Reversing a Journal
How to take a posted journal out of the books — what reversal does, what it does not do, and when to post a correcting entry instead.
A posted journal cannot be edited. To take one out of the books you reverse it. Reverse on the journal's page and Void on the list are two labels for one operation: the journal is marked voided and drops out of every report.
What Reversal Actually Does
| What happens | Detail |
|---|---|
| Status | The journal is marked voided and displays as Reversed |
| Reports | Its lines leave the ledger, the trial balance and every report from that moment |
| Offsetting entry | None. The original is switched off — it is not cancelled by a second, mirrored journal |
| Numbering | No new journal number is used |
| Audit trail | It stays on the Reversed tab, and in the account ledger with Audit Trail on |
Balances are derived from the posted lines every time they are read, so switching a journal off is enough — there is nothing stored that a counter-entry would need to correct. This is why reversing produces no second journal, and why no figure anywhere is left double-counted.
Reversing One Journal
Finance → Journals, on the Manual or All tab, and click the row.
Confirm "Do you want to reverse this journal?".
Reversal only removes. If the entry was needed but wrong, post a new journal with the right lines.
Reversing Several
On the Journals list, tick the rows and click Void. The Auto and Reversed tabs offer no selection at all, so this is available on Manual, All and Draft only.
When It Is Refused
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| The date falls in a closed period | Refused — "Transaction(s) fall within closed accounting period". Reopen the period first, or leave the entry and correct it in an open one |
| The journal is already reversed | Refused — there is nothing to switch off |
| It is a draft | Reverse is not offered. A draft has no financial effect; delete it instead |
There is no way to un-reverse a journal. Once it is voided, the route back is to post it again — from the original using Duplicate, checking the date and reference before you do.
When Not to Reverse
An accrual that should clear next period
Do not reverse the accrual. It belongs to the period it was posted in, and removing it misstates that period.
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities | 680.00 | — | Estimated electricity and water — August |
| Accruals | — | 680.00 | Accrued utilities |
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accruals | 680.00 | — | Release August accrual — bill now received |
| Utilities | — | 680.00 | Reverses the estimate; the real bill posts its own expense |
A journal a document produced
Reversing an auto journal leaves the document active while its ledger effect is gone — the document and the books no longer agree. Void or edit the document instead; it retires or re-posts its own journal, so the two stay in step. See Auto-generated journals.
A posted journal with a small mistake
Use Update on a posted manual journal. It voids the original and re-posts under a new number, linked back so the trail is intact — one action instead of a reverse plus a retype.
Never hide a reversed journal's lines to tidy a ledger. What is counted and what is shown must be decided by the same rule; separating them is how figures go quiet without any error appearing.
Related
- Reading a journal entry — where Reverse lives
- Journal Entries — the list, its tabs and the Void action
- Auto-generated journals — why documents are voided, not their journals
- Period Close — reopening a period so a correction can post
- Manual journals — posting the correcting entry