Journal Entries
A journal records how one accounting event affects the ledger. Its header identifies the entity, date, period, source and lifecycle; its lines assign the debit and credit effects to GL accounts and dimensions. Recording an expense can debit a cost account and credit a payable, while a later payment can clear that payable against cash. The two sides of a journal describe one event and are not two expenses.
Open Accounting → Accounting Operations → Journal Entries to inspect those relationships and the Draft or Posted status. A Draft preserves proposed accounting for review. Posted-ledger controls use Posted journals; balancing a Draft does not make it recognized accounting. The form lower on the page is for an accounting adjustment or closing entry with its own purpose and evidence.
Scope the journals
Choose Entity and Period. Source Type narrows the originating record type. GL Account finds journals containing that account and retains their other lines, so you can review the full journal; it is not a single-account ledger view.
The Period filter uses Entry Date within the selected period's dates. Also inspect the header's stored Period Id; date inclusion alone does not establish the correct period association. Draft, Posted and Reversed headers can appear. Wait for loading to finish and check Status explicitly.
Fictional journal #1, dated August 31, 2026, links to Expense #1 in the July–September Open quarter. It is Draft. Lines #1 and #2 debit Training Administration Expense and credit Training Expense Payable by USD1,200 each.
Connect header to lines
Review the complete journal because a single line gives only one side of its treatment. The balance test compares total debits with total credits; it does not decide whether the accounts, date or source are correct. Gross line amounts include both sides, so their sum is not the event's economic amount.
Journal Entry Headers has one row per journal: Entity, Entry Date, Period, source, Status, description and journal type. Journal Line IDs lists its lines; Out of Balance compares the summed debit and credit amounts. Scroll horizontally to inspect those columns when needed.
Journal Entry Lines has one row per debit or credit line. Use Journal Entry Id to connect each line to the header, and GL Account Id to open the ledger account. Review Side, Amount and Currency, then optional Share Class, Investment, Account, Subscription and Memo.
Selecting a header does not automatically filter the line table. With many journals, filter the line table by Journal Entry Id or use Journal Explorer. A selected row supplies context; it does not approve or post the journal.
In this example, each line stores a positive USD1,200 amount; Side determines debit or credit. The Amount footer is USD2,400, the gross sum of both sides. It is not a USD2,400 expense or cash movement.
Out of Balance = No is only an arithmetic check. A header with no lines can also show No because both sums are zero. Check actual lines, currency, classification, evidence, dates, dimensions and Status. The displayed check sums amounts without a separate currency-by-currency test; never use it to offset different currencies.
Read the Draft example correctly
Journal #1 illustrates the relationship between a saved header and its lines. It remains Draft. It does not show a completed source-posting workflow or a submission through New Manual Journal.
Expense #1 already has a cash-payment association. This unposted recognition Draft does not mean the expense is economically unpaid. No payable-clearing/cash settlement journal is demonstrated, so the accounting chain remains incomplete. Neither a cash link nor a balanced Draft establishes posted P&L, a booked liability, NAV or close readiness.
Before creating anything for the same source, inspect existing journals and reversals to avoid duplicate recognition.
Inspect the manual-adjustment form
A manual adjustment records an accounting conclusion that needs its own explanation and evidence. A source-linked posting records the treatment of an existing business source. Identify which job is required before entering another journal: an adjustment form should not duplicate recognition already proposed or recorded for the same source.
Expand New Manual Journal to prepare an accounting-driven Adjusting Journal Entry or Closing Journal Entry. For Expense #1, begin with its existing source-linked Draft and determine what the authorized source-posting process still requires. Do not enter the same invoice again as a manual expense journal. Use a manual entry when the accounting owner has identified an adjustment or closing entry to record, with its own explanation and supporting evidence. Check existing entries and reversals first.
The real New Manual Journal form, opened but not submitted. Its own Entity and Accounting Period fields are blank even though the page filters above are selected. The two table sections are collapsed for this capture.
- Select the form's Entity, then its Accounting Period from the open periods available for that Entity. Confirm both independently of the page filters.
- Enter Entry Date, choose the appropriate Journal Type, and explain the purpose in Description / Evidence. Add a supporting Evidence Reference when available.
- For each line, choose a GL account belonging to the intended Entity, Side and a positive Amount. Select and verify Currency explicitly for every line. Optional dimensions must describe the transaction, not merely make a control pass.
- Use Add line for the other side and any further lines. Review balance, currency, period, evidence and dimensions. The button is labeled Save Draft Journal. This example stops before submission; saving and currency defaults have not been verified for the illustrated form. Confirm the installed submission workflow before using it. After an authorized save, refresh and inspect the saved header, status and complete lines. A saved Draft is not a Posted journal.
The screenshot does not demonstrate a successful form submission or posting. Table Insert controls are lower-level record maintenance: headers and lines save separately and are not substitutes for the complete manual-journal or source-posting workflow. Do not use direct Status edits to represent posting.
If a journal is already Posted, use the authorized correction/reversal process rather than rewriting accounting history. If a source fact is wrong, correct it with the owning FundOps team and assess the downstream accounting impact.