Journal entries

A journal entry is one balanced set of debits and credits in the general ledger. Most entries are written for you: posting a delivery invoice, a supplier bill, a payment or a stock count each writes one. The bookkeeper writes the rest by hand for things no document covers, such as a bank fee, an accrual at month-end, a correction, or moving an amount from one account to another.

What you see on Journal Entries

Journal Entries (Accounting, General Ledger) lists every entry with its date, description, source and status:

• Draft: saved but not in the ledger yet.
• Posted: in the ledger. Posted entries are never edited or deleted.
• Reversed: cancelled by a later entry with the opposite amounts, which is linked from it.

The Source says what wrote the entry: Manual, Opening Balance, Sales Invoice, Sales Shipment, Purchase Invoice, Purchase Receipt, Payment, Credit Memo, Debit Memo, Inventory Adjustment, Asset Depreciation, Asset Disposal, Card Transaction and others. An entry written by a document links back to that document, so you can open the invoice or payment behind any line of the ledger.

How to write a manual entry when no document covers the amount

1. On Journal Entries, choose Add Journal Entry. A new draft opens.
2. Enter a Description that says why the entry exists, and the Posting Date, which decides the month it lands in.
3. Add a line for each account: choose the account with Select account, add a line description if it helps, and enter the amount as a Debit or a Credit. Only accounts, not account groups, can be chosen.
4. Tag lines with Dimensions when you want them in a report by location, cost center, customer or project.
5. Watch the totals under the lines: they show how far apart debits and credits are ("more debits" or "more credits").
6. Choose Save Draft to come back later, or Post once debits equal credits. Post stays disabled until the entry balances and is not zero.

A manual entry can post into a month that is Locked (closed to operations but still open for adjustments). It cannot post into a month that is Closed; see Accounting for the month-end steps.

How to correct a posted entry when it was wrong

1. Open the entry and choose Reverse Entry from the actions menu.
2. Confirm. AimRack writes a new posted entry with every amount negated and marks the original Reversed, so the ledger keeps both and nets them to zero.
3. Post a new, correct entry.

A draft entry can simply be changed or deleted. Dimension tags on a posted entry can still be adjusted; the amounts and accounts cannot.

Where this fits

Automatic entries come from sales invoices, purchase invoices, payments, credits, receipts, shipments, inventory counts and depreciation runs. The tie-out adjustment on the Receivables and Payables pages (invoicing) opens here as a draft for you to review. Every posted entry feeds the reports.