MANAGE JOURNAL ENTRIES 

Use this screen to enter journal entry transactions. You typically use journal entries to record transactions such as depreciation, accruals, or expensing of prepaids. If you need to correct transactions that were previously entered and posted on another screen, such as cash receipts or timesheets, you should usually make the corrections via the original entry screens to ensure that all necessary detail is recorded.

The types of journal entries are:

• Adjusting journal entries, which are numbered sequentially within each accounting period

• Recurring journal entries, which are numbered sequentially as they are entered and have the same number each time they recur

• Reversal entries, which are the reversal of either adjusting or recurring entries

• Project transfer entries, which are numbered sequentially in each accounting period

• Multi-job allocations entries, which are numbered sequentially in each accounting period

You can also make entries relating to employee and subcontractor/consultant (vendor) labor using subtasks available from this screen. You normally make labor corrections using a correcting timesheet. You should only use the Employee Labor subtask of this screen to enter summary transactions that have off-line supporting detail. You cannot use entries made in this screen to generate a paycheck, but they are useful for entering labor amounts from subsidiaries. Costpoint posts the information you enter on these subtasks to the Labor Summary table, where it is available for project reports and other types of reports.

You can create journal entries in any subperiod, in any open accounting period. (You generate most recurring entries using the Create Recurring Journal Entries screen, but you can access the original recurring entry and all recurrences of it on the Manage Journal Entries screen.)

For firms with accounting operations policies that include segregation of duties, perhaps to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or for firms otherwise requiring that journal entries be approved, this screen displays the journal entry's approval status and identifies the approver. If your firm does not use the journal entry approval feature, or if the journal entry does not require approval, Costpoint displays the journal entry as approved, and the approver is the employee who entered the journal entry.

The Clone feature is available for this screen.

Location

Identification

Type

Costpoint has the following types of journal entries:

• Adjusting

• Recurring

• Reversal Adjusting

• Reversal Recurring

• Project Transfer

• MultiJob Allocations

You must post new recurring entries to the general ledger before you can use them as templates to create future recurring entries on the Create Recurring Journal Entries screen.

Costpoint generates reversals automatically. You can delete them but you cannot change them. Costpoint checks the status of REV and RRV on the Reversing subtask for the reversal period. If the reversal period is marked as unavailable for the specified fiscal year, period, and subperiod, Costpoint displays a warning message but allows you to save.

Project transfer and multi-job allocations journal entries, which you can review on the this screen, are numbered sequentially in each accounting period.

• You cannot edit any information on the project transfer journal entry lines but you can delete the entire journal entry if it is incorrect.

• You can edit the information in the multi-job allocations journal entry lines. If you edit a multi-job allocation entry before posting, make the corresponding change on the Manage Multi-Job Allocation Cost History screen to ensure that the table is up-to-date for subsequent calculations.

Number

Leave this field blank if you want Costpoint to assign the next available journal entry number, or enter a journal entry number.

For an adjusting journal entry, this number must be unique within each accounting period. Costpoint automatically assigns the next available journal entry number for the accounting period that you specify in the Period to Post group box. To determine that number, Costpoint adds one to the number currently stored in the transaction control number table.

Adjusting journal entry numbers automatically begin at 1 for each new accounting period. You can change the last system number on the Manage System Assigned JE Number screen whenever the validation for duplicate numbers prevents you from saving a new transaction. You can also use the Manage System Assigned JE Number screen to maintain the sequential ordering of numbers from one accounting period to the next.

You can change Costpoint's automatic numbering sequence for adjusting journal entries at any time by manually entering the first number of the sequence for a journal entry and saving that entry. Costpoint then continues the sequence based on that starting number. You can use this feature to include the accounting period number in the journal entry number so you can easily tell the accounting period for which an entry was made. To do that, restart the numbering sequence each period with the period number at the beginning of the journal entry number, as in the table below. (Note that, as illustrated in the table, you must use 9, or another number other than 0, to fill the left-most position for January through September. Because the journal entry number is a numeric field, the number is right-justified and leading zeros are not stored.)

The accounting period is shown on the General Ledger Detail report and on most other inquiries and reports that include journal entry detail.

When you save the original recurring journal entry, Costpoint assigns the next number in a single sequence, rather than maintaining separate sequences by accounting period. When you later generate more instances of the recurring journal entry, each instance has the same journal entry number as the original.

To reuse a recurring journal entry number, you must first delete an unposted version of the recurring journal entry with that number. This frees up the number to be used again. To stop a journal entry from recurring, you can either enter a stop date for it or delete an unposted version of the recurring journal entry.

After you save a journal entry, you cannot change its journal entry number.

Description

Enter an explanation of the journal entry. Costpoint also saves this entry as the description for each detail line of the journal entry unless you enter a specific description for an individual line.

Use Owning Org

Select this check box if you want the project's owning organization to be the default organization for detail lines in the journal entry when the Default to Owning Organization check box is selected on the Manage Project User Flow screen for the project on the Journal Entry line.

The Use Owning Org check box on this screen is used for data entry only, and the value is not stored with the journal entry. This check box is selected as default.

Period to Post

Fiscal Year, Period, Subpd

Enter the fiscal year, period, and subperiod to which the journal entry will be posted or was posted.

Initially, Costpoint displays the default settings for fiscal year, period, and subperiod established in your user preferences, but you can change them. If you change the fiscal year, period, or subperiod, the values you specify become the defaults for new entries during that data entry session.

You can assign journal entries to open time periods only. You maintain time period status on the Manage Fiscal Years, Manage Accounting Periods, and Manage Subperiods screens.

After you save a journal entry, you cannot change the fiscal year, period, or subperiod. To correct a wrong fiscal year, period, or subperiod, use Query to display the journal entry and then clone it. Change the incorrect fiscal year, period, or subperiod information in the new journal entry, and delete the incorrect journal entry.

Entry Info

User, Date

These fields display the user ID of the person who last changed the entry and the date of the last change. When you create recurring journal entries on the Create Recurring Journal Entries screen, you can select recurring journal entries to be created based on the user ID associated with that recurring journal entry.

Reversing

Select this check box if you want Costpoint to create a reversal of your journal entry. Costpoint creates the reversal entry when the journal entry is posted. The journal entry number of the reversal is the next number in the REV sequence. If you select this check box, also click the Reversing link to use that subtask to indicate the period for which Costpoint should create the reversal journal entry.

Over Budget

Use this option in conjunction with the encumbrance tracking feature. Select this check box if the journal entry will exceed any project's budget. This identifies transactions that, if posted, will cause the line item ceiling specified for the project to be exceeded. If any line in the journal entry causes an overrun on a line item ceiling, Costpoint marks the entire journal entry as over budget, and that prevents the entry from being posted.

You can also select or clear the related Set Items On Over Budget Status option on the Compute Over-Budget Transactions screen. See Encumbrance Tracking for more information on this feature.

Billable

Select this option if you want the Post Journal Entries screen to copy this journal entry transaction to the Open Billing Detail table, which contains transactions from journal entries that eventually appear on a bill. In Costpoint Billing, the value of the corresponding setting, Update Open Billing Detail, is copied to the Journal Entry History tables; for reversible entries, it is also copied to the reversing journal entry.

Total Debit

This optional field has two purposes. First, it provides a verification total for you, so you can confirm that the total debits entered equal the total debits on your input document.

Secondly, it provides a total from which Costpoint calculates percentages. For example, you may want to set up a recurring depreciation entry where each line's percentage of the total is the same, but the total depreciation amount changes each period. Each period, you would only have to change the amount in Total Debit, and Costpoint would recalculate the amount on each line.

If you change the amount in Total Debit after lines have been entered, do one of the following:

• Click the Percentage button in the Recalculation Method group box to recalculate the percentages in the % column without changing the amounts in the Amount column.

• Click the Trans Amt button in the Recalculation Method group box to recalculate the amounts in the Amount column without changing the percentages in the % column.

If you do not click either one of the buttons, your journal entry is out of balance and you cannot save it until you correct it.

Example:

You start with these values:

If you change Total Debit to 10,000 and click Percentage, this is the result:

If you change Total Debit to 10,000 and click Trans Amt, this is the result:

(Input File Number)

This non-editable field displays the journal entry number from the input file. This field displays a value only for journal entries created by the Import Journal Entries screen.

Location

Use this field to specify the location of a document containing information that supports the data you are entering. The document could be, for example, an invoice, check, or credit card bill.

You cannot use this field to extract data from the document in order to populate data fields in Costpoint.

Trans Currency

This field displays the transaction currency code.

Sequence No

During posting, this field displays the posting sequence number with which the journal entry is being posted. You will rarely see a value in this field because it has a value only during posting. Costpoint uses this number when it is necessary to recover from an interrupted posting.

Non-Balancing JE Password

If you want to save an out-of-balance journal entry, enter the password established for that purpose. That password is specified in the Configure General Ledger Settings screen. If you do not know that password or have access rights to the Configure General Ledger Settings screen, you must ask someone who does to save the out-of-balance entry for you.)

To make a one-sided or an out-of-balance journal entry in Costpoint, you must use an adjusting journal entry that is not set to reverse in the next accounting period. ("One-sided" and "non-balancing" journal entries refer to journal entries for which the debit amount is not equal to the credit amount.)

The procedure for entering the out-of-balance journal entry is the same as for regular adjusting entries, except that when you save, Costpoint displays an error message.

Approval Info

Approved

The Approved check box is selected by default if one of the following is true:

• Your firm does not use the journal entry approval feature.

• The amount of the journal entry is below the approval cutoff amount.

• The journal entry has been approved.

The Approved check box is cleared if your firm is using the journal entry approval feature and the journal entry has not been approved.

• If you are authorized to approve journal entries, select the check box to approve the journal entry in preparation for posting. If you do not want to approve the journal entry, do not select the check box.

• If you entered the journal entry and you are authorized to approve your own journal entries, select this option to approve the journal entry.

• If you lack authority to approve this journal entry, Costpoint displays a message to that effect.

Whether or not your firm requires journal entry approval is specified on the Approval Settings subtask of the Configure General Ledger Settings screen.

If you select this check box and save the journal entry, you cannot clear this check box. If you make additional changes to the journal entry that require approval— for example, if you change the debit or credit amount of the journal entry to an amount exceeding the approval limit for that type of journal entry— you must use the Approve Journal Entries screen for those additional approvals.

User

This non-editable field identifies the approver of the journal entry.

Recalculation Method

Use the buttons in this group box to recalculate the values in the Trans Amount  or the % columns of the table window.

Percentage

If you change the amount in the Total Debit column, click this button to recalculate the percentages in the % column of the table window without changing the amounts in the Trans Amount column.

Trans Amt

If you change the amount in the Total Debit column, click this button to recalculate amounts in the Trans Amount column without changing the percentages in the % column.

Exchange Rate

If the transaction currency of the journal entry is not the same as the functional currency of the login company, you must display the Exchange Rates subtask and specify the currency of the journal entry, the rate group, and exchange rate between the transaction currency and the company functional currency.

If you entered detail lines for the journal entry before you entered the exchange rate information, click the Exchange Rate button to recalculate the values in Trans Amount based on that exchange rate information.

Running Balance (Transaction Currency)

Debit

This field displays the total running debit balance expressed in your transaction currency. The values in Running Balance: Debit and Running Balance: Credit should balance.

Credit

This field displays the total running credit balance expressed in your transaction currency. The values in Running Balance: Debit and Running Balance: Credit should balance.

Running Balance (Functional Currency)

Debit

This field displays the total running debit balance expressed in your functional currency. The values in Running Balance: Debit and Running Balance: Credit should balance.

Credit

This field displays the total running credit balance expressed in your functional currency. The values in Running Balance: Debit and Running Balance: Credit should balance.

Table Window

After you begin to enter a detail line, you cannot leave the line until you either enter all valid information or delete the line.

In addition to the validations performed for individual fields, Costpoint performs the following validations for the Account, Organization, and Project fields before you can leave the line. These same validations are performed when you save.

• The account must be valid for the organization.

• If the account requires a project, you must enter a project for which the account is a valid account.

•  The account/organization combination must be valid for the fiscal year, period, and subperiod and must be active.

• If the Validate Project Charging by Organizations option is selected on the Configure Project Settings screen, the project/account/organization combination must exist in the Project/Account/Org table and must be active. You can review this setting for a given project on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen or on the Link Projects/Accounts screen, Link Projects/Organizations screen, or Link Projects/Accounts/Organizations screen.

• If you make an entry in Project Acct Abbrev and then change the default account assigned to the abbreviation, Costpoint displays a warning when you tab to a new line, but you can still save the journal entry without changing the account.

Line

To enter a new line in the table window, click . Costpoint increments the line number automatically. You cannot change line numbers. If you tab from the end of the line, Costpoint automatically displays a new line.

Account

Enter, or click to select, the account. Costpoint performs the following validations:

• The account must be a detail account.

• The account must be active.

• The accounting period for which you are making the journal entry must be the same as, or later than, the account's beginning fiscal year/period/subperiod and the same as, or earlier than, the account's ending fiscal year/period/subperiod. However, if the account's beginning or ending fiscal year/period/subperiod are blank, the beginning or ending fiscal year/period/subperiod is considered valid for all periods.

• The account entry group to which the account belongs must be valid for this screen.

When you click , all accounts display. However, some accounts may not be valid for the organization and project that you select.

If you set up project account abbreviation codes on the Manage Project Account Groups screen, you should move the Project and Proj Acct Abbrev columns to the left of the Account column in the table window. When you enter the project number and project account abbreviation code first, Costpoint automatically defaults the account number assigned to the project account abbreviation on the Manage Project Account Groups screen.

When you set up a project, you assign it to a project account group on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen. When you enter the Project and Project Acct Abbrev code on this screen, Costpoint finds the project account group to which the project belongs and then searches for the project abbreviation code and the account assigned to it, within that project account group. Costpoint displays the account number automatically. This enables you to assign accounts from different account groups to the same Proj Acct Abbrev code. Example.

Organization

Enter, or click to select, the organization. If you assigned organization abbreviations, it may be quicker to enter the organization abbreviation in Org Abbrev and let Costpoint fill this field. Costpoint performs the following validations:

• The organization must be active.

• The accounting period for which you are making the journal entry must be the same as, or later than, the organization's beginning fiscal year/period/subperiod and the same as, or earlier than, the organization's ending fiscal year/period/subperiod. However, if the organization's beginning or ending fiscal year/period/subperiod is blank, the beginning or ending fiscal year/period/subperiod is considered valid for all periods.

When you first click , all organizations display. However, some organizations may not be valid for the account and project you select.

If you selected the Default to Owning Org option on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen, you should move the Project column to the left of this column in the table window. When you enter the project number, Costpoint automatically defaults the number of the organization that "owns" the project in this column. (This is the organization to which all the project's revenues and profits go. You specify the owning organization on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen.) You can change this organization if necessary.

Project

Enter, or click to select, the project. If you have assigned project abbreviations, it might be quicker to enter the project abbreviations in Proj Abbrev and let Costpoint fill this field. Costpoint performs the following validations:

• The project must be active.

• Costpoint displays a warning if the end date of the subperiod is later than the project end date (see the Manage Modifications screen).

When you first use , all projects display. However, some projects may not be valid when combined for the account and organization you select.

If you plan to use project account abbreviation codes or if you want the owning organization of the project to default into the Organization field, you should move the Project and Project Acct Abbrev columns to the left of the Account and Organization columns. If you selected the Default to Owning Org option on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen, the number of the organization that "owns" this project automatically displays in the Organization field. This is the organization to which all the project's revenues and profits go. You specify the owning organization on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen.

Amount or Trans Amount

If you do not use Multicurrency, enter the amount for this line in the Amount field. If you do use Multicurrency, enter the amount for this line in your company's transaction currency. If the amount should be negative, enter a hyphen ( - ) either before or after the number.

Costpoint calculates the percentage of the amount in Total Debit that your entry represents and displays that percentage in the % column of the table window. If you change the amount in Total Debit, use the Percentage or Trans Amt button to update either the amounts or percentages based on the new total debit amount.

If you enter a percent in the % column, Costpoint automatically calculates that percentage of the amount in Total Debit and displays that amount in this field, replacing any amount already in the field.

Func Amount

If you use Multicurrency, this non-editable field displays the journal entry amount in your company's functional currency. If you do not use Multicurrency, this field is not available.

%

Costpoint calculates the percentage of the amount in Total Debit automatically when you enter a value in Amount or Trans Amount. However, you can instead enter the percentage in this column and have Costpoint calculate the amount.

If you change the amount in Total Debit, use the Percentage or Trans Amt button to update either the amounts or percentages based on the new total debit amount.

JE Line Description

If you want a description other than the description of the journal entry as a whole to be posted to G/L Detail, enter that description here. If you leave this blank, the journal entry description is the description assigned to the line in the G/L transaction detail.

Proj Acct Abbrev

Enter the project account abbreviation code or use Lookup to select it. You set up project account abbreviations on the Manage Project Account Groups screen. Every project-required account is assigned to a particular project account group in this screen, such as GOV for government projects or INV for inventory projects. When you set up projects on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen, you assign them to these account groups. After you enter the project number and the project account abbreviation for a journal entry detail line, Costpoint finds the account group linked to the project, identifies the account number designated by the project account abbreviation code, and that account number into the Account field.

If you change the default account, Costpoint warns you that the account has changed when you add a new line, but you can save the journal entry. If you change the project number or the project account abbreviation code, Costpoint defaults the new account number into the Account field as well. If the project account abbreviation does not exist in the project account group to which the project is assigned, you cannot save the journal entry without correcting that situation.

Org Abbrev

If you have set up the organization abbreviation on the Manage Organization Structures or Manage Organization Elements screens, you can enter that abbreviation in this column. Costpoint then automatically defaults in the organization to which it is mapped.

Proj Abbrev

If you have set up a project abbreviation on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow screen, you can enter the that abbreviation in this column. Costpoint then automatically defaults in the project to which it is mapped.

Reference 1, Reference 2

These two columns display the labels set up on the Configure General Ledger Settings screen for Ref 1 and Ref 2. For a reference number to be valid, the following must be true for the reference number's top level: the Use in Data Entry option must be selected on the Manage Reference Structures screen and the Reference Heading on that same screen must be the appropriate heading (the label for Reference 1 or Reference 2, whichever column is being validated).

A particular reference number can only be valid for one of the two possible data entry columns.

Notes

Use this field to record notes about the journal entry detail line.

Account Name, Organization Name, Project Name

These fields display the names of the account, organization, and project.

Subtasks

• Table Information

  This screen updates the following tables:

  • JE_HDR

  • JE_TRN

  • JE_TRN_LAB_EMPL

  • JE_TRN_LAB_VEND

  • JE_RVRS

  The Recurring subtask updates the RECUR_JE_TMPLT table.

  The Reversing subtask updates the JE_RVRS table.

  The Employee Labor subtask updates the JE_TRN_LAB_EMPL table.

  The Vendor Labor subtask updates the JE_TRN_LAB_VEND table.

• FAQs

  What are some general rules to know before making journal entries?

  It is important to be careful about making journal entries for accounts to which other journals post. Doing so may make it difficult to reconcile reports to the general ledger. Here are some general guidelines:

  • Avoid making journal entries to any of the control accounts. Control accounts are accounts that you specify in the "settings" or "control" screens of each module. The following are examples of control accounts:

  • Cash — Accounts Payable, Cash Receipts

  • Accounts Payable — Open A/P Report

  • Accounts Receivable — Accounts Receivable Aging

  • Accrued Salary & Wages — Payroll Journal, Labor Distribution Journal

  • Revenue — Revenue Journal

  • Unbilled Accounts Receivable — Revenue Journal, Billing Journal

  Costpoint posts to each of these accounts from other journals or has reports that provide supporting detail. When you make a journal entry to these accounts, the reports do not reflect the journal entry because it was not part of the normal posting process for the account. As a result, the report amounts do not agree with the account balances in the general ledger.

  • If you can make the entry on the Manage Accounts Payable Vouchers screen, make the correcting entry on that screen rather than on the Manage Journal Entries screen. The Print Voucher History Inquiry screen stores transaction details, and that information is available through other inquiry screens. In general, entries made on transaction screens are easier to research and locate later.

  • When you make journal entries, pay attention to the organization, the level of the organization, the project, and the level of the project, as well as to the account number. Even if the account is correct, incorrect project or organization entries cause problems in other areas.

  • Use account entry groups to control which accounts can receive journal entries. If an account receives entries from other posting sources, you can set up an account entry group that does not accept journal entries and assign that account to that group.

  Can I make entries on this screen to generate a paycheck?

  No. You cannot generate a paycheck from entries in this screen. However, you can use the screen to enter labor amounts from subsidiaries, and so on.

  The labor information is posted to the Labor Summary table and is available for project reports and any other reports generated from that table.

  Should I use this screen to make labor corrections?

  No. You should normally make labor corrections using a correcting timesheet.

  What happens if I leave the JE Line Description field blank? Which reports display this description?

  If you do not enter a description for a detail line in a journal entry, the description of the journal entry as a whole is automatically used as the line description.

  Costpoint stores the description in the G/L Detail and displays it on the following reports: General Ledger Detail Report, Open Billing Detail Report, Non-Labor Support Schedule, and Project Non-Labor Detail.   

  I need to enter an out-of-balance adjusting journal entry. Costpoint prompts me for a password, but I do not know what it is. Where is it set up?

  The password required for saving an out-of-balance journal entry is specified on the Configure General Ledger Settings screen. You should carefully control access to that screen.

   

  I created a recurring journal entry and then accidentally deleted it. Can I recreate it?

  Yes, you use the Create Recurring Journal Entries process to recreate it. That process uses data from the Manage Journal Entries screen and the Journal Entry History tables to determine if the recurring entry already exists for the fiscal year, period, and subperiod. If it does not exist, as is the case if you delete a recurring journal entry, it creates the entry.

  I set up a reversing journal entry and posted it. I cannot remember what year, period, and subperiod I entered on the Reversing subtask. As a result, I do not know when the journal entry will be reversed. How can I find this information?

  Costpoint creates the reversing journal entry when you post the original journal entry (assuming the Reversing check box is selected).

  Use Query on the Manage Journal Entries screen to find the information for an unposted journal entry and display the Reversing subtask. After you display the record, the year, period, and subperiod display in the Period to Post group box.

  However, for a posted journal entry, Costpoint deletes the reversal year, period, and subperiod that was stored in the JE_RVRS table.