Entering_Journals

PeopleSoft Financials Entering Journals

Topic

Journal Entry Overview

Entering Journal Header Information

Entering Journal Lines Information

Updating a Journal

Express Journal Entry

Journal Entry Overview

At a minimum, Peoplesoft General Ledger journals are made up of a HEADER and ENTRY LINES. The HEADER contains the information that uniquely identifies the journal, including business unit, journal ID, and journal date. It also contains options that enable you to quickly set up adjusting and reversing entries. Journal Entry LINES record the monetary and statistical amounts and the Chartfield values associated with each transaction.

When you enter a journal, you are prompted for the three keys that uniquely identify that journal: Business Unit, Journal ID, and Date. There is only one business unit in the general ledger presently, and it is UNIV. For on-line journals the system will assign the journal ID as indicated by the word NEXT in this field. The date defaults to the current date, but you may change the date so that your entry will post in the appropriate fiscal year and accounting period.

Enter and save your on-line journal. Upon saving, the journal ID will be assigned for your reference. Once saved you may immediately perform a combo edit on your journal (see instructions for Combo Edit Journals) and correct any errors (see instructions for Correcting Journals) or wait and let the overnight batch process edit your journal. When the journal passes the edit and budget check processes without error, the journal will post and the journal entry process will be complete.

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Entering Journal Header Information

Navigation
Start > Process Financial Information > Process Journals > Use > Journal Entry > Journal Entry Header > Add

The Journal Entry Header key prompt box appears. Verify the Business Unit defaults to "UNIV", if not, click on the down arrow and select the appropriate business unit. The GL Journal ID will default to "NEXT" and cannot be changed. The system will assign the journal ID when the journal is saved. Finally, the Journal Date must be in the accounting period in which you want the journal to post. For example if you are processing year end entries in July, you should enter a journal date of 06/30/1999.

Click the OK button to proceed.

As a result of your previous actions the Journal Entry Header panel is displayed. Enter or select information for the fields as described below.

Unit - Defaults based on the journal header prompt box selection.
Date - Defaults based on the date entered in the journal header prompt box selection.
Ledger Group (Required) - defaults based on your operator ID definitions.
Journal - 'NEXT' indicates system will assign journal ID during the save process.
Trans Type - LEAVE THIS FIELD BLANK.

The first field you need to complete on the header is the journal source.

Source (Required) - Defaults based on your operator ID definitions but you may have rights to select others from the dropdown list. The source indicates the department, area, or feeder system initiating the transaction.
Ref No.(Required) - Select the appropriate reference code from the dropdown list. The reference number indicates the type of transaction being made such as wire transfer, depreciation, or interdepartmental charge.
Long Descr - You may enter up to 240 characters to note the purpose of your transaction.

Accounting Period information will default based on the journal date. The adjusting entry check box should be ignored unless you have been instructed by the General Accounting Office to make an adjusting entry.

Fiscal Year - Defaults based on the journal date.
Accounting Period - Defaults based on the journal date.
Adjusting Entry - Leave blank unless instructed otherwise by GAO.

You have the option to set up your entry to reverse automatically in the month following the posted journal date. Use this option if the transaction is an accrual or an estimate of activity and another journal will be entered in the following month to record the actual activity.

None - Default setting. No reversal entry created.
Begin Next - If selected, a reversal journal is created and the journal date is the first day of the following month.
End Next - If selected, a reversal journal is created and the journal date is the last day of the following month.
On Date Specified - If selected, a reversal journal is created and the journal date is the date you have entered here.

Default currency is US Dollars and the effective date defaults to the journal date. Do not change the currency effective date.

The journal header is complete. Click on the Lines tab to begin entering the lines information.

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Entering Journal Lines Information

Once your journal header information is entered you are now ready to enter your Journal Entry Line information.
Click on the Lines tab to advance to the journal entry line panel.

Enter the appropriate chartfield information for the journal lines such as account, fund, deptid, and amount. Note that the ledger, business unit and budget year default. See the table below for a complete description of the chartfields.

Charge Lines
Ledger	This defaults from the Header panel. This is the ledger that the journal transactions will be posted to.
Unit	The distribution of this journal will be charged to this business unit. GU will be using only one business unit for GL (UNIV) at this time.
Account	This is used to define the specific account that this distribution will be charged against. NOTE: If you do not know the account number, you can type the first digit of the number and select Shift F4 to search for the account.
Fund	Enter the appropriate fund being charged. NOTE: You must use Shift F4 for a listing of valid funds.
Dept ID	This field is for the department (cost center) that will be charged. You may enter a partial id number and select Shift F4 to search for the department.
Sub-Cls	Not required. Departments may set up sub-classes as desired to track specific activity. Contact GAO. Up to five characters may be used.
BY (Budget Year)	Enter the appropriate budget year or select Shift F4 for a valid listing.
Ref	This field can be used as a reference for the journal line. NOTE: This field is required when using open item accounting such as petty cash fund entries or travel advance entries. Up to ten characters may be used.
Line Descr	This field is automatically populated when the account number is entered. This field prints on the GL report. This field can be modified. Note: Any change to an account code will override the line descr that had been entered. You re-enter the description or copy the line descr prior to changing the account, then past the line descr back into this field.
Speed Type	This is a user-defined code that populates pre-defined chartfields. Your operator definitions must include access to define a speed type before this can be used.

	The Print button prints the current journal.
	The Copy button allows you to use the current journal as a basis for another journal.
	This icon is used to Delete the current journal.
	The dog icon "Fetch" button refreshes the panel. If a process is complete, the panel will automatically refresh with the results of the edit and/or post.
	This icon will drill down to the errors panel, allowing you to view any errors related to the line.
	These buttons are used to lookup and retrieve specific journal lines for corrections or updates. You can enter specific Chartfield values into the retrieve line to narrow the number of matching lines displayed. Currently the number of rows to display at a time is 10; this may be changed as needed.

Example 1: Increase the number of lines to view at one time

For relatively short journals (under 50 lines), you can change the number of rows that display at one time by changing the 10 above to a larger number and pressing on the double down arrows.

Example 2: Go directly to a particular journal line

In order to go directly to a particular journal line, click on the green flashlight. Enter the line number you want to go to and click the OK button. The system will display the default number of lines starting with or including this journal line.

To enter additional journal lines press F7 or click on the Insert Row icon. Repeat steps 8 and 9 until all lines are entered.
To delete extra lines put your cursor within a field of the line to be deleted and click on the Delete Row icon to the right of the insert a row icon. You will receive a warning message to confirm the deletion. Click 'Yes'. When the journal is complete the total debits and total credits must be equal.
Click on the Save icon button to save the journal entry.
Note that the Journal ID will be assigned when the journal is saved.

You have successfully entered a regular journal.

You may perform the combo edit process on your journal immediately or wait for the overnight batch process. The combo edit process verifies the validity of chartfields and whether the values are used appropriately in combination with one another as defined by Georgetown. See the instructions for Combo Edit Journals for further information and a list of error codes.

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Updating a Journal

Users can use the update/display mode to make changes to journals which have not yet posted. Journals with a status of "posted" do not appear in update/display mode as changes cannot be made to posted journals.

1. To update/display journals follow the navigation: Start > Process Financial Information > Process Journals > Use > Journal Entry > Journal Entry Header > Update/Display

2. The selection criteria panel will appear

3. Fill in the search criteria as desired to narrow down your inquiry:

Business Unit: Defaults to UNIV
GL Journal ID: Can enter specific Journal ID to update
Journal Date: Can select a specific Journal Date to see all journals for that date
Journal Header Status: Can select a particular Header Status to update only journals with that header status
Fiscal Year: Can select all journals for a particular fiscal year
Accounting Period: Can narrow down selection to a particular Accounting Period within a fiscal year
Operator ID: Can select all journals for a particular Operator ID (must use all caps)
Note: The maximum number of journals that can returned is 250. If your search criteria is too broad (i.e. selecting just fiscal year 2000), only the first 250 journals matching the criteria will be returned.

4. Example of list returned using the criteria "Journal Header Status - Error" and "Accounting Period - 6"

5. To select a journal for updating, highlight the applicable journal and click the "select" button.

6. Go to the lines tab to make any necessary changes/corrections and resave the journal.

NOTE: Any change to an account code will result in the LINE DESCR defaulting to the description of the account code entered. Prior to changing the account code, copy the LINE DESCR field. After changing the account code, paste the LINE DESCR back into that field. You can copy this field by highlighting the field and selecting CNTRL and C. Paste the line descr by placing your cursor in that field and selecting the paste icon.

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Express Journal Entry

Using the express journal entry panel simplifies the basic journal entry process. The panel defaults to the Lines panel; which allows you to begin entering journal lines immediately unlike the regular journal entry process. This panel only contains basic header and line information. The results provide you with a more visible view of the lines in the scroll and less display of fields and options that you don’t ordinarily access when entering a simple journal entry.

Navigation
Start > Process Financial Information > Process Journals > Use > Express Journal Entry > Add

1. Enter the appropriate header and line information.

Unit - Defaults based on the express journal prompt box selection.
Journal - 'NEXT' indicates system will assign journal ID during the save process.
Date - Defaults based on the date entered in the express journal prompt box selection.
Ledger Group (Required) - Defaults based on your operator ID definitions.
Source (Required) - Defaults based on your operator ID definitions but you may have rights to select others from the dropdown list. The source indicates the department, area, or feeder system initiating the transaction.
Ref No.(Required) - Select the appropriate reference code from the dropdown list. The reference number indicates the type of transaction being made such as wire transfer, depreciation, or interdepartmental charge.
Long Descr - You may enter up to 240 characters to note the purpose of your transaction.

For detailed information on the line chartfields, see the Charge Lines table in the Lines Information section.

2. Click on the Header or More Button.

The Header panel will be displayed based upon your previous navigation.

You are given the option to create a reversal journal if appropriate or set the journal as an adjusting entry if appropriate. Please see the header information section for more details.
Click on the SAVE button.

You have successfully entered an express journal.

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