An ordinary journal is to make accounting adjustments for example accruals and prepayments and should only be carried out by people who understand accounting. Usually advisers and accountants. Learn how to Manage Journals and how to add an Opening Balance.
How do I Create a new Journal ?
Select Accounting from the side bar menu and Journals from the drop-down menu.
Click on Add Journal.
Journal Information
Issue Date : the date the journal will be recorded in the system and come into effect on the accounting reports.
Document Number : the system automatically provides you with one but you can change it if you wish to as long as it is not already used.
Reference : give a description to identify the journal.
VAT : select one of the options for the journal : No VAT which means it will not include vat, VAT inclusive which means you enter the gross values of journals and the VAT will be calculated and deducted from that, and VAT exclusive means VAT will be added to your journal entries.
Here are more details :
No VAT: The double entries appear in the account you select, with the journal amount entered fully. VAT is not reclaimed.
VAT Inclusive: The double entries appear in the account you select, net of VAT. The VAT amount is posted to the VAT Group Account.
VAT Exclusive: VAT at the correct rate is automatically calculated on top of the VAT-exclusive amounts entered into the Debit or Credit fields and is posted to the VAT Group Account.
Item
Account : select the right account for your new journal. If you wish to create a new one, click on Add Account.
Description : give a description to identify the item.
VAT Rate : choose the correct VAT rate. This field comes up if you select VAT Inclusive or Exclusive.
VAT Total : enter the VAT total. This field comes up if you select VAT Exclusive.
Debit : enter a Debit or a Credit amount. If you are not sure about this then contact your accountant.
Credit : enter a Debit or a Credit amount. If you are not sure about this then contact your accountant.
Add Item : you can create an another item in the journal by clicking on Add Item.
Note : Both Totals must be of the same amount, so that the Difference is 0.
The Difference field is a control field that checks that the journal has been posted correctly. A journal is posted only if the Difference field is zero, which means that the debit and credit entries balance each other. hibooks will not create a journal if the Difference field shows anything other than zero. If you are unsure about this then contact your accountant.
How do I Save the new Journal ?
If you are happy with your Journal, you can click on Save & Approve and the Journal will be added to your Posted Journals tab.
If the information of the Journal is incomplete or if you want to finish it later, you can click on Save as Draft and you will find the Journal in the Drafts tab.
