G/L Journal Entry Screen

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About Transaction Processing in General Ledger

About Viewing Batch Information

Open General Ledger > G/L Transactions >  Journal Entry.

Click this button to post the transaction batch that is currently displayed.

This button allows you to post one transaction batch at a time. To post a range of batches, use the Post Batches screen. For more information, see G/L Post Batches Screen.

If you have integrated General Ledger with Tax Services and you are entering tax amounts in a journal entry, you can click Create Tax Details to automatically create details in the table. A detail is created for each tax authority assigned to the tax group you've specified.

If you want this transaction to be reversed in a future fiscal period, select the Auto Reverse option, and then specify a period to which to post the reversal.

General Ledger will automatically create a reversing entry by reversing the signs of all the details for this journal entry, and it will post the reversing entry to the specified fiscal period.

Both the original and reversing entries are posted when you post the batch.

The date on the reversing transaction is the first day of the specified reversal period. The description is "REVERSING ENTRY."

Note:
  • You can create and post reversing entries that span the previous and current fiscal years.

  • If you want to create a reversing entry that spans the current and the next fiscal year, you must first use the G/L Create New Year screen to create the new year.

    If you do not create a new year first, posting will create an error batch with the original and reversing entries, which you can post later.

    If the new year exists, posting will post the original entry, and add the reversing entry to an error batch for later posting (because you cannot post to a future year).

  • Provisional posting does not create reversing entries across a fiscal year boundary—only within the fiscal year.

Enter a description of up to 60 characters for the batch. The description is printed on batch listings, and appears with the batch number when you use the Finder to view lists of batches.

General Ledger assigns a batch number when you create a new batch. During posting, the batch number is assigned to each transaction in the batch, and becomes an important part of the audit trail for the transaction.

To recall an existing batch for modifying or deleting, enter the batch number or use the Finder to select it.

If you delete a batch, you cannot reuse its number, and the batch is listed as Deleted on the G/L Batch Status report.

Specify the document date for the journal entry. The complete journal entry has a single document date associated with it.

Notes:
  • You cannot change the document date for documents created in subledgers.
  • The date assigned to details consolidated during posting is the last date of the fiscal period to which they were posted.
  • For GL transactions that were created in Sage 300 2014 or earlier, the posting date is entered in this field by default.

This field displays the name of the person who entered the transaction.

Notes:
  • If the transaction was first entered in a subledger, but does not include information about who entered it, this field displays the name of the person who generates the G/L journal entry.
  • For GL transactions that were created in Sage 300 2014 or earlier, this field is blank by default.

Enter a description of up to 60 characters for the journal entry. The description is printed on batch listings, and appears with the entry number when you use the Finder to view lists of entries.

Select an existing entry, or click the Create New Entry button to add a new entry.

If you delete an entry, you cannot reuse its number. If you do not reassign the number, it is listed as Deleted on the posting journal when the batch is posted, to provide an audit trail of the missing number.

Specify the type of journal entry you are adding.

Most entries are of the Standard type. However, if you have integrated General Ledger with Tax Services, you can enter tax amounts by specifying one of the following entry types:

  • Sales Tax
  • Purchases Tax

If you specify a tax entry type, other tax-related fields become available, including some in the detail table. Also, you can enter only tax amount details for the journal entry (not other types of journal entry detail).

In Normal Entry Mode, new detail lines in the table have no information automatically entered in them.

Specify the posting date for the journal entry. The complete journal entry can have a single date associated with it, or you can enter a different date on each detail line.

The posting date does not determine the period to which the details will be posted. It is for information only. (The period is set by the Year/Period field.)

Notes:
  • When you specify a posting date, the corresponding year/period is entered automatically in the Year/Period field. However, changing the year/period does not change the posting date.
  • The date assigned to details consolidated during posting is the last date of the fiscal period to which they were posted.

In Quick Entry Mode, new detail lines in the table have information automatically copied from the previous detail line into the Reference, Description, Comment, and Date fields. This only happens if there is already at least one detail from which to copy this information.

Select a source code for the entire journal entry. If you wish, you can enter different source codes on individual detail lines.

You use the G/L Source Codes setup screen to define source codes. Source codes tell you which ledger a transaction comes from, and what kind of transaction it is. You define your own General Ledger source codes to identify transactions.

For example, GL-CD can identify a cash disbursement added to General Ledger. GL-JE can identify a general journal entry.

If the batch is set Ready To Post on the G/L Batch List screen, Ready To Post appears in the Status field.

Note:
  • Batches that are set Ready to Post cannot be edited.
  • You cannot use the G/L Post Batches screen to post batches that are not set Ready to Post.
  • On the G/L Batch List screen, you can select a batch, and then click the Post button to post a single batch, even if the batch has not been set Ready to Post.
  • You cannot post to an account if the Post To Account field on the G/L Accounts screen is set to Prohibited for that account.

When entering tax amounts, specify the tax group to which the tax amounts relate.

This field displays the description of the tax group specified in the Tax Group field.

Specify the year and period to which to post the journal entry.

If you selected the Allow Posting To Previous Years option on the Posting tab of the G/L Options screen, you can post to any existing year for which you maintain fiscal sets and transaction details.

If a fiscal period is closed, you cannot post an entry to that period unless you reopen the period.

Note: You must use the same fiscal period for all details in a single journal entry; that is, you cannot enter two "halves" of an entry to different fiscal periods (causing the ledger to be out of balance in those periods).

Specify the number of the account to which the detail will be posted.

Note:
  • Before you can enter and post a transaction, the status of the account to which it is posted must be set to Active on the Details tab of the G/L Accounts screen.
  • You cannot select an account for which the Post To Account field has been set to Prohibited.

This field displays a description of the account.

Add an optional comment to identify or explain the detail.

Comments are printed on the Batch Listing and Posting Journals, but they do not appear on any other reports.

Enter the amount of the credit.

For multicurrency accounts, enter detail amounts in the source currency. The program displays the functional-currency-equivalent amount in the Functional Credit field. You can edit the functional-currency amount, if necessary, but you can post the entry only when the debit and credit amounts balance in the functional currency.

Tips:
  • To return to the Debit field, you can press Shift+Tab.
  • If you enter multicurrency transactions frequently, move the functional currency columns to place them beside the source currency.

In a journal entry transaction, you can choose to post a transaction to a different fiscal period than what was entered as the transaction date. For example, you could enter June dates in the transaction detail lines, but post the transaction in July.

This date does not determine the period to which a detail will be posted. It is for information only. (The period is set by the Year/Period field.)

Enter the amount of the debit.

To move to the Credit field to enter a credit, press the Tab key without making an entry in the Debit field.

For multicurrency accounts, enter detail amounts in the source currency. The program displays the functional-currency-equivalent amount in the Functional Debit field. You can edit the functional-currency amount, if necessary, but you can post the entry only when the debit and credit amounts balance in the functional currency.

You can enter a description of up to 60 characters with each detail line. The description is listed with the detail on batch listings, posting journals, and source journals (if the detail has not been consolidated).

The Optional Fields column in the Detail table indicate whether any optional fields are assigned to a selected entry detail.

For more information, see About Optional Fields in General Ledger.

If you use quantities with the specified account, you can enter one quantity with the detail (for example, to indicate the number of items sold), if this feature is available to you.

Before you can enter quantities for an account, you must select the Maintain Quantities option in two separate places:

  • On the Account tab of the G/L Options screen to turn on quantities for the whole ledger.
  • On the Detail tab of the G/L Accounts screen to turn on quantities for the account.

Enter an optional detail reference of up to 60 characters. The reference can be anything you want to keep with the detail, such as a check number or invoice number.

The reference is listed with the detail on batch listings, posting journals, and the G/L Transactions Listing.

If you do not consolidate the transaction, detail references are also listed on source journals. If you print source journals by reference, you can use the same reference for all details in an entry so all details from the entry are grouped together.

Specify the source code to use for the entry. This source code is used as the default for all detail lines in the entry, but you can enter a different source code for a detail line if necessary.

If you use different source codes for individual detail lines, the separate details in an entry can appear in different source journals.

Specify a source type for the detail. You can enter a different source ledger and type for each detail line if necessary. If you use different source types for individual detail lines, the separate details in an entry can appear in different source journals.

By default, the detail line source ledger and type is the same one that you selected for the entry.

When entering tax amounts, specify the account type for the taxes.

Note: This field appears if you enter a tax group in the Tax Group field above the detail table. (The Tax Group field is available only if you have integrated General Ledger with Tax Services.)

When entering tax amounts, specify the tax authority.

Note: This field appears if you enter a tax group in the Tax Group field above the detail table. (The Tax Group field is available only if you have integrated General Ledger with Tax Services.)

Specify the source currency of the debit or credit amount you are entering.

If you enter the code for the functional (home) currency, General Ledger enters a rate of 1.000 for the detail.

Note: You use the G/L Accounts screen to specify which currencies can be posted to the account.

This field displays the functional-currency-equivalent amount of the entry in the Source Debit/Credit field, or the amount of the detail if it is entered in the functional currency.

Enter the amount with the number of decimal places used by the currency.

If you are entering a detail in a currency other than the functional currency, the program converts the source amount to its functional-currency-equivalent amount, then displays the result in the functional field.

If you change the functional-currency amount calculated by the program, the program will adjust the rate to reflect the change.

This is the rate at which the amount in the source currency will be converted to the functional currency.

You can change the rate for any detail, but the journal entry must balance in the functional currency before you can post it.

A list of rates appears when the program cannot find a rate that matches the method defined for selecting rates for the currency. You can choose a rate, or enter one directly.

The exchange rate will be calculated as of the date in this field.

Specify the rate type, which specifies the rate table used to convert the source currency to functional currency (for example, spot rate, contract rate, or average rate).

The default rate type is displayed, but you can enter a different rate type and a different exchange rate.

G/L Summary of Tax Details Screen

Overview

Use the G/L Journal Entry screen to:

For more information about General Ledger journal entries and batches, see About Transaction Processing in General Ledger.

Editing Journal Entries and Batches

The following conditions apply when editing journal entries and batches: