If an account balance changes in a subsidiary for a period you've already consolidated, or you did a COA mapping change that you want to apply retrospectively, you'll need to re-run the consolidation workflow for that subsidiary and period so your consolidated financials tie out to the revised subsidiary numbers. This applies to both period consolidations and opening balance sheets.
What happens when you re-consolidate
Just re-run the workflow. JustConsolidate detects the consolidation entry it posted previously and removes it before posting the updated one, so you never end up with two entries for the same subsidiary and period.
When an existing entry is found, you'll see an alert asking whether to proceed. You can:
- Accept or decline the removal for that specific entry
- Set a permanent preference to always remove (or never remove) automatically, so you don't see the prompt in future
For Xero users Xero doesn't allow manual journals to be deleted outright, so the previous entry is voided instead. Voided journals remain visible in Xero's audit trail but no longer affect any balances. Seeing them in your consolidation entity after a re-consolidation is expected, and is useful if you ever need to trace what changed. |
How auto-detection works
Every consolidation entry JustConsolidate posts uses a naming convention that lets the system identify the right entry when you re-consolidate. Names begin with one of three prefixes, followed by the subsidiary's unique identifier:
- OB — Opening Balance Sheet entries
- PD — Period Consolidation entries
- BB — Beginning Balance remeasurement entries, used when consolidating a foreign currency subsidiary
| QuickBooks Online | Xero | |
| The name appears in | Journal entry name | Manual journal narration |
| The identifier used is | The subsidiary's Realm ID | The subsidiary's Tenant ID |
Scope of the search
Where JustConsolidate looks for an existing entry depends on which workflow you're running:
- Period Consolidation — Searches only the specific period being consolidated.
- Opening Balance Sheet, when changing the opening period — Searches all periods for an existing opening balance entry (prefix OB), since changing the opening period means the original entry may sit in a different period than the one you're now targeting.
Older entries that predate auto-detection
For QuickBooks Online users The naming convention above was introduced on February 5, 2025. Auto-detection only works for entries posted on or after that date. If you're re-consolidating a period whose original entry was posted before then, its journal number won't match the format and JustConsolidate won't find it. Delete that entry manually in QuickBooks Online before posting the new consolidation entry, or you'll end up with both. |
For Xero users This doesn't affect you. Every consolidation entry JustConsolidate has ever posted to a Xero organization uses the naming convention above, so auto-detection always applies. |