Journal entries

A journal entry is a manual posting to the general ledger: you choose the accounts and enter the debits and credits yourself. Use one when no other SolaCount document fits, for example accruals, prepayment releases, depreciation, payroll allocations, reclassifications and corrections.

Documents such as invoices, bills, expenses and payments create their own journal entries. Those system entries appear in the same list, but you manage them from their source document, not from here.

Where to find it

The All Entries badge counts entries that are neither posted nor voided, such as drafts waiting for approval.

The Journal Entries feature is on by default. You need the journals.view permission to see the menu. The other permissions are listed under Permissions.

The entry list

The page is titled Journal entries, with the subtitle General Ledger.

Filters and sorting

• Search matches the number, reference and memo.
• Status can be All, Posted, Draft, Voided or Reversed.
• Source narrows the list to one workflow.
• From date and To date limit the date range.
• Sort by can be Date, JE Number, Source or Posted. Order can be Newest first or Oldest first.
• Show voided/audit entries: when this is off and no status is chosen, voided, reversed and cancelled entries are hidden.

Click Filter to apply your choices and Clear to reset them. If nothing matches, you see "No journal entries found."

Export

Click Excel to export the entries you selected, up to 100 rows. Journal entries cannot be imported; there is no CSV or Excel import.

Create a journal entry

1. Go to Journal Entries → All Entries and click New Journal Entry (top-right).
2. The form is headed New Journal Entry, with the subtitle "Debits must equal credits". Fill in the header:

3. Under Lines, enter at least two lines. Click Add Row or Add 2 Rows to add more. Each line has:

4. Check the Totals: row. Its badge reads Balanced, or Difference: x.xx until debits equal credits.
5. Click Save & Post.

The entry posts right away, account balances are recalculated, and you see "Entry saved and posted. Balances updated." You cannot save a draft from this screen; the only exception is when journal approval is on (see below).

The Previous Journal Entries side panel lists your recent entries, so you can copy a pattern.

What the form does not have

• Currency: amounts are always in your base currency, and there is no currency or exchange-rate field. To revalue foreign balances, use Base currency adjustments.
• Tax: there is no VAT field, and VAT accounts are blocked (see below).
• Dimensions: the form has no dimension inputs.
• Attachments: you add these after saving, from the entry's detail page (Attachments → Add).

Validation messages

Journal approval

If your organization turns on approval for journal entries (see Workflow approvals), Save & Post saves the entry as a draft instead and shows "Draft saved. Submit it for approval before posting."

• The approval states are Draft, Pending Approval, Approved, Rejected, Cancelled and Approval invalidated.
• While approval is pending, the edit, post and delete actions are hidden.
• If you change the financial data of an approved draft, the approval is invalidated and the entry has to be approved again.

Status lifecycle

Edit a draft

You can edit only manual entries that are in Draft and have never been posted. Otherwise you see "Only draft manual journal entries can be edited. Unpost the entry first."

1. Open the entry and click Edit. The header reads Edit JE-xxx.
2. Change the lines, then click one of:
   • Save changes: "Draft entry updated. Review and post it when ready."
   • Save & Post: "Draft entry updated, posted, and balances recalculated."

Post a draft

1. Open the draft and click Post Entry.
2. Confirm "Post this entry? Account balances will be updated."

Possible errors are "Entry already posted." and "Manual journals cannot touch VAT accounts. Use VAT Return or Opening Balance flows."

Unpost an entry

Unposting returns a posted manual entry to Draft so you can fix it. It does not create a reversing entry.

1. Open the posted entry and click Unpost entry.
2. Confirm "Unpost this journal entry?".
3. You see "Entry unposted and returned to Draft. You can now edit or re-post it."

Possible errors are "Entry is not posted." and "Cannot unpost this entry." Period locks also apply. In a closed period, use a reversal or an adjusting entry in an open period instead.

Reverse an entry

A reversal keeps the original entry and posts a mirror entry, which leaves a clear audit trail.

1. Open the posted entry and click Reverse Entry.
2. Confirm "Reverse this entry? A reversing entry will be created and balances will be updated."
3. SolaCount posts a new entry with these details:
   • Number RV-… and source Reversal.
   • Reference "Reversal of JE-x" and memo "Auto-reversal of entry JE-x".
   • Every debit and credit swapped. Each line is described "Reversal of JE-x - description", and projects and dimensions are copied.
   • You see "Reversal posted and balances recalculated."
4. The detail pages link the two entries with Reverses and Reversed by.

Reversal date: if the original entry's period is open, the reversal takes the original date, or today if the original date is in the future. If no accounting periods exist, it takes today. The original entry must itself be in an open period, so you cannot reverse an entry from a closed or locked period. Post an adjusting entry in the current period instead.

Possible errors are "Only posted entries can be reversed.", "Cannot reverse this entry." and the period-lock messages below.

For a direct-pay expense entry, the reversal is handed to the expense workflow, and you see "Direct pay reversed and journal entry cleared."

Safe against double clicks. Reversing locks the original entry while it runs. If a reversing entry already exists for it (for example the second of two quick clicks, or two users at once), SolaCount returns that entry instead of posting another one. Posting a draft likewise refuses an entry that is already posted ("Entry already posted."), and the account balances of an entry are applied exactly once. The reversal keeps each line's currency, exchange rate and base-currency amounts, with debit and credit swapped, so a foreign-currency journal reverses at its original base value.

Delete, restore and permanently delete

Delete

1. Open the entry and click Delete.
2. Confirm "Delete this entry? It can be restored from the trash later."

The entry moves to the trash. If it was posted, balances are recalculated without it, and you see "Entry deleted successfully. Balances have been recalculated." A posted entry in a locked period cannot be deleted: "Cannot delete entry in a closed/locked period."

Restore or permanently delete

The trash page is Deleted Journal Entries ("Soft deleted entries can be restored"). Each row shows whether the entry Was Posted or Was Draft, when it was deleted and who deleted it.

• Restore Entry: confirm "Restore this entry?". If the entry was posted, its amounts return to the balances, and you see "Entry restored successfully."
• Delete permanently: allowed only for entries that were never posted. Otherwise you see "Cannot permanently delete a journal entry that was previously posted. Audit trail must be preserved." On success you see "Entry permanently deleted."

System-generated entries are read-only

Entries created by invoices, bills, payments, expenses, inventory, fixed assets and other workflows cannot be edited, unposted, reversed or deleted here. If you try, you see "Only manual journal entries can be managed directly. This entry is linked to a …".

The detail page shows Managed by source ("This journal entry is managed by its source document.") with an Open source document button. Make the correction on that document.

Detail page

The detail page has these tools:

• Comments and Attachments (with Add)
• Previous/Next navigation
• Print and PDF
• Relationship Map
• Make Recurring, which turns a manual entry into a recurring template (see Recurring transactions)

Every action button respects your permissions; buttons you are not allowed to use are hidden. Each action asks you to confirm in a dialog and then shows the outcome as a notice. If the outcome is uncertain (for example, the connection dropped), SolaCount checks the entry's real state rather than submitting it again.

On the detail page, the journal details (number, date, status, source, reference, memo, period) and the document sections beneath them (lines, related documents, notes, attachments, comments) are separated by consistent spacing and borders, in light and dark mode, so the header facts are not confused with the document content.

Journal sources and source links

The Source column on the list, the Source filter and the source banner on the detail page name the workflow that created the entry. Since October 2026 these names are translated into every supported language (English, Arabic, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Urdu and Chinese), not only on screen but in the Excel export. In English they are:

A reversal entry opens the original journal it reverses. A source link is shown only when the source belongs to the active organization and still exists; a journal whose source cannot be proved to be yours shows its label without a link. Opening a link never changes any record.

Example: tracing a depreciation entry. On the list, filter Source = Fixed Asset. The 31 October 2026 entry (Dr Depreciation Expense 1,944.44 / Cr Accumulated Depreciation 1,944.44, the monthly charge on a AED 70,000 fit-out over 36 months) shows the Fixed Asset source with a link to its depreciation run. Click it to open the run and its entries; the Asset Depreciation Summary report links the same journal and the asset (Fixed assets).

Example: the year-end journal. After closing FY 2026 the entry "Year End Close FY 2026" dated 31 December 2026 has the source Fiscal Year. Each line is described Close 4101 - Sales Revenue, using the account name in the page language, and the last line transfers the net profit to Retained Earnings. Clicking the source opens FY 2026.

Lock dates and closed periods

Posting, unposting, reversing and deleting all check the date against your periods (see Fiscal years & lock dates):

• "Cannot post transaction: Date {d} is on or before the organization lock date {lock}."
• "No accounting period exists for date {d}. Please create an accounting period first."
• "Cannot post transaction: The accounting period '{name}' is locked (audit-final)."
• "Cannot post transaction: The accounting period '{name}' is closed. To correct an error, post an adjusting entry in an open period."
• "Cannot post transaction: Fiscal year '{name}' is locked (audit-final)."

Worked example: month-end rent accrual

Al Noor Trading LLC (Dubai, base currency AED) rents a warehouse for AED 12,000 a month. The landlord's invoice for September arrives in October, so on 30 September 2026 the accountant accrues the rent.

1. Click New Journal Entry.
2. Set the Accounting Date to 30-09-2026, the Reference to ACCR-RENT-SEP, and the Memo to "September warehouse rent accrual".
3. Enter the lines:

4. The badge shows Balanced. Click Save & Post.

There is no VAT line. Input VAT is recorded when the landlord's bill is entered, because VAT accounts cannot be used in a manual journal.

In October, after the bill is entered, open the accrual and click Reverse Entry. Because September is still open, the reversal RV-… takes the original date (30-09-2026). If you want the release dated in October, post a new entry dated 01-10-2026 with Dr 2150 / Cr 6100 instead. To repeat the accrual every month, use Make Recurring.

The account codes above are examples; use your own chart of accounts.

Permissions

Tips and common problems

• "VAT accounts cannot be used…": post VAT through the documents themselves or through the VAT Return. See Taxes & VAT.
• You cannot edit a posted entry: unpost it first (manual entries only), or reverse it and post a corrected entry.
• "…non-postable. Use a leaf account.": choose a child account, not a header. See Chart of accounts.
• An invoice's entry is wrong: fix the invoice itself; its journal follows.
• Foreign-currency adjustments: manual journals are in base currency only. Use Base currency adjustments.

Related

• Recurring transactions
• Chart of accounts
• Fiscal years & lock dates
• Workflow approvals
• Reports
• Multi-currency