General Ledger - Journal Entries

Overview

The Journal Entry is used by the accounting department to enter transactions that need to be reflected in the financial statements (and potentially the project system) that do not flow naturally from the other input screens. 

Examples of journal entries might include

• Book depreciation
• Accrue month end expenses
• Allocate expenses
• Book auditor adjustments

Using the Journal Entries search / list screen, you can search for and view existing entries.  From this screen, users can also create, edit, post (previously submitted) and void Journal Entries.  Journal Entries can have one of the following statuses:  INUSE, SUBMITTED, or POSTED.  Entries created can be viewed via the Journal Details Report.

Roles

This screen is available to users having any of the following roles: Administrator, GL User or GL Poster.  

• Users having the GL User role are authorized to create and view journal entries (limited by Organization Access restrictions).
• Users having the GL Poster role are authorized to post journal entries (limited by Organization Access restrictions).  Journal Entries can be posted directly from the Journal Entries List for those entries having a status of SUBMITTED, or individual journal entries can be posted directly from the Journal Entry screen using the Post/Next button.

License

This screen is available with the Project Financials family of Unanet licenses.

Topics covered on this help page include:

• Search                          (to refine the list of journal entries )

• List                                 (to view, edit, delete, void or post journal entries)

• Add                                (to add journal entries)

• Edit                        

• • Summary        (to edit journal entry summary information)

  • Details             (to edit journal entry details)

  • Attachments   (to add attachments to a journal entry)

• View                              (to see a view only copy of a journal entry)

• • Copy                (to copy journal entries)

• Post                              (to post journal entries)

• Void                              (to void journal entries)

• Closed Fiscal Year   (adjusting entries when posting/voiding to a closed fiscal year)

You may also be interested in:

• Import General Ledger Journal Entry

• Export General Ledger Journal Entry

• Journal Details Report

• Financial Documents Stored Procedures

• Journal Entries - Knowledge Center Topics (search for this topic in the Knowledge Center)

Search

Using the Journal Entry Search screen, you can refine the list of journal entries with which you have interest, by supplying search criteria and clicking on the List tab.

Field Descriptions (click on a link below for additional information):

List

The resulting list will resemble the following example.    From this screen, you can use the available options to view, edit, delete, post, or void a particular journal entry.  

Field Descriptions (click on a link below for additional information):

Add Journal Entry

Clicking on the link (available on the Journal Entry - Search/List screens), will present you with the Journal Entry - Summary screen where you will supply the summary information for a journal entry.  Subsequent to providing the summary level information, you will then need to navigate to the Details option, and supply journal entry detail line items.  On this Summary screen, you will enter information such as the document and post dates, whether this is a recurring or reversing entry, and any reference, description or comments you'd like to associate with the entry.

Field Descriptions (click on a link below for additional information):

Reversing

When checking the Reversing option, upon the posting of this journal entry a second reversing journal entry will be generated and posted as well.  This second journal entry will be a complete duplicate having the debit and credit values switched on each detail line item.

Recurring

When checking the Recurring option, the system will post the original document and create an additional journal entry for the next occurrence, leaving it in the INUSE status.  The subsequent journal entries created as a result of this feature, can be modified to have their values revised and then manually posted.  These subsequent journal entries will have their Fiscal Period default to the next available Fiscal Period (which could then be overridden by editing the journal entry prior to having it posted).

Edit Journal Entry - Summary

The Edit Journal Entry screen (which you can get to by navigating to the Summary left menu option after clicking the pencil icon from the Journal Entry list screen), is nearly identical to the Journal Entry Add screen.  On this screen you can modify most fields with the exception of Legal Entity (which can no longer be modified once any Detail line items have been added to this journal entry).  This screen also displays the journal entry Document # assigned to this journal entry and also includes a Totals section, which recaps the amounts currently entered for any Detail line items.

The Summary menu option will become unavailable once the Journal Entry reaches the POSTED status.

Field Descriptions (click on a link below for additional information):

Edit Journal Entry - Details

This screen is available to enter the detail line items making up a journal entry (which you can get to by navigating to the Details left menu option after clicking the pencil icon from the Journal Entry list screen). There are two sub-menu selections: Expenses and Items.

Header

The information in the 'header' section of the screen will recap the information provided on the document Summary and additionally a Totals area is provided to help identify any remaining Variance (in your quest to have the Debits equal the Credits).

This section of the Journal Entry Details screen is where you will be entering the individual expense and item line items that make up the journal entry.  Note that you can save 'unbalanced' journal entries, however, you will not be permitted to submit or post until your Debits equal your Credits.  This screen will include the display of informational error messages to help point out any issues with the current document that would prevent submittal.

For those Accounts that have been designated as requiring Project information (configured on the Admin >> Setup >> Accounts screen with the Require Project indicator checked), you can also provide additional 'reference' information (such as the project, task, project type, expense type (expenses only), person and possibly customer or vendor).  

The Detail menu option will become unavailable once the Journal Entry reaches the POSTED status.

Details Grid - Expenses

Field Descriptions (click on a link below for additional information):

Details Grid - Items

Field Descriptions (click on a link below for additional information):

Buttons (click on a link below for additional information):

Journal Entry Attachments

This screen is available to attach one or more documents to a journal entry (which you can get to by navigating to the Attachments left menu option after clicking the pencil icon from the Journal Entry list screen).

Users can add attachments regardless of the Journal Entry status. Only Administrators can delete attachments when the Journal Entry status is Posted.

Note: The Unanet Administrator may want to suggest guidelines with regards to what types of files may be acceptable to be used as journal entry attachments, particularly in the case where any documents are being scanned and saved as a graphics file. Certain graphics file formats are known to result in much larger files sizes than others and you may want to consider suggesting a specific file type to help control the amount of data being stored in your database.  Generally speaking, jpg and gif files tend to be much smaller than tif and png file formats.

To assist with the management of allowable attachment types and size, the administrator can use the following three properties: Maximum Size Allowed for each attachment  (unanet.attachment.max_size), File Extensions that are Not Allowed  (unanet.attachment.invalid_file_extensions) and File Extensions that are allowed  (unanet.attachment.valid_file_extensions).

Using this screen, the user can add, remove or view an attachment.  The Save button will save the changes to the attachment screen and return the user to the Journal Entry Details screen.  The Cancel button will also navigate the user to the Journal Entry Details screen but without saving any changes.  Clicking on the paper clip icon will launch a new window and attempt to display the attachment (assuming your local PC knows what application to execute to view the specific file type).

Field Descriptions (click on a link below for additional information):

Where can attachments be seen?

The Journal Entry >> List screen will contain a paperclip () icon to indicate attachments exist on a particular journal entry.  Clicking on the icon will navigate the user to the Journal Entry >> View screen with the Attachment section expanded.

When viewing a Journal Entry that has attachments, the list of attachments will appear in an expandable table under the displayed journal entry details as in the example below.  You can click on the paper clip icon () and view the attached document (assuming you have the necessary local software installed to view the particular file type).  This section will only appear if attachments exist.

View Journal Entry

This screen is available to view a read-only version of the Journal Entry document (which you can get to by navigating to the View left menu option after clicking the pencil icon from the Journal Entry list screen or by clicking on the view icon on the Journal Entry >> List).  

Once the Journal Entry reaches the POSTED status, this will be the only available menu option.

For journal entries generated by Historical Data Load, labor transactions and expense transactions each display in their own grid. The labor grid will only display if there are labor transactions. The Hours column in the labor grid is from the Quantity field in the Historical Data Load. The Rate column is from the Cost Rate field if populated, otherwise it will be the Cost Amount field divided by Quantity.

When a journal entry contains items, you will also see an Item Details section similar to the Expense Details section. It will also display the item name, UOM, quantity, and rate.

If the user viewing the journal entry has access to this journal entry's Legal Entity, a Copy button will be available (regardless of the Journal Entry status).  If the status is anything other than Posted, an Edit button will also be available.

Note: The Copy button will not appear on any Journal Entries generated by Historical Data Load.

Copy Journal Entry

The Copy button is available from the View screen (if the user viewing the journal entry has access to the Legal Entity of this journal entry and the journal entry was not generated by Historical Data Load).  Once you populate the values on this screen, click on Copy to invoke the copy or Cancel to abandon the copy.  Clicking on the Copy option will leave you on the current journal entry you were originally viewing (with a newly created journal entry having been created and left in the INUSE status).  To access the newly created duplicate journal entry, you would need to navigate back to the Search/List screen.

The copy function will create a duplicate of the current journal entry with the following differences:

• If the Keep Original Line Item Dates is not checked, the newly copied journal entry line item dates will all be populated with the supplied Document Date.
• The Post Date and Fiscal Period on the newly copied journal entry will reflect the supplied Post Date and Fiscal Period respectively.
• None of the Reversing or Recurring attributes will be copied to the newly created journal entry.
• No attachments will be copied.
• Created and Last Updated attributes will not be copied.

Field Descriptions (click on a link below for additional information):

Post Journal Entry

Roles

This screen is available to users having any of the following roles: Administrator or GL Poster.   Note that GL Posters are limited to posting Journal Entries for the Legal Entities they have access to via Financial Organization Access.

Journal Entries can be posted from two screens:

• Individual Journal Entry Post -- When editing the Details grid for a journal entry, the current journal entry can be posted by clicking the Post/Next button.  Journal Entries in the INUSE or SUBMITTED status may be posted from this screen.
• Bulk Journal Entry Post -- When listing one or many journal entries on the Journal Entry >> List screen, the user can check one or many journal entries and click on the Post button to invoke a post for many journal entries.  Only those journal entries in the SUBMITTED status can be included in a bulk post.

The posting process includes the following (not necessarily generated in this order):

1. Create Reversing General Ledger Journal Entry Document -- The reversing journal entry document will only need to be generated if the document being posted is configured with the Reversing option selected.  The reversing journal entry will be created as a clone of the original entry, with the detail row amounts reversed, i.e., debits moved to credits and vice versa. The reversing entry will be posted immediately after creation into the reversing period specified in the original entry.
   
2. Create General Ledger Entries --  GL entries are only generated when posting to the General Ledger (i.e., Post to General Ledger (unanet.financials.post_to_gl) property enabled and the Post to General Ledger Effective Date (unanet.financials.post_to_gl.eff_date) <= document post date).
   Attributes for the general ledger entry will include (for the individual entries, those attributes that are different than the general entry will be noted):   

1. • Feature - JOURNAL ENTRY
   • Document Number - Current document's document number
   • Post Date - Current document's post date
   • Fiscal Month - Fiscal month containing post date of current document
   • Account - Described below
   • Organization - Described below
   • Project - Optional, relevant to Detail grid entries.
   • Description - Current document's description (exception - Detail entry uses detail documents description)
   • Transaction Date - Current document's document date (exception - Detail entry uses detail documents document date)
     

1. • Create general ledger records for the non-zero rows in the expense and item Detail grids (for both the document being posted and the optional Reversing Journal Entry document rows should any have been generated).
   • • The GL amount recorded will be the debit or credit value taken directly from the Detail record.
     • The Org and Account used will be taken directly from the Detail record.
         

3. Create Project Expense and Item Entries -- Project expense and item entries are only generated when the document has non-zero Detail rows that include project info.  For each of those rows, we will create project expense or item records (to be available for subsequent Billing Post & Invoicing activities).
   • The expense or item amount recorded will be based on the Detail's Amount as follows:
   • • A positive amount will be recorded as a positive amount.
     • A negative amount will be recorded as a negative amount.
     • Alternatively explained, the project expense or item entry is based on the associated GL entry calculated as debit - credit.
   • Project Expense or Item entries will be generated for both the Journal Entry being posted and the optional Reversing Journal Entry as well (should it have been generated).
     

4. Create Next General Ledger Journal Entry Occurrence -- Only when this document is configured to be a Recurring document
   • Further, only when the max number of occurrences is blank or if the occurrence of the current document is less than the max number of occurrences.

Void Journal Entry

Roles

This screen is available to users having any of the following roles: Administrator and GL Poster.  

Note: The Void icon will not appear on any Journal Entries generated by Historical Data Load.

Clicking on the Void icon () in the Journal Entry List will allow you to void a POSTED journal entry (generating a negating / voiding set of journal entries).   This action does not delete any entries nor will it recalculate any values, but rather creates a set of reversing entries based on the original transactions.  This is true even if attributes referenced in the original documents have subsequently been made inactive, the voided transaction will continue to use those attributes to reflect the reversing values.

The posting process includes the following:

1. Create a "Voiding" Journal Entry -- Clone the document being voided.  The voiding document will be identical to the original document with the following differences:

1. • Detail row debit and credit values will be swapped.
   • Document Date will reflect the Void Date supplied on this screen (Detail line item dates will be the same as they were on the original document).
   • Description will reflect the value supplied on this screen.
   • Post Date and Fiscal Period will reflect the values supplied on this screen.
   • The Transaction Date for the reversing document's details should be the original line item date.
     

2. Create "Reversing" General Ledger Entries -- Reversing GL entries are only generated when posting to the General Ledger (i.e., Post to General Ledger (unanet.financials.post_to_gl) property enabled and the Post to General Ledger Effective Date (unanet.financials.post_to_gl.eff_date) <= document post date):
     
   • GL transactions will be generated regardless of whether the posting of the original document resulted in GL transactions.
       
   • Create general ledger records for the non-zero rows in the expense and item Detail grids.
   • • The GL amount recorded will be the negated debit or credit value taken directly from the Detail record.
     • The Org and Account used will be taken directly from the Detail record.
         

   • If the original journal entry had the "Reversing" option selected (and as a result a reversing journal entry was created at the time of post), this void process will have no impact to that entry.  If you desire to also void that reversing journal entry, you will need to manually locate and void it.

3. Create "Reversing" Project Expense and Item Entries -- Reversing project expense and item entries are only generated when the document being voided has non-zero Detail rows that include project info. The void process will create reversing project expense or item transactions that differ form the original transaction only in the sign of the amounts.

Validations

• Once you void a document, you cannot 'undo' the void.
• Only POSTED entries can be voided (i.e., INUSE and SUBMITTED items can be further modified, thus no need to void them).
• You can only void an 'original' document that has not previously been voided.  
• You cannot void a voiding document.

To void a journal entry, you will need to supply values for the following fields and click on the Void button.

Field Descriptions (click on a link below for additional information):

Closed Fiscal Years