Why is the Schedule L beginning or end of tax year blank?
Initial Return
A partnership, corporate, or tax exempt organization return that has the box Initial Return marked on screen 1 should not have any beginning balances on the Schedule L, so the software blanks out this column.
An S corporation return that has:
- the Date of Election as an S corporation and the Date incorporated both equal to the beginning of the tax year (January 1st for calendar years, or the fiscal year beginning date for fiscal year returns), and
- the First year as an S corporation box selected
should also not have any beginning balance on the Schedule L.
If you have entered beginning balances in either a 1065, 1120S, or 990, the software produces Notes page 349:
INITIAL RETURN HAS BEGINNING-OF-YEAR ENTRIES ON BALANCE SHEET. This
return is marked as an "Initial return" on screen 1, and amounts are
included for the "Beginning of Year" column on the Schedule L (column
a or b). Return to screen L to review these entries.
HINT: Beginning inventory may have been entered on screen A, line 1,
or assets may have been entered on the 4562 screen with a "Placed in
Service" date prior to the current tax year beginning date.
Final Return
Similarly, a return that is marked Final Return on screen 1 should have no ending balances on Schedule L, so the software blanks out that column.
If ending balances have been entered in a 1065,1120, 1120S, or 990, the software produces Notes page 342:
FINAL RETURN HAS END-OF-YEAR ENTRIES ON BALANCE SHEET. This return is
marked as an "Final return" on screen 1, and amounts are included for
the "End of Year" column on the Schedule L (column c or d). Return to
screen L to review these entries.
HINT: Ending inventory may have been entered on screen A, line 7,
or assets may have been entered on the 4562 screen with a "Placed in
Service" date after the current tax year ending date.
Note: Beginning with Drake14, BOY and EOY totals are displayed on the L screen.