Journals
Use the Journals command to define the journal
entries you want to process in the Nominal module. Each journal record
can be used as the basis for creating one or more journal entry postings.
Once you have created a journal record, you can create postings from it
as many times as you want. You can create postings directly from the journal
record or you can postpone the posting to a later date. At any time you
can retrieve the journal for amendment before you use it to create postings.
Open Period Accounting
The Financial Calendar form
controls which periods can be posted to in the current, previous and future
financial years. To post a journal to a period in the Nominal Ledger,
its status must be 'Open'. For information see the Open
Period Accounting Help topic.
Creating and Posting Journals
You can create journals for various types of nominal posting:
Posting
opening balances - When you first start to use your nominal
ledger, simply create a document containing all of the opening balance
values and post from it to period one. In successive years, the system
will automatically post opening balances to the new year.
Posting
journals to earlier periods in the current financial year -
If you are creating your nominal ledger part way through the accounting
year, you can post prior period journal entries, either in detail
or in summary form, from a journal record. You can also make prior
period adjustments during the normal course of your accounting.
Posting
journals to the prior financial year - If you need to post
a transaction to the last financial year, you can post prior year
journals to any period in that year. These postings are also posted
to the first period of the current financial year. If you use Open
Period Accounting both the selected period in the previous year
and the first period in the current year must have a status of 'Open'.
Posting
journals to future financial years - If you use Open
Period Accounting and need to post a transaction to future financial
years, you can post them to any open period in that year.
Posting
standard journals- You can either post these as soon as you
have completed and accepted the journal details when creating a new
journal record (a 'Post Journal' prompt is displayed) or separately
using the Post Journal command on the Action menu.
Creating
journal entries for authorisation - Journals can be created
for authorization before posting.
Creating
template entries - For those circumstances where your journal
entry processing is similar from one period to another. For example,
depreciation journals may access the same set of accounts with the
same values each period. You create one journal record for each type
of journal entry you make on a period-by-period basis.
Creating
recurring entries - You can create journals for posting at
set intervals for a specific number of times. Such journals will normally
have identical details in successive periods.
Posting
reversing journals - You can create journals that are posted
in the current period and then reversed automatically in the following
period when you use the Period End command.
The Nominal Journals form displays various
details for the currently selected journal. These include:
Box |
Description |
Journal Number |
Where a journal entry has been posted at least once
from the document, the sequential journal number of the last
posting will be displayed. |
Last Period |
Where a journal entry has been posted at least once
from the document, the last period in which a posting was
made will be displayed. |
Times Posted |
The number of times a journal has been posted. |
Date Posted |
Where a journal entry has been posted at least once
from the document, the date of last posting will be displayed. |
Debits/Credits |
The debit and credit totals accumulated from postings
made using the journal. For foreign currency journals, the
debits and credits are shown for both the foreign and the
home currencies. |
Advanced Nominal Dimensions
If you have the Advanced Nominal Ledger feature activated and have elected
to use one or both of the additional nominal analysis dimensions (such
as Project and Department), refer to the Advanced
Nominal Ledger Help topic for information.
Defining Journals
Each document created is identified by a reference and the next available
reference is defined in the Next Journal Ref
box on the General tab of the Nominal
Ledger - Set Options form. Before you can create a journal record,
certain prerequisite records must be created, depending on the type of
journal you want to create:
Each journal must identify
at least two nominal accounts (to ensure debits and credits are balanced).
Nominal accounts are defined using the Accounts
command on the Maintenance menu of the Nominal module.
If you want to enter journals
in a foreign currency, at least one currency code must be created
using the System Exchange Rates form in
the System module.
If you want to define a VAT
journal, at least one VAT code record must be created using the VAT Processing form in the System module.
The total of all debits and credits within a journal must balance before
it is posted, However, you can create and store a journal record that
does not balance, even though you cannot create postings from it. You
can subsequently retrieve the journal for amendments before it is used.
Journal Entries
Box |
Description |
Description |
A description for the journal of between one and 30
characters. The description may be used when searching for
the journal subsequently. It is included on various nominal
ledger reports and is recorded and displayed on the relevant
nominal accounts’ transactions. |
Date |
The date on which the journal was created or amended.
The current system date is displayed as a default which you
can amend. The date is not used as a transaction date and
does not appear on journal transaction reports. |
Input By |
The name of the person maintaining the journal record.
The user name as defined on the User Profiles
form in the System module is used as a default entry. You
can select a different user name from the list. |
Recurring |
An option that determines whether the journal is used
for recurring postings. Recurring journals are used for repeat
transactions, such as direct debits or standing orders. If
you select this option, you must make entries in the Frequency, Day(s),
Times to Post and Next Posting
boxes. |
Frequency |
The frequency with which a recurring journal is to be
posted. This only applies if you have selected the Recurring
option. You can select from a list one of Week,
Month, Period,
or Days. If you select Days,
enter the interval of days between each posting in the Day(s) box. If you select Month,
enter the day in the month for the posting in the Day(s)
box. For example, if you enter 15, the journal is due on the
15th day of every month. If you enter 31, the recurring entry
will be posted on the last day of each month. |
Times to Post |
The number of times, in total, you want the recurring
entry to be posted. This only applies if you have selected
the Recurring option. If the journal
has already been posted, then the number of times to post
will include the times posted. |
Next Posting |
The date on which the next posting of the recurring
journal is due. This only applies if you have selected the
Recurring option. Note that if you
forget to post a recurring entry on the correct date, the
entry will be posted the next time you use the Post
Recurring command. |
Reversing |
An option that determines whether the journal entry
is to be reversed in the new period when you use the Period End command. If you have also selected
the Recurring option, note that
you should only select this option if the recurring entry
is posted once per
accounting period. |
Retained |
An option that determines whether the journal record
is to be retained after posting when you next use the Period End command. If you have already
selected the Recurring option, this
option will be unavailable. For recurring journals, the system
automatically removes them once the number of times to be
posted has been reached. |
VAT Analysis |
An option that determines whether the journal detail
lines need to be analysed for the VAT return. |
Currency |
A reference that identifies the currency for the journal.
You can select from a list. For foreign currency bank transaction
journals, you can specify the currency code and exchange rate
applicable. The application will check the exchange rate table
to see if a start date for Euro processing has been specified.
If this is equal to or earlier than the system date, the journal
transaction will show the exchange rate to the Euro. |
Details
Box |
Description |
Account |
A reference that identifies the nominal account. You
can select from a list. |
Advanced Nominal Dimensions |
References that identify the dimensions used for the
analysis of the current transaction line in the nominal ledger.
If you have the Advanced Nominal Ledger activated and you
are using either of the two additional analysis dimensions
(such as Project and Department), you can override the defaults
shown for the current transaction line; the defaults being
those associated with the corresponding nominal account record
identified in the Account box.
If the corresponding nominal account record indicates that
the use of one or both dimensions is mandatory, then you must
ensure an appropriate ID has been entered before you save
the transaction line. For further information, refer to the
section Advanced Nominal Ledger. |
Debit and Credit |
The debit or credit value to be posted to the selected
account. If you have entered a currency code in the Currency box on the General
tab of the Nominal Journals form,
the value must be entered in that currency. The exchange rate
can be altered on a line-by-line basis, but will default to
the rate entered with the currency code. As with a home currency
journal, the journal cannot be posted until it balances but
in the case of a foreign journal, both the home and foreign
amounts must balance. Therefore it may be necessary to account
for an exchange discrepancy amount in order to balance the
home currency values. This should be done by adding a new
line with just the home currency value, so that the discrepancy
can be posted to the correct account. |
VAT Code |
The VAT code for the line. You can select from a list.
This only applies if you have selected the VAT
Analysis option the General
tab of the Nominal Journals form.
From this code the application will calculate the VAT element
of the debit or credit amount entered. You must also specify
a tax point date for VAT postings in the Tax
Point box. This defaults to the system date. |
Comment |
A comment for the detail line. |
Posting Journals
Use the following commands on the Action menu
to create postings from the currently selected journal record.
Use this command |
To |
Post Journal |
Create a journal posting in the current accounting period
from the details stored in the journal record. If the system
detects that the journal has been posted at least once previously,
you will be asked to confirm that you wish to post it again.
You must ensure that the current system date is within the
date range of the current accounting period, otherwise the
posting will not be permitted.
If Open Period Accounting
is used, you can use the Post Journal
command to post journals to any open period in:
|
Post Prior |
Create a journal posting in a previous accounting period
of the current year from the details stored in the journal
record. The command is unavailable if the current period is
the first in the accounting year. Otherwise, you will be able
to specify to which previous accounting period in the current
accounting year to which the journal details will be posted.
The posting date assigned to the transaction is the first
day in the period to which it is posted. The journal is allocated
the next available entry number (based on the next number
specified in the Next Journal No.
box on the General tab of the Nominal Ledger - Set Options form) and
is placed at the end of all the transactions for the relevant
period in the account view screen. You must ensure that the
current system date is within the date range of the current
accounting period, otherwise the posting will not be permitted.
 This command is not available if Open
Period Accounting is used. To post journals to earlier periods in
the current financial year or to previous financial years, use the Post
Journal command.
|
Post Prior Year |
Create a journal posting for the previous year from
the details stored in the journal record. A posting made using
this command is posted to the chosen period of the previous
year. You can enter any period number. You cannot change the
year in the Posting Year box; the
system works it out for you.
For balance sheet accounts, the transactions are included
in the brought forward items for the first period in the current
year. For profit and loss account items, the values are accumulated
within the retained profit figure and posted to the first
period of the current year.
This command is not available if Open
Period Accounting is used. To post journals to earlier periods in
the current financial year or to previous financial years, use the Post
Journal command.
|
For journals where you have selected the Recurring
option, you must use the Post Recurring command
on the Utilities submenu in the Nominal module
to create the transactions.