Entering General Journal Transactions

You can use journal entries to adjust the balances in your general ledger accounts.

For an introduction to journal entries in NetSuite, see Making Journal Entries.

To enter a general journal transaction

Go to Transactions > Financial > Make Journal Entries.
Complete the fields in the top of the form as follows:
1. In the Entry No. field, accept the default or enter a different number.
  
  If journal entries are assigned autogenerated numbers in your account, To Be Generated is displayed in this field. For more information, see Set Auto-Generated Numbers.
2. Select a Subsidiary if you use NetSuite OneWorld. Subsidiary is in the Classification section. You must select the subsidiary before you can accept or select the currency.
  
  The journal posts to this subsidiary and only entities associated with the subsidiary can view the entry.
  
  You cannot associate a regular journal entry with more than one subsidiary. For journal entries between two subsidiaries, make an intercompany journal entry. See Making Intercompany Journal Entries.
  
  If the subsidiary you select is assigned to vendor or customer records, you can make journal entries for any of these vendors or customers. For more information about shared records, see Assigning Subsidiaries to a Vendor and Assigning Subsidiaries to a Customer.
3. If you use the Multiple Currencies feature, in the Primary Information section, accept the default Currency or select the currency used for all amounts in this journal entry.
  - If you use NetSuite OneWorld, the Currency field displays the base currency of the subsidiary selected in the Subsidiary field.
    
    For general journal entries, the currency defaults to the base currency of your company or root parent subsidiary. You can select any other currency available in your account.
    
    For intercompany journal entries in OneWorld, the currency defaults to the base currency of the selected subsidiary, but can be changed to the currency of the To Subsidiary.
  - If you do not use NetSuite OneWorld, the Currency field defaults to the base currency of the company.
4. The Exchange Rate field displays the default exchange rate of the selected subsidiary.
  
  For intercompany journal entries in OneWorld, this field displays the To Subsidiary's currency to the Subsidiary's currency. You can edit the exchange rate for this transaction only, or you can update the currency exchange rates list.
5. If you have journal approval permission, check the Approved box to approve your journal entry. If you do not check this box, this entry does not post until it is approved.
  
  The Approved box displays only if the Require Approvals on Journal Entries accounting preference is enabled at Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences > General subtab. See Require Approvals on Journal Entries Preference.
  
  The Approved box is not displayed if you have enabled the Journal Entries approval routing accounting preference. This preference enables you to use SuiteFlow to create a custom journal entry approval routing workflow. See Use Journal Entry Approval Routing.
6. In the Date field, accept today's date or enter a new date for the journal entry.
7. If you use fiscal periods, you see a Posting Period field.
  
  When you approve a journal entry, you can select a different Posting Period than the one initially displayed. You cannot select a closed period. You may be able to select an open and locked period if your role includes the Override Period Restrictions permission.
8. Leave the Reversal Date field blank and Defer Entry box blank, unless you want to create a reversing entry at the same time.
  
  If you check the Defer Entry box, the Reversal Date field is mandatory.
  
  For information about reversing entries, see Reversing Journal Entries.
9. In the Memo field, enter information to help you identify this journal entry in a list of other journal entries.
  
  The value in this field displays on the List page.
This step only applies if you have enabled Departments, Classes, or both and you classify at the transaction-level rather than the line-level. In the Classification section, select the appropriate classification to associate with this journal entry. For information about Departments and Classes, see Departments and Classes Overview.

If the Approval Routing Journal Entries accounting preference box is checked, the Approval Status and Next Approver lists appear in this section. You may also see custom buttons for commands, depending on your workflow configuration. For information about a custom journal entry approval workflow, see Using SuiteFlow for Journal Entry Approvals.
On the Lines subtab, enter the detail information for the journal lines.

The columns that appear are based upon the permissions set for your user role.

Tip:
You can navigate down the lines by pressing the Enter key on your keyboard. You cannot navigate up the lines.
1. In the Account field, select the ledger account to be affected by this journal entry.
  
  The list of available accounts is filtered according to any class, department, and location restrictions set for your role. Accounts that are associated with classes, departments, and locations to which your role does not have access are not available in the Account list.
2. Enter the Debit or Credit amount for the line.
  
  Review the Out of Balance By fields at the top of the form as you enter journal lines. They indicate whether the debits and credits in the journal entry balance.
3. Select a tax code, if needed.
4. Complete any of the following optional fields:
  - Memo – Enter a memo to help you recognize this journal entry in a register for this account.
  - Name – Select an entity to associate with this journal entry.
    
    Click the double down arrows to select List or Search options for your selection.
    
    The List option opens a popup list that includes a dropdown list at the top where you can filter the entities by type, such as Customer, Vendor, Employee, or Other Name.
    
    If the subsidiary you selected is assigned to vendor or customer records, you can make this journal entry for any of the vendors or customers.
5. If you have enabled Locations on the Company subtab of the Enable Features page and you specify classifications at the line-level, select the appropriate location to associate with this line.
  
  For information about Locations, see Locations Overview.
6. If you use the Revenue Recognition or Amortization features:
  1. In the Schedule column list, select the appropriate template.
    
    Revenue recognition templates display when the Revenue Recognition feature is enabled. Amortization templates display when the Amortization feature is enabled.
  2. If you select a variable template, you must also select the associated project in the Customer column list.
  3. Enter a start and end date, if needed.
  4. Enter the residual amount not to be recognized, if needed.
7. For OneWorld subsidiaries or accounts with value-added tax (VAT), enter the VAT amount, gross amount, and tax account, if needed.
8. Click Add.
  
  Tip:
  When line details are similar, click Copy Previous and then make modifications as required.
9. Repeat these steps for each line item.
On the Communication subtab, you can attach files and notes to this transaction.
1. On the User Notes subtab, enter a title and note for any comments you want to add to this transaction. Click Add after each note
2. On the Files subtab, select and attach files from the File Cabinet related to this transaction. To upload a new file to the File Cabinet, select New from the list in the Attach Files column.
3. Use the Events, Tasks, and Phone Calls subtabs to add to attach activities, such as events, phone calls, and tasks to this transaction. For more information, see Attaching Events, Tasks, and Calls to Records and Transactions.
If you use NetSuite OneWorld and the Multi-Book Accounting feature is provisioned in your account, the Accounting Books subtab appears. This subtab shows the secondary books associated with the selected check, if any, and their respective base currencies and exchange rates. For information about Multi-Book Accounting, see Using Multi-Book Accounting.
Click Save.

When you finish entering line items, verify that the Out of Balance by Debit and Credit fields are blank. If either field contains an amount, your line items are out of balance. Your line items must balance to save the journal.

Note:

To make a journal entry for undeposited funds, create a line item with an account of undeposited funds. Enter a credit in the amount of the transfer and a debit in the amount of the funds. The funds you can deposit appear on the Deposit page. This journal entry appears on the registers for the Income, Asset, or Undeposited Funds accounts. To enter a deposit, go to Transactions > Bank >Make Deposits.

To enter a general journal transaction

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