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General Journals Setup

General Journals Setup

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Last updated: Oct 01, 2024Version comment
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Principles

General Journals and Recurring General Journals are used in BC to post internal (internal) accounting transactions.

You use general journals to post financial transactions directly to general ledger accounts and other accounts, such as bank, customer, vendor, and employee accounts. Posting by using a general journal always creates entries in general ledger accounts. This is true even if, for example, you post a journal line to a customer account, because the entry is posted to a general ledger accounts receivable account through a posting group.

A recurring journal is a general journal with specific fields to manage transactions that you post frequently, with little or no changes, such as rent, subscriptions, electricity, and heat. You can use these fields for recurring transactions to post both fixed and variable amounts. You can also specify automatic cancellation for the day after the posting date. You can also use allocation keys to divide recurring entries across different accounts.

The information that you enter in the journal is temporary and can be changed while it is in the journal. When you post a journal, the information is transferred to entries in each account, where it cannot be changed. All posted entries are then entered in the Financial Journal, from where it is possible to cancel the posted entries. The reverse function creates reverse entries.

MS regularly updates the documentation for this setting area. Documentation valid for BC22 is available at the following link:

Working with General Journals to Post Directly to G/L - Business Central | Microsoft Learn

CZ localization documentation valid for BC22 is available at this link:

Core Localization Pack for Czech - Business Central | Microsoft Learn

To use general journals, you must set up general journal templates and at least one journal batch for each template. If no sheet is defined for the template, the system creates a sheet named DEFAULT. General journal templates specify the basic properties of journals, how they behave, and how they are displayed.

Dependencies and assumptions

The basic prerequisite is the creation of number series for posting internal documents.

Description of the documented area

General Journal Templates

General Journal Templates are created and set up in a table General Journal Templates. Settings made in the template are automatically copied to lower levels - Batches and General Journal Lines.

The table is available in the Manual Setup menu, can be accessed in the Hub Role menu, and can be searched for using the magnifying glass.

The template is uniquely identified by its name.

Description of field settings:

  • Field Type

    • Specifies the area of the application in which the journal will be used. There are six types: 

      • General (General Journal)

      • Sales (Receivables) (Sales)

      • Purchases (Commitments)

      • Cash Receipts

      • Payments

      • Fixed Assets (Assets)

      • Intercompany (Intercompany)

      • Projects (Jobs).

  • Check the box Periodic (Recurring)

    • Causes the template to be used in the periodic activity area for the periodic journal.

  • Field Type Trade-in (Bal. Account Type)

    • Provides the option to specify the offset account type that will be automatically inserted into the journal lines. There are seven options to choose from:

      • G/L Account

      • Customer

      • Vendor

      • Bank Account

      • Fixed Asset

      • IC Partner

      • Employee

    • Depending on the previous option, you can enter the Counter-Account No. (Bal. Account No.) input:

      • Chart of Account No.

      • Customer Card No.

      • Vendor Card No.

      • Bank Account No.

      • Fixed Asset No.

      • IC Partner No.

      • Employee No.

    • The set number will be automatically inserted into the journal lines as an offset account. 

  • Afield No. Series

    • You can enter a code for the number sequence that will be used to assign document numbers on journal lines.

  • Afield Posting No. Series

    • You can enter a code for the number sequence that will be used to assign document numbers to posted entries that are created from journals in this template.

    • If the field is not filled in, the number from the No. Series is used. 

  • To identify the origin of posted transactions in financial journals, use the Source Code and Reason Code. 

You can set up a requirement to check the zero balance of a posted internal document in the Force Doc. Balance. If the check box is selected, the system checks if there is a zero balance on a document with the same type and number, otherwise it checks the zero balance in the journal by date only. 

If the settings of the VAT posting groups (automatic VAT calculation) are to be copied when the general ledger accounts are inserted into the journal, the Copy of Set-Up VAT to Journal Lines (Copy VAT Setup to Jnl. Lines) must be checked. If the journal will be used for internal posting without generating VAT, the check box should not be selected. There is another field that applies to the VAT calculation as well Allow VAT Difference. If checked, the VAT amount in the journal can be manually adjusted.

  • Field Not Check Doc. Type

    • specifies that the balance will not be checked according to the Document Type, which allows for various corrections.

  • Field Not Check Correction

    • Specifies that the Correction field will not be checked within the document. This will allow you to post "red" on the line without the correction field being checked in both related lines (when entering values without using a trade-in account).

Fields can be "pulled" onto the table Test Report ID and Posting Report ID, in which you can choose the format of the object to use when printing.

General Journal Batches

General journal batches basically define different general journals under a given template according to the purpose of their use or, for example, according to users. Window Batches The general journal is opened when you click Template, Batches in the General Journal Templates window. New Batches can also be added directly in the General Journal.

The General Journal batch is identified by Name. 

Field Setup Trade-in Account Type (Bal. Account Type), Counter-Account No. (Bal. Account No.), No. Series, Posting No. Series, Reason Code, Copy Set. Copy VAT Setup to Jnl. Lines, Allow VAT Difference and Copy to Posted Jnl. Lines It is copied from the settings of the parent template. However, these values can be changed for the journal batch.

If you select the check box Suggest Balancing Amount, then the Amount field on the General Journal lines for the same document number is automatically populated with the value that is required to apply the document.

Field Background Error Check Specifies whether you want journal lines to be automatically checked for possible problems.

The user can also use the General Journal Batches table to enter journal entries or to batch post selected batches by clicking Edit Journal or Post in the Process tab. Reports related to the general journal are also available in the table, such as General Ledger Documentto view and print the required accounting document.

Periodic General Journal 

Operations that change minimally or not at all can be posted in Recurring General Journal. This journal is similar to a regular general journal, except that it contains fields for specifying the period method, the frequency of recurrence, and the effective date of the lines. In addition, counter-accounts can be defined in such a way that the amount that will be charged to them is automatically calculated based on the entry.

You can use recurring transaction fields to post both fixed and variable amounts. You can also specify automatic cancellation for the day after the posting date. You can also use allocation keys to divide recurring entries across different accounts.

Attention! Not all fields are displayed by default, so it is necessary to "pull" the necessary fields using the Personalize function available in the BC main menu (in the upper right corner, gear icon) before starting work.

The table is available in the Manual Setup menu, can be accessed in the Hub Role menu, and can be searched for using the magnifying glass.

Afield Title sheet (Batch Name) You can select a specific journal in which the posting should take place. The batch settings are the same as for General Journal, see the description of the settings in the previous chapter. To use the possibilities of the periodic journal, it is advisable to set up as many sheets for how many accounting entries you will use this journal for (accruals, estimates, reserves, etc.).

Periodic differs from a standard general journal in the following fields: 

  • Afield Recurring Method

    • You can specify how the journal amount is handled after it is posted. There are six options to choose from:       

      • N F Fixed

        • The amount in this journal line remains after posting

      • P Variable (V Variable) 

        • The amount in this journal line will be deleted after posting

      • S Balance (B Balance)

        • The amount posted to the account in this row will be distributed among the accounts specified for this row in the table Distribution Journal ()

        • The balance on this account will be set to zero

      • RN RF Reversing Fixed

        • The amount in this journal line remains after posting, and the opposite entry is posted the next day

      • RP Reversing Variable (RV Reversing Variable)

        • The amount in this journal line will be deleted after posting, and the opposite entry will be posted the next day

      • RS Reversing Balance (RB Reversing Balance)

        • The amount posted to the account in this row will be distributed among the accounts specified for this row in the table Allocation Journal; the balance on this account will be set to zero; The following day, the opposite entry will be posted 

  • Afield Period Frequency (Recurring Frequency)

    • to enter a date formula to calculate the recurrence of the journal line. As defined in this field, the Posting date changes when the journal is posted. 

  • Afield Expiration Date

    • to enter the date by which the line can be posted. 

Recurring journals do not have a field for entering a trade-in account. Therefore, the journal lines must be applied to other lines. Another option is to use the specific functionality of the recurring journal, where it is possible to define the distribution of the amount in the journal line to multiple counter-accounts and calculate the amount for posting to these accounts according to certain rules. The definition is done in a table Distribution (Allocations), which can be displayed by clicking the Line, Allocations button.

  • Afield Account No.

    • to specify the G/L accounts that will be used as counter-accounts against the journal line.

  • Gen. Posting Type and Posting Group

    • will be pre-filled according to the settings in that account. Pre-filled information can be edited or deleted.

There are several ways to divide the amount from the journal line to offset accounts. The ratio of the amounts in the field can be defined Allocation Quantity or a percentage of the amount in the field Allocation % (Allocation %). Amount It will be automatically calculated. However, it is also possible to enter the amount directly.

When you distribute a journal line amount, you can assign individual dimensions to each offset account. Similar rules apply to the calculation of VAT as for posting in a classic general journal through a single line. Posting groups for VAT calculation must be set up on only one side of the relation – either on the recurring journal line or on the distribution lines.  

When you exit this window, the total amount is copied to the Allocated Amt. (LCY)). For the journal to be posted, this amount must be the same as the contents of the Amount field.

Startup Posting Functions The system works with the Work Date of the user who starts the posting. In practice, this means that if the user has a working date, e.g. 12.1.2021, and rows with a posting date (e.g. 1.2.2021) are prepared in the periodic journal, i.e. their period is higher than the working date, the system will not post these items.