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Journal Entries

Use the Journal Entries program to post transactions such as interest, bank charges or year-end adjustments to your general ledger accounts. Journal entries don't affect client files.

Journal entries should consist of an equal debit and credit. If you post a journal entry that doesn't consist of an equal debit and credit, you will cause your general ledger to go out of balance.

Because journal entries don't affect client files, don't post journal entries to the control accounts unless your System Balance is already out of balance (e.g. you are posting the journal entry to correct an error). These accounts are used to reconcile your general ledger with your client subledgers; therefore, any posting must be attributed to a client file.

For example, don't post journal entries to a trust bank account. Use the Trust Checks or Trust Receipts program instead, so that the trust transaction is recoded on the related client file. Posting using the appropriate posting program means that both the client files and the general ledger will be updated, and your System Balance will remain in balance.

Posting a Journal Entry

1. Click General Ledger > Journal Entries.
2. Enter the date of the transaction, click the date icon to select the date from the calendar, or press Enter to use the current system date. To post to a date in your prior year enter the date and then enter the previous year adjustments password when prompted.
3. Enter the general ledger account number.
4. (Optional) Enter the reference number.
5. Enter the description of the journal entry. For example, indicate why you are posting it. To automatically insert frequently used text in the description, type the Auto-text code in the field and press the space bar.
6. Enter the amount of the transaction. If you are entering a negative amount type a minus (-) sign in front of the amount.
7. Click Save.
8. Repeat these steps, entering the journal entry to the offsetting account. For example, if you are posting bank service charges you will probably need to post a credit to your bank account and a debit to your Bank Service Charges expense account.
9. Continue entering journal entries or click Post.

Editing a Journal Entry

General ledger accounts are not updated until you click Post. If you have entered and saved transactions, you can edit them before posting. You can also delete entries.

1. From the Journal Entries posting screen, click View Unposted Transactions. If you have an entry on the screen you will be prompted to save it first.
2. Highlight the transaction to be modified and click Edit.
3. Make your changes and click Save.

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