Accounting journal
The Journal tab shows the accounting entries a document posted to your books: which accounts were debited, which were credited, and for how much. It is read-only. You use it to check where a number went, not to change it.
Video coming soon: Read the Journal tabWhat it shows
Open a document and click the Journal tab (the open-book icon). In the Workspace it is called Journal View.
Each journal the document posted is a card:
- Heading. The kind of posting, then the document number and date. A payment that was taken as an advance and later applied shows two cards: Advance Received (or Advance Paid) and Applied to Invoices (or Applied to Bills).
- Party and location. A Customer or Supplier tag, and the location, when they apply.
- Entries table. The columns are Account, Parent Account, Debit and Credit. Debit lines come first, biggest first. Credit lines follow, indented, biggest first. Amounts are in your business unit's currency.
- Total row. The total debit and total credit, with a Balanced badge. If a posting ever shows Unbalanced, tell your administrator.
An invoice that was booked ahead of its stock shows its own posting first, then one card for each stock settlement, by date.
Which documents have it
These documents post to your books, so they have a Journal tab:
- Sales: sales invoice, delivery challan, sales return, payment received
- Purchase: purchase bill, goods receipt note, purchase return, payment made
- Finance: credit note, debit note, expense, reimbursement, landed cost, manual journal
- Stock: stock adjustment, stock transfer, stock conversion
- Production: job order, job card
Two documents have a Journal tab only when they actually posted:
- Material issue. Only when the reason uses the stock up (Consumables, Maintenance, R&D or Own use). A work order issue or a store move posts nothing, so it has no Journal tab. See Material issue.
- Stock settlement. Only when it settled stock. A closed one posts nothing.
Quotations, sales orders, purchase orders, purchase requests and RFQs do not post, so they have no Journal tab.
Manual journals and landed costs do not open in the side view from their lists. Their entries show in the Workspace.
When the tab is empty
An empty tab is drawn dim. It still opens and tells you why:
| You see | It means |
|---|---|
| No journal entries | The document has not posted. A draft, a document still waiting for approval, or a posting that was reversed. |
| This document has been voided | The entries were reversed when it was voided. The page shows the reason and the date, and says the document is kept for statutory records. |
| No journal. Dated before go-live; it sits inside the party's opening balance. | An old document from before your go-live date. It never posted here. |
On mobile
Open the document from the Workspace list and swipe to the Journal tab. It appears for the same documents. Same on iPhone and Android.
The Android app is on Google Play. The iPhone app is coming soon to the App Store.
Permissions
The tab needs two things:
| To see the tab | The role needs |
|---|---|
| The document | View on that document, for example Invoice |
| The entries | View on Accounting Entries |
There is no Add/Edit level for this tab. Nothing here can be edited. A role without Accounting Entries does not see the tab at all, so there is no error to hit. To fix an entry, correct the document itself. Administrators set the permission on the role grid. See Role permissions.
Problems and fixes
There is no Journal tab on my invoice
Your role needs Accounting Entries at View, and View on the document. Ask an administrator. A material issue also shows no Journal tab unless its reason uses stock up.
The tab says No journal entries on a saved document
It may be waiting for approval, or be a draft. Entries are created when the document is approved and saved. Check the document status.
I need to see who changed a posted document
Use Activity and history.