Standard Journals

Accounts Payable Menu -> Reports -> P.O./Contract Accrual Report -> Generate Accrual Entries option -> Standard Journals

As an alternative to Miscellaneous G/L Journals, this program provides the ability to make "re-usable" journal entries.
i.e. journal entries that can be setup to be used for repeated regular posting requirements

Standard journals can be setup in the Standard G/L Journal window in the "General Ledger" parameters on the Accounting tab of the Configure System Settings.
An operator must be assigned a Security Role that allows permission to the Accounting - Standard Journals in order to access this table.

There are three Journal Entry types:

• Type A - Accrual Journal Entry (self-reversing)
• Type C - Clearing Journal Entry
• Type R - Recurring Journal Entry

Accrual Journal Entries:

When this journal entry is posted, it will also automatically be reversed on the date selected as the Reversal Date.
After posting the journal, the amounts of the Accrual entered into Standard G/L Journals will be automatically reset to zero in preparation for the next Accrual journal.

Accrual examples include:     Rental Revenue Accrual
                              Prepaid Expenses Accrual
                              Prepaid Purchases Accrual
                              Accounting Expense Accrual
                              Re-Rental Expense Accrual

AUTO-GENERATED ACCRUAL JOURNALS:
Accrual transactions that can be viewed in this screen can also be generated from the following reporting options:

• Unbilled Revenue Report
• P.O./Contract Accrual Report

  Note: The corresponding Accrual entries will be over-written the next time the source utility/report is re-run to create new transactions, regardless of whether the posting in Post Standard Journals has been completed.

Clearing Journal Entries:

The amounts to be cleared must be entered into STANDARD G/L JOURNALS.
After posting, the amounts for this journal entry will automatically be reset to zero in preparation for the next Clearing journal.

Clearing examples include:    Bank Deposits
                              Payroll Clearing
                              Depreciation
                              Bank Charges & Interest
                              Overdraft
                              Transfers between Bank Accounts
                              Pre-Authorized Utility Bills

Recurring Journal Entries:

The amounts entered when using journal type R will NOT be reset after posting.
They are not reset because they are assumed to be the same amount for every posting.

Recurring examples are:       Loan Payments
                              Lease Payments
                              Pre-Authorized Payment Plans
                              Service Charges

Data Import feature:
Data from an external file in "tab-delimited" format can be imported to populate the Journal transactions.
e.g. A rental firm that uses a bank service to generate the company payroll can use this process to import the payroll posting distribution in the General Ledger.

Setup the Standard Journals as follows:

JOURNAL ENTRY NUMBER

Enter a Journal Entry Number or select an existing one from the drop-down list.

JOURNAL ENTRY TYPE

Select one of the following types of transactions:

• Click Accrual Journal Entry that includes the auto reversal.
  
• Click Clearing Journal Entry that resets to zero after posting.
  
• Click Recurring Journal Entry that repeats the same amount.

DESCRIPTION

Describe the Journal Entry. This becomes the Reference later on.

IMPORT FILENAME

Leave this field blank if an external data file is not to be imported.

To populate the G/L journal transaction details with data from an external file, enter the name and path of the import file. If no path is specified, the program will look for the file in the pro4data directory. Avoid spaces in the file name.
The file must be "tab-delimited" with a .txt extension and must reside on the server.
An optional Journal_template.xls is distributed with the Client and stored on C:\scsbin\templates that defines the required journal layout.

Using the template:

• The template in c:\scsbin\templates can be used on a Windows workstation to build the data file.
• The spreadsheet can be saved as Text file (tab delimited) to convert the .xls file to a .txt file.
• Move the .txt file to the server (using FTP for LINUX systems), in preparation for importing using this GL Journal program.

Data File requirements:

• The G/L accounts must be valid in Chart Of Accounts .
• G/L Control accounts for A/R or for A/P cannot be used.
• Divisions must be valid in Divisions file.
• Debits and Credits must be in balance and identified with D or C.

If an Import data file was found, the "Journal Import File Parameters" window is displayed, which can be used to assign the Excel columns of the import file to the corresponding journal fields.
When this is accepted, the transactions to post are listed with the debit and credit details.
Click EXP/CON or press <F9> to view any errors on the transactions that may prevent the file from being loaded.

Accept the import file to be prompted to continue to "Add the Transactions to the Journal" or to acknowledge a loading error.

TRANSACTION TYPE

This field is only enabled with the 'Standard Tax' method when the "Calculate Tax On" capture feature in the Company Taxing Parameters is active in preparation for generating the Tax Activity Report.

Select one of the following Transaction types from the drop-down box:

• Select Collected if this Journal entry reflects a Collected transaction and should be reported as Sales on the Tax Activity Report.
• Select None if this Journal should not be reflected on the Tax Activity Report.
• Select Purchased if this Journal entry should be reported as a Purchase on the Tax Activity Report.

To minimize distortion of the Tax Activity Report results when the "Transaction Type" on a journal is 'Collected' or 'Purchased' a check is performed on the detail transactions of the journal and a warning is generated if the details types do not match the 'Type" defined in the journal header.

Note: If the option to "Calculate Tax On" on Journals is turned off in the Company Taxing Parameters a warning is displayed that G/L Journals are not reflected in the report is generated when the Tax Activity Report is run.

Journal Details - Paging Screen:

SEQ#

The sequence number tracks the entries on the screen.

ACCT#

Enter the General Ledger Account # to be debited or credited, or select it from the window.

WARNING: Do not post any entries (other than the Opening Account Balances) to the A/R or A/P control accounts because these accounts must agree with the A/R Sub-Ledger and the A/P Sub-Ledger.

Note: Operators can be restricted from posting to a control account by role permission as defined in Security Role Permissions

DESCRIPTION

The description of the Account number selected automatically appears.

DIV

Enter the division or select it from the drop-down list.

TRANS AMOUNT

Type in the amount for this entry. Enter the amount as positive.

D/C

Select D for Debit or C for Credit.

SOURCE

Accept the source or type in another source.

This field will repeat for all subsequent entries for this Journal Entry.
e.g. If the Journal Entry # was 23, then for:
Type A - the Source will be JA 23
Type C - the Source will be JC 23
Type R - the Source will be JR 23

REF

Describe the purpose of this Journal entry, i.e. BANK DEPOSIT, EXPENSE ACCRUAL, ADJUSTING ENTRY, etc.
This field will repeat for all subsequent entries for this Journal Entry, but can be modified as required.

DETAILS

Leave the details blank, or type in a comment about this specific account disbursement.
This field does not repeat, since it is designed to be unique to this account.

TAX RECORD CODE

If the Calculate Tax On A/P Invoices And G/L Journals/Checks feature has been activated in the Company Taxing Parameters, the tax code window is triggered after each detail is completed displaying the default Tax code associated with the GL Account as assigned in Tax Codes.

• If the Account # entered for this transaction is not associated with any Tax Code, leave this field blank and close the window if taxes do not apply, or select the tax code required for this transaction from the drop-down list.
  This defines the tax code to associate with the journal line in the Tax Activity Report and will be noted in the G/L transactions.

  Note: This does not calculate any tax amounts and does not trigger any tax posting to the G/L.

• A valid tax must be selected if the Account # entered for this transaction is defined as a posting G/L Account for any tax code in the Tax Codes table.

  This is a mandatory field that is used to manually link this Tax transaction with the Tax Codes that have been input for the other expense detail lines of the journal.
  When the journal detail is posting to a G/L Account that is defined as tax account in Tax Codes then the transaction itself is not written to the BAS report in Tax Activity Report as the system does not automatically calculate taxes in these functions.

Security:
To change the default Tax Code on the Journal transaction the operator must have Security Role to 'Change Tax Codes' set in the "Document Field Access" window of the Role Permissions.

Finished?

After the final disbursement has been entered, click ACCEPT twice (once accepting the detail line and once accepting the screen).
The RUNNING BALANCE at the top right should be blank or zero, otherwise the debit entries do not equal the credit entries, and a correction is needed.

The Debit and the Credit total for the transactions in this journal entry are displayed at the bottom of the screen.

After the standard journal entries are setup, they can be completed regularly and posted each time from Post Standard Journals.

Posting Controls:
After the standard journal entries are setup, they can be completed and posted from Post Standard Journals.
Journal entries cannot be entered while the posting process is in progress, nor can posting be initiated if another operator is posting or is still entering journal transactions.

In the event that an operator aborts or exits out of the enter or post standard journal programs incorrectly, the posting control flags may not always get released so that the next operator can proceed.

The operator will only be able to reset this Posting Control flag if he has permission to reset the Standard Journals flag as controlled by his Security Role that is assigned in Operators.
Whenever the posting control flag for Standard Journals is reset, a record is written to the Delete Log for the Function GLJH.

ACTIONS:
Additional actions provided by buttons on the Standard Journals screen include:

• Move an Import File from the Local Client to the Server:
  After the 'Journal Entry#' has been selected click the UPLOAD button at the bottom of this screen to access the Select a File to Upload utility in order to copy a local txt file to the server C:\PRO4DATA directory.
  After the copy is completed and the Import Filename entered on the journal, the fields can be allocated by column in the Journal Import File Parameters window.

• Create a Template to Capture the Standard Journal Details:
  Click on the TEMPLATE button to generate an empty spreadsheet layout and enter the GL accounts with the amount details by division.
  When the journal transactions are completed, save the file to a "tab-delimited" txt file and upload it to the SRM server using the UPLOAD button.