Manual Journals
Record adjustments, accruals, and corrections that the system cannot auto-generate — with strict double-entry enforcement.
Manual journals are the accountant's direct access to the ledger. Use them for period-end accruals, corrections to misposted entries, write-offs, opening balances of ledger accounts, and any financial event that does not have a source document in another module.
Navigate to: Finance → Journals → New
When to Use a Manual Journal
| Use Case | Example Entry |
|---|---|
| Accrue a cost not yet invoiced | DR Utilities, CR Accruals |
| Correct a misposted expense | DR Correct Account, CR Wrong Account — same amount |
| Write off a bad debt | DR Bad Debt Expense, CR Accounts Receivable |
| Record depreciation by hand | DR Depreciation Expense, CR Accumulated Depreciation - Equipment |
| Capitalise a direct expense | DR Fixed Asset Account, CR Expense Account |
| Bring in ledger opening balances | DR Bank / Inventory / assets, CR loans / equity, offset to Opening Balance Equity |
| Reverse last month's accrual | DR Accruals, CR Utilities — dated in the new period |
The Journal Creation Form
Entry Mode
A toggle at the top switches between Single Entry and Batch Entry.
- Single Entry — creates and posts (or saves) one journal at a time.
- Batch Entry — queues several journals and submits them together. See below.
Header Fields
| Field | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Center | When centers are on | "Select center...", "Company-wide (no center)", or a center. Every line is stamped with it; accounts restricted to other centers are removed from the pickers. |
| Date | Yes | The accounting date. Defaults to today. Can be backdated into an open period — a closed period refuses the post. |
| Reference | No | Placeholder: "e.g., INV-2024-001, REC-12345". Maximum 100 characters. |
| Narration | Yes | Placeholder: "e.g., Purchase of office equipment from ABC Suppliers, Invoice #12345". 5–500 characters; appears in audit reports and transaction history. |
Journal Lines
The table starts with two empty lines — the minimum.
| Column | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Yes | Search by name or code. Once chosen, the line shows the account's balance as at the journal date ("Bal: 1,250.00 Dr") and the balance after this entry ("→ New: 3,750.00 Dr ↑"). "Create New Account" at the foot of the list opens the New Account modal. |
| Line Description | No | Placeholder: "e.g., Computer equipment, Office rent". Maximum 255 characters. |
| Debit | One of Debit / Credit | Entering a debit clears the credit on the same line. |
| Credit | One of Debit / Credit | Entering a credit clears the debit on the same line. |
| × | — | Removes the line. Disabled while only two lines remain. |
Add Journal Line adds a line; there is no maximum.
Balance Indicator
Beneath the lines, a Total row sums the debit and credit columns and a Difference row shows debits minus credits — green with a tick at zero, red otherwise. When both sides have amounts but differ, a banner reads "Entry not balanced: Debits and credits must be equal to proceed." with the current difference.
Every posting button stays disabled until the difference is exactly zero and both sides are greater than zero.
Attachments
Upload Files accepts .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx. Attach the evidence — a statement, a vendor document, an internal memo.
Form Action Buttons
| Button | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Post & Create New | Posts the entry and clears the form for the next one. |
| Save as Draft | Saves as Draft — no financial effect until it is edited and posted. |
| Post Journal | Posts the entry and opens its detail page. A posted journal cannot be edited; void it and post again if it was wrong. |
| Cancel | Discards the form. |
Batch Entry Mode
| Control | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Post Entries / Save as Drafts | Whether the batch will be posted or saved as drafts |
| Add to Batch | Validates the current entry (it must balance) and queues it; the form clears. Reopening a queued entry turns this into Update in Batch. |
| Batch Queue | A side panel listing every queued entry with its date, narration, Dr and Cr totals, and Edit / Remove |
| Post Batch (N entries) / Save Batch | Submits the queue. Each entry is processed on its own; the result reports how many succeeded and how many failed. |
| Clear All | Empties the queue |
Use Batch Entry for month-end accruals. Queue them all, review the panel, then submit once. A failed entry is reported by count — check the journals list for what landed and repost the rest.
Example: Month-End Accruals
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent Expense | 4,200.00 | — | August rent — London office. Lease reference LA-2024-001. |
| Accruals | — | 4,200.00 | Accrued rent payable — cleared when the invoice arrives. |
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities | 680.00 | — | Estimated electricity and water — Singapore office. |
| Accruals | — | 680.00 | Accrued utilities — estimate based on prior month. |
When the actual invoice arrives, record it as a bill in Purchases — the bill posts the expense against Accounts Payable. Then post a journal dated in the new period with the accrual's sides swapped (DR Accruals, CR Rent Expense) so the cost is not counted twice.
Double-Entry Rule
Every journal entry must contain at least two lines. Total debits must equal total credits exactly, and both must be greater than zero. A journal that does not balance is not a valid accounting record and cannot be posted or saved.
Related
- Journal Entries — the Journals page and its tabs
- Reading a journal entry — every part of a journal’s page
- Reversing a journal — taking a posted journal out of the books
- Recurring journals — entries that repeat on a schedule
- Importing journals — bulk-load entries from a spreadsheet
- Opening balances — starting your books at the right position