Journal Entry

This module allows the user to create a journal entry. A journal entry is a record of the business transactions in the accounting books of a business. A properly documented journal entry consists of the correct date, amounts to be debited and credited, description of the transaction and a unique reference number.

Purpose of Journal Entry:

A journal is a record of transactions listed as they occur that shows the specific accounts affected by the transaction. Used in a double-entry accounting system, journal entries require both a debit and a credit to complete each entry. Journal entries are the foundation for all other financial reports. They provide important information that are used by auditors to analyze how financial transactions impact a business. The journalized entries are then posted to the general ledger.  

Adjustment: The user must press enter on the adjustment field and the system will create an adjustment number automatically for this journal entry.

Period: The user must choose a period for this journal entry by using the scroll-down list.

Authorized by: The user must choose their user for this journal entry by using the scroll-down list.

Currency:  The user must choose the currency by using the scroll-down list.

Example of header:

Reversed at End of Month:

This type of journal entry are usually made at the beginning of the accounting period, reversing journal entries are made to reverse entries that were made in the same period and are no longer required. Such as wage accrual which is replaced by an actual payroll expenditure. Another example is telephone bills, the user can enter a provision for this type of expense at the beginning of the month so the financial statement will reflect as much as possible the correct amounts. So, when this option is ticked, the system will reverse this journal entry at End of Month.

Header all entered:

Once the header is filled in, the user can press the Add button to start entering the journal entry

GL Account: The user can enter the account number and press enter to move on to the next field. If not, they can perform a search by pressing the F1 key.

If the user presses F1 to search, the following window will pop-up:

The user can type in some information to search and press enter twice and the system will search for accounts with that specific information and will display the accounts.

The user must select the account either by double clicking on the account or the user can highlight the account by using the arrows up and down and once highlighted, the user must press enter and this will bring the account in the posting screen of the journal entry as shown below.

The system will display the description of the account but the user can change this description with a slight explanation of the journal entry so make it more specific and this description will be on the account inquiry and certain reports such as GL details. The description field is 40 digits and it is alpha-numerical.

For this example, we will leave it as is and will just press enter to go to the next field.

Warehouse: The use must choose the warehouse to be affected by this journal entry by using the scroll-down list or can just press enter to accept the warehouse displayed.

Category: The system will jump over the category automatically.

Customer/Vendor:   The system will only stop on this field when the user chooses the Accounts Receivable and the Accounts Payable general ledger account. If the user chose the Receivables account, they must enter a customer number and press enter. But if the user chose the Payables account, they must enter a vendor number and press enter. If the user chose a regular account, the system will jump directly to the Debit field once the user chose the warehouse.

Reference: The system will only stop on this field when the user chooses the Accounts Receivable and the Accounts Payable general ledger account. In this field, the system is looking for an invoice number from the customer or the vendor depending if the user chose the Accounts Receivable and the Accounts Payable general ledger account.

Debit: If it is a debit, the user must enter the amount or press enter if it is a credit.

Credit: The user must enter the amount.

Example of first line in journal entry:

In this example, a credit of $120 was entered as a credit and the system displays a cumulative of -120. Even if the user want to complete the journal entry at this time, the journal entry is not in balance and the system won't allow the user to complete this order.

So the user must press the Add button for a second line and follow the instructions above.

For this example, the bank account was chosen for the second line.

The user can enter more lines if necessary but for this example, 2 lines were entered.

Reason: The user must enter a reason for this journal entry

Once the reason is entered by the user, the user can press the Complete button when done with journal entry and the system will ask the user the following question:

The user must press Yes to update this journal entry.

Review a journal entry through the journal entry module:

When cursor is sitting under the adjustment number, the user can press F1 to perform a search.

In this case, the user must press No (see journal entry templates - Yes) and the system will ask for the following question:

In this case, the udated button will be pressed.

Under the information to search just press enter twice and the system will display the following:

The user must select the journal entry either by double clicking on the account or the user can highlight the account by using the arrows up and down and once highlighted, the user must press enter to bring in the journal entry on the screen.