Set Up a Journal Template

Use the Journal Template Maintenance (GSM) program to set up, change, and delete templates that the General Journal Entry (GIP) program uses for frequent journal entries. See Background and Road Map for more information.

Current templates are listed:

Field Name	Displays
Jrnl name	The name of the journal template
Description	The description of the journal template

Choose the appropriate options:

To	Do This
Add a template	Click Add. The program prompts Journal name. Enter a unique identifier (10 alphanumeric characters maximum) for the journal template that you want to create.
Delete the selected template	Click Delete. See Delete.
Copy the selected template	Click Copy. See Copy.
Display a template	Highlight the template and click Select or double click the template.
Print the template listing	Click Print. See Print.
Exit the program	Click Exit.

Enter a description (25 alphanumeric characters maximum) or change the existing description.
Click Detail to enter or change transactions for the journal.

Field Name

Type / Max Length

Action / Description

Trans number

Required
5 alphanumeric

Accept the displayed transaction number.

GL org code

Required
2 alphanumeric

Select the GL organization code for this transaction.

You can use more than one GL organization code for a journal. However, all codes must be in the same consolidation.

GL account no

Required
10 alphanumeric

Enter the account for this transaction or click the Lookup icon and use the standard lookup options to select the account from a list.

Debit/Credit

Required
1 alphanumeric

Select D if this account is a debit.
Select C if this account is a credit.
Select U if you want to allow a debit or credit entry.

Allow override?

Optional

Select if you want the ability to change the organization or account when you post the transaction in the General Journal Entry program or leave blank if the organization and account never change.

If you select this field, you should enter a message in the Override message field to remind the user of the type of account to enter.

Description

Optional
25 alphanumeric

Accept the displayed description or enter a different description for the transaction.

This becomes the default for the Description field in the General Journal Entry program.

Trans reference

Optional
15 alphanumeric

Enter a reference for the transaction.

This becomes the default for the Reference field in the General Journal Entry program.

Trans amount

Optional
14 numeric in the format 999999999999.99

Enter a transaction amount or leave blank if you want to enter the transaction amount in the General Journal Entry program.

Enter an amount if:

The posting is for a fixed dollar amount (for example, a rent payment that does not vary from month to month). In this case, the journal is similar to a Recurring Journal, except it has no limit or posting frequency.
You want to establish an estimate or average amount for the transaction in the General Journal Entry program. For example, if you are using the journal template to post a bill for electricity and the amount is approximately the same each month, you can enter the average amount in this field. You can use the Percent field in conjunction with this field to provide a variance check.

Percent

Conditional
3 numeric in the format
99.9

Enter a variance or distribution percent.

Variance Percent
If you entered a dollar amount in the Trans amount field, the percent is a variance. The amount that you enter in the General Journal Entry program should not vary from the transaction amount by more than this percent.

For example, suppose that you enter 500.00 in the Trans amount field and 10 in the Percent field. If amount you enter in the General Journal entry program exceeds this percent either below $450.00 (500.00 - (500.00 x 0.10)) or above $550.00 (500.00 + (500.00 x 0.10)), the program prompts Amount is outside the acceptable range - continue? You can post an amount outside the variance range, but this feature alerts you to either a possible entry error or an incorrect invoice.

Distribution Percent
If you left the Trans amount field blank, the percent is a distribution. In this case, the journal is similar to an allocating journal. The percent is the portion of a control amount to post to the account for this transaction. The control account and amount are always transaction 1. Therefore, you cannot enter a percent for transaction 1.

For example, the control account for transaction 1 is a cash account, and the journal template is used to post the monthly electricity bill. Transactions 2 through 5 are expense accounts for four departments.

The electricity expense can be divided evenly: transactions 2 through 5 can each be 25 percent. Alternatively, the expense can be allocated based on the total square footage of each departments space or the number of employees in each department.

When you enter the control amount in the General Journal Entry program, that program credits the cash account for the entire electricity bill and displays the calculated debit amounts for each department. For this example:

Department	Percent	Amount
10	10	50.00
20	50	250.00
30	30	150.00
40	10	50.00

Override message

Conditional
55 alphanumeric

If you selected Allow override?, enter a message that indicates the type of account the user should enter.

When the user's cursor is in the GL acct no field in the General Journal Entry (GIP) program, this message displays at the bottom of the screen.

Choose the appropriate options:

To	Do This
Change a field	Move the cursor to field and make required changes and click Accept.
Exit without changing the transaction	Click Cancel.
Change a the transaction number field	The Change no button is not active.
Accept the data and return to list	Click OK.

Choose the appropriate options when you click OK or Cancel:

To	Do This
Add another transaction	Click Add.
Delete the selected transaction	Click Delete. See Delete.
Copy the selected transaction	Click Copy. See Copy.
Display the selected transaction	Click Select.
Renumber the transaction sequences	Click Renumber. Existing sequences are renumbered starting with 10 and incremented by 10 to enable you to add new sequences between existing ones.
Return to the previous screen	Click OK.
Exit the program	Click Exit.