Journals

Introduction

A journal is used for recording non-regular transactions, for example, the depreciation of a fixed asset or writing off bad debt. You can also use journal entries to transfer values from one account to another. Some systems, are incredibly restrictive, only allowing you to move values manually, and not allowing for automation of processes, which becomes time-consuming and repetitive.

Typical Problems

Although journals can be used for moving values between two GL Codes, they can also be incredibly long, complex journals, which need to be processed monthly, for example, depreciation postings and salary journals.

Some systems do not allow for automation or recurring journal transactions, meaning those journals need to be posted manually when needed.

If you are looking through a journal report, there can be no way of differentiating the journal types that there are, making finding what you are looking for akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.

With some systems, you can only enter limited information; debit and credit values, a reference and date, not allowing you to record the full detail you may need on journals of any kind. This makes reporting on detailed information difficult to achieve, meaning you must take information out of the system to do this.

Solutions

Cloud accounting allows you to use powerful automation, to memorise and automatically post large, repetitive journals, when you need to.

You can create multiple journal types, so you can restrict these to specific users and it also, makes looking for information easier, as you can look for a specific type of journal.

The level of detail you can use on cloud accounting journals is staggering. Having access to dimensions is only the start, where you can have journals configured to hold as little or as much detail as you like by using the powerful customisation in cloud accounting.

Benefits/ROI

Removes manual entry on larger, repeating journals, either automating, recalling memorised journals, or configuring recurring journals to do so. This saves time on a large, manual entry process which can now be avoided, by scheduling when you want the journal to post.

With multiple journal types, this can give you greater control over who posts what and how it posts as it can be used as a way of making sure the correct information is posted to the correct locations and saves you time when trying to see who has posted what, meaning that time can be spent on more productive areas.

Combine this with a level of detail in journals that you have never had before, giving you that easy to obtain detail you need for reports, and automated reporting will save you from having to manipulate the data ever again.