A balance has not moved for a year. Should it still be there?

An unchanged balance can be correct. A refundable lease deposit may sit for years, while an old payment-clearing amount may indicate a missed settlement. Identify the underlying asset, obligation, or unresolved transaction before deciding that age alone makes it wrong.

Request the originating entry and supporting document. Record the counterparty, original date, amount, expected resolution, and last confirmation. If the only explanation is that the balance came from the prior accountant, treat that as a missing-evidence issue rather than support for indefinite carryforward.

A supplier refund may have arrived in the bank but been categorized as income, leaving the old receivable open. A customer deposit may have been applied operationally without clearing the ledger liability. Search the related counterparty and references across accounts before writing off the balance.

For an illustrative $900 deposit, a later $900 bank receipt is a lead, not conclusive proof of settlement. Confirm the supplier's reference and purpose. Similar amounts recur, and clearing unrelated transactions can create a false reconciliation that is difficult to undo later.

For material deposits, loans, or balances with a counterparty, seek current supporting statements or confirmation through an established contact. Keep the response and any disagreement with the account schedule. Do not rely solely on an informal assurance from someone who cannot access the relevant records.

A lack of response does not automatically extinguish a liability or prove an asset is recoverable. Legal, tax, impairment, or unclaimed-property considerations may apply depending on the balance. Route those questions to the appropriate professional rather than clearing the amount to profit for convenience.

The reviewer should approve whether to retain, reclassify, settle, or adjust the balance, with the evidence and affected period. Explain any material effect on the financial statements. Keep a record of uncertainty where the available evidence supports only a provisional treatment.

Assign a future review date for items that legitimately remain open. For cleared errors, fix the posting rule or handoff that left them behind. A balance-sheet review is finished when the remaining amounts have explanations, not merely when every account has changed.