What are Journal Types?

All of the accounting entries made to ledger accounts enter SunSystems Financials as part of a journal. A journal normally contains at least two self balancing ledger transactions, although it can contain a single transaction posting to a memo account.

Many different types of journal are used to post different types of business transaction to the ledger. For example, journals are used to post sales invoices, purchase invoices, cash receipts, cash payments, expenses, acquisitions, depreciation, and revaluation adjustments. You can create as many journal types as you require.

Journal Types (JNT) is used in Financials to define each type of journal and identify the input and validation rules required for that type of entry. You can determine a large number of rules and characteristics for a journal type including:

  • The design of the input form that appears in Ledger Entry (LEN).
  • The analysis dimensions available to analyze the transaction, for example different codes may be required on a cash receipt journal to a depreciation journal.
  • Whether the journal is a prepayment or accrual and should therefore be reversed automatically into the following period.
  • When journal line descriptions are required.
  • Who can enter transactions using the journal type.
  • Whether discount and currency rate tolerances can be overridden.
  • Whether tax is to be calculated automatically on the amounts entered, and if so, the accounts to be updated.
  • Whether the journal type can be used for online journal input, or journal imports, or both.
  • Whether a specific allocation marker is required for a journal type. For example to set an allocation marker of Force Payment on journals that require immediate payment.

Presetting Ledger Entries

You can pre-define the field values and journal lines for a journal type using Journal Presets (JNP). This is used to automate the entry of journal lines and spreads. You might, for example, preset the tax account on a journal line.

A more sophisticated preset could automatically post balancing journals, or spread a journal amount evenly across a number of periods.