Journal entries

A Journal entry is a manual general-ledger posting: explicit debits and credits to specific accounts. Use journals when no other document fits — accruals, prepayments, depreciation, payroll allocations, opening balances, period-end adjustments, and corrections. The Journal Report shows manually entered journals; the General Ledger shows postings from every source.

Step by step

Browse entries

1. Open the Journal Entries panel → All Entries. Each row shows the entry number, date, a colour-coded source chip (see below), a period chip (e.g. May · P5), the reference / memo / source-document link, total debit, total credit, status (Draft / Posted / Reversed / Voided), and the lines count with a balanced ✓ / unbalanced ⚠ marker.
2. Filter by search, status, source, date range, sort, and order — the table updates in place without reloading, and the address stays bookmarkable.
3. The Show voided/audit entries toggle reveals voided/reversed/cancelled entries that are normally hidden from the default view.

Source chip — colour-coded by workflow

Each entry's source is presented as the friendly business label, with a colour that groups related rows together at a glance:

Non-manual rows show a lock icon — the entry is owned by its source document and can only be managed from there (open the bill / invoice / expense to unpost or edit).

Period chip

Each posted entry shows a small calendar badge like May · P5 next to its source. Hovering shows the full period name and number (e.g. "May 2026 (fiscal period 5)"). Opening Balance entries dated before any fiscal period intentionally have no chip — they pre-date the books.

Reference column

For entries created by another document (Bill, Invoice, Sales Receipt, Expense, Payment, Refund), the Reference column leads with the source document's own number — PMT-00012, EXP-00003, BILL-001, INV-00005 — followed by the memo and (for payments) an "Applied to: INV-00005 / EXP-00012" link. The reference is a link to the source document itself, so clicking an expense number takes you straight to that expense.

Create an entry

1. Click New Journal Entry.
2. Enter the Entry date and a Narration (a short description that appears on every line).
3. Add lines. Each line: Account, Description, Debit OR Credit (one of the two), optional Dimension tags.
4. Lines must balance — total debits must equal total credits before the form will save.
5. Save as Draft, or Save & Post.

Edit a draft

Draft entries can be edited freely — including a manual entry you've just unposted, which returns to Draft and stays fully editable until you post it again. Entries created by another document, and entries dated in a locked period, cannot be edited from here.

Post a journal

Posting writes the journal to the General Ledger and locks the entry. Posting is blocked when the entry date falls in a locked period.

Reverse a posted journal

Posts a mirror entry on the reversal date that flips every debit and credit. The original entry stays visible; the reversal appears as a new linked entry. Use when an accrual was posted twice or a wrong amount went through.

Make it recurring

Plan availability: recurring transactions depend on your subscription plan.

Open a journal entry and choose Make Recurring to turn it into a recurring template — ideal for monthly depreciation, accrual reversals, and payroll allocations. See Recurring transactions.

Delete, trash, and restore

• Only Drafts can be deleted. Posted entries cannot be deleted; reverse instead.
• Deleted entries go to a trash list, from which they can be restored. Permanently deleting from trash is reserved for the workspace owner.

Print a PDF

Every entry can be printed to PDF from its page.

How the journal looks

Manual journals are the journal itself — every line you enter becomes a row in the General Ledger exactly as typed.

Monthly rent accrual for JOD 500 (recognise the expense in March even though you pay in April):

When April's payment is recorded, the accrual is reversed (typically via a recurring reversal journal):

Prepayment — you paid JOD 1,200 in January for 12 months of insurance:

Each month a JOD 100 expense recognition journal moves a slice from the asset to the P&L:

Year-end payroll accrual for JOD 3,000 of unpaid December wages:

Owner cash injection of JOD 5,000 into the business:

Correcting a misclassified expense — JOD 200 was booked to "Office supplies" but should have been "Software subscriptions":

Every entry must balance (debits = credits). If it doesn't, it won't save.

When to use Journal vs Reverse vs Adjustment

Common mistakes

• "Save is greyed out." Total debits must equal total credits. The form blocks save until balanced — check the running totals at the bottom of the lines.
• "Period locked." Posting, reversing, and permanently deleting all require the entry date's period to be open. Editing a Draft is fine in a locked period.
• Archived account on a line. Lines can only post to active accounts. If an account on the line is archived, change it or re-activate the account in Chart of accounts.
• Zero-amount line. Both Debit and Credit blank on a line is fine (no-op line); both non-zero on the same line is rejected — pick one.
• "My system journal is locked." Entries created by another document (Bill / Invoice / etc.) cannot be edited from the journal page — open the bill / invoice and unpost it from there. The journal shows a lock icon when this is the case.
• Manual journal vanished after unpost. It didn't — manual entries go back to Draft (not Voided) on unpost and stay editable. Show voided / audit entries is off by default; drafts are still in the list, just not posted.

Tips

• Use Dimensions on lines to tag a journal by project, department, or cost centre for filtered reports.
• Save common journals (monthly depreciation, payroll allocation, accrual reversals) as recurring templates with Make Recurring so the next month is automatic.
• The Journal Report under Reports shows only manual journals; the General Ledger shows postings from every source.

Behaviour and rules

• Balance is enforced. A draft must have total debits = total credits before save; the same is checked again at post time.
• Period lock. Posting, reversing, and permanently deleting all require the entry date's period to be open. See Fiscal years and lock dates.
• System journals. The system writes journals automatically when invoices, bills, expenses and payments post. Those journals appear in the entries list with their source label and cannot be edited or reversed on their own — manage them by acting on the originating document.
• Manual vs source-document unposting.
  • Manual entry (no source document): Unpost returns the entry to Draft — editable and re-postable. It stays in the default entries list with the Draft badge. No voided audit row.
  • Source-document entry (Bill / Invoice / Expense / Payment / Sales Receipt / etc.): the entry is owned by its source document — open the bill/invoice/expense and unpost it from there. Doing so sets the journal to Voided — kept in the entries list for the audit trail but excluded from the General Ledger and every report. A Voided entry is final; if the document is posted again, a fresh journal is written.
  • Reversal-style operations on system documents and permanent deletion are reserved for the workspace owner. If a button you expect is missing, ask your workspace administrator.
• Trash retention. Deleted journals stay in the trash until permanently removed.
• Comments. Each journal has an append-only comments tab for audit-friendly discussion.

Related

• Chart of Accounts
• Recurring transactions — recurring journals via Make Recurring.
• Fiscal years and lock dates
• Reports — Journal Report, General Ledger, Trial Balance.
• Settings — numbering sequences, dimensions.