Journals are the direct double-entry into your ledger. Every journal must balance, and large manual journals route through a maker-checker approval before they post. You can also define recurring journal templates that generate entries on a schedule.
Before you start
- Have your chart of accounts and system roles in place.
- Remember the golden rule: total debits must equal total credits, and a journal needs at least two lines.
- Confirm the period you are posting into is open.
Steps
Post a one-off journal
-
Open Accounting → Journals and start a new journal.
[screenshot: New journal form]
-
Set the Accounting date (
accounting_date, required) and Currency (currency, required, three-letter code). Optionally add a Description (up to 2000 characters) and an FX rate (fx_rate). -
Add at least two Lines (
lines, minimum two). For each line select the Account (acc_account_id, required) and enter a Debit or Credit amount (both optional per line, never negative). Each line may also carry a line Description, Cost centre (acc_cost_centre_id), Tax code, and entity/branch/department dimensions.[screenshot: Journal line grid]
-
Post. Balance is checked up front — an unbalanced journal is rejected before anything else. If the journal exceeds the maker-checker threshold, it routes to an eligible approver and posts only on approval; otherwise it posts immediately after balance and period checks. If no eligible approver exists, posting is refused.
[screenshot: Journal posted confirmation]
Set up a recurring journal
-
Open Accounting → Recurring Journals and create a template.
-
Provide the Name (
name, required), Currency (required), Frequency (frequency— weekly, monthly or yearly) and Start date (required). Optionally set an Interval, End date, Max occurrences and Auto-post (auto_post). -
Add Template lines (at least two). Each line requires an Account, a Debit and a Credit — a line must be one or the other, not both, and cannot be zero on both sides.
[screenshot: Recurring journal template]
Result
Your journal posts to the ledger once balanced (and approved, where required), or your recurring template generates balanced journals automatically on schedule.