Manual journal entries
Introduction
In Paragon, if you've configured automatic financials, all transactions that affect a company's general ledger accounts are entered automatically in the journal entries module. The system instantly notifies you of an automatic journal entry when an invoice, credit, or payment has been issued, for either a customer or a vendor. You can also set Paragon to trigger automatic journal entries when inventory levels are changed in any way.
On the other hand, any internal adjustments that would affect your general ledger accounts would be entered manually. Examples of internal adjustments are: monthly banking transactions, depreciation/amortization, or year-end adjustments.
Here, we'll walk you through creating manual journal entries in Paragon.
Navigate to the journal entries module
From the home screen, hit more and navigate to the journal entry module
Add a new journal entry
Once you're in the journal entry module you will see the list view of all journal entries in the system where you are able to filter and search. Once you're there, hit the add button at the top left corner of the screen.
Journal entry screen
Using the screen pictured below, you will be able to manually create one.
The reason for the journal, reference, and company (customer or vendor) to be associated with the journal are all optional and can be filled in the business terms on this screen. The source, GL period, and exchange rate are all defaulted for you and only the period can be modified.
Now hit the add new button to add a detail line to your journal.
Fill journal entry information
Now you can select the GL accounts to be affected and fill in the amount in either the debit or credit side for each line of the journal.
Once you're done entering all necessary information, and the entry is in balance, hit the save button at the bottom right-hand side of the screen.
Post entry
After saving, your entry will still be listed as pending. To post your journal entry, use the action button at the bottom right-hand side of the screen to hit post.
Your manual journal entry is now posted to the selected accounts. It can be viewed in the journal entry list view and through the journal listings report. The action button will now give you the options to print, void or email, when clicking the arrow to expand your options.
You can modify the action button in the module to quickly access your journal listings or any other Paragon report. For more information on how this is done, see our article about adding more options to the action button.
Void a manual journal entry
If you have posted a manual journal entry and need to void it, simply hit the action button and select void from the list.
After clicking void, you will have to select a reason for voiding the journal entry in the modal that appears.
When you have made your choice and clicked accept, a notification will confirm that you have successfully voided your manual journal by creating a reverse journal entry. This information will be displayed in the notes of the voided journal.
If you navigate to this entry (from the list view) and you can see that the source is listed as journal entry and the notes will show the journal number that was voided. You also have the option to print and email the reverse entry if needed.
Editing a posted manual journal entry
There are some scenarios where a manual journal entry that has been posted already needs to be modified or adjusted. This happens most often at year-end or when accountants and auditors find small errors that just need a little tweak. Paragon allows you to edit any posted manual journal as long as your user profile has access to edit and as long as the GL period affected by that journal is in open status.
Simply hit the edit button on that journal, make the necessary changes, and save.
Journal Entry Restrictions
If the GL Period is closed, or your user profile does not have security access to edit journals, you will not even see the edit button:
If you edit the posted manual journal but the debits and credits do not balance, you will receive a notification explaining that you will not be able to save the journal until they match:
What's next?
You're up to speed on manual journal entries! For more information and tips on using journals in Paragon, check out some of our other handy articles:
