I recently noticed that an AP accounts ledger within one company has an "open balance" column versus an "ongoing balance" column. This is not the case for other companies

It appears you're dealing with reporting issue regarding the Accounts Payable (A/P) ledger and the appearance of an Open Balance column for on of the companies. Let's investigate and perform some steps to resolve this discrepancy, galleon-bookkeeping.

In QuickBooks Online (QBO), the Balance reflects the total due at point in time, while Open Balance highlights the outstanding amounts related to specific transactions that have not yet been settled. Each company can have unique preferences set in terms of reporting and display options. One company may have the open balance configured to show all pending transactions, while another may not.

To better isolate the issue, we can run the A/P Aging Detail report and compare it with the ledger for the companies. This helps us understand more about how balances are calculated and displayed in different contexts. Here's how:

1. Go to Reports on the left menu.
2. Enter Accounts Payable Aging Detail in the search field. 
3. In the Report period field, choose the date.
4. Press Run report. 

Then, look for filtering options and views. It could be that certain filters or customizations were applied to the display of the A/P Ledger in one company and not the other. To learn more about customizing reports, check out this article: Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.

Once done, run the General Ledger report and filter it to all A/P Accounts and compare it also to the other company. Let me guide you on how:

1. Go to Reports on the left menu.
2. Enter General Ledger in the search field.
3. In the Report period field, choose the date.
4. Click Customize.
5. Tap Filter and choose Account. From there, select All Accounts Payable (A/P) Accounts. 
6. Press Run report.

On the other hand, we can also review the transaction history to help us shed light on any discrepancies. If the A/P account has been reconciled differently or has transactions pending that are affecting the balance. This may affect how balances are displayed. You refer to these articles for more details about fixing any issues you encounter during reconciliation:

• Fix issues the first time you reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online
• Fix issues for accounts you've reconciled in the past in QuickBooks Online

Moreover, visit these articles to help you memorize reports if you want the same settings of the customized report to be available for future use:

• Create, access, and modify memorized reports
• Set up customized reports with scheduled email in QuickBooks Online

Keep in touch with the Community if there's anything we can assist you with running your financial reports or any QuickBooks-related concerns. We'll be right here to provide any kind of assistance,  galleon-bookkeeping.