Recording a journal entry
Entering a manual entry, what each field does, when a manual entry is the right tool, and what will stop it from posting.
How-toFor Bookkeepers, Firm staff
When a manual entry is the right tool
Most activity should reach the ledger through the document that caused it — a bill, an invoice, a payment, a payroll run. Those create their own entries and keep the subledgers tied to the control accounts. A manual journal entry is for the things no document represents.
Legitimate uses:
- Accruals and deferrals at period end.
- Depreciation and amortization, when not driven by a fixed-asset run.
- Reclassifications between accounts.
- Opening balances at cutover.
- Corrections, posted as a reversal plus a replacement.
- Allocations across classes, locations, or entities.
Entering the entry
- 1
Open General Ledger and start a new entry.
Confirm the entity in the header first — an entry posts to whichever entity is in scope.
- 2
Set the date.
The date decides which period the entry lands in and therefore which statements it affects. It must fall in an open period.
- 3
Write a memo that will make sense to a stranger.
"Accrue December utilities, invoice received January 8" is useful. "Adj" is not. The memo is what shows up in the register and in audit exports.
- 4
Add lines: account, debit or credit, amount.
Each line can carry its own memo, and its own class, location, or other dimension values.
- 5
Attach supporting documentation.
The calculation behind an accrual, the amortization schedule, the email that prompted a reclass. Attachments travel with the entry permanently.
- 6
Check that debits equal credits, then post.
The running difference is shown as you type. Posting is refused while it is non-zero.
General ledger · Northwind Trading
New journal entry
Date
2026-07-31
Entity
Northwind Trading LLC
Memo
Accrue July utilities — invoice received Aug 8
| Account | Class | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6420 · Utilities | Operations | 1,840.00 | — |
| 2100 · Accrued liabilities | — | — | 1,840.00 |
Balance
Debits 1,840.00
Credits 1,840.00
Difference 0.00 — ready to post
The entry form. The running difference (4) must reach zero before the entry can post.
- 1Date — decides the period
- 2Memo
- 3Line: account, dimensions, amount
- 4Running difference
Illustration of the screen layout
Why an entry will not post
| Message | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Entry does not balance | Debits and credits differ. | Correct the amounts. Watch for a line typed into the wrong column. |
| Period is locked | The date falls in a closed period. | Date it in the current open period, or have an administrator reopen the period if the correction genuinely belongs in the closed one. |
| Account is archived | A line references a retired account. | Pick the replacement account, or unarchive it if retiring it was premature. |
| Control account not directly postable | A line targets A/R or A/P. | Use an invoice, bill, payment, or credit memo so the subledger stays tied to the control balance. |
| Required dimension missing | Policy requires a class or location on this account. | Fill in the dimension, or change the requirement in settings if the policy is wrong. |
Common questions
Yes. A draft entry affects nothing until it posts. Drafts are the right way to stage period-end work you want a colleague to review, and material entries can be routed through Approvals so review is explicit rather than implied.
See alsoThe Approvals queue
Set it up as a recurring journal. Recurring entries generate on a schedule and can be reviewed before they post, which is safer than someone remembering to copy last month's entry.
See alsoRecurring journal entries
Not as a single entry — each entry belongs to one legal entity. Use the intercompany entry screen, which creates the paired entries on both sides together and marks them for elimination in consolidation.
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