appropriate response depends on the size of the difference.
Small or insignificant variances: Post a journal entry to bring the two figures back in line. Chasing a few-cent variance is unlikely to be a productive use of time. This is the only situation where it is acceptable to post a journal entry against a General Ledger account managed by Blackpurl.
Larger variances: Review the account transactions report for the WIP Labor Inventory General Ledger account for the period since your last successful reconciliation. Look for entries that were not generated by the Blackpurl integration — these are the most likely cause. If you cannot identify the source of the variance, the Blackpurl support team can review their daily logs to identify which specific days reported a change in variance.