A journal is a year-end adjustment made on the Trial Balance screen: a supplier invoice that arrived late, an accrual, a figure posted to the wrong account. It is entered as debits and credits, and it changes the figures only once it has been approved.
Two kinds of journal
| Journal | Presentation journal | |
|---|---|---|
| Use it for | Real adjustments to the books | Rounding and how figures are shown in the accounts |
| Accounts you post to | Your own nominal accounts | The accounts used in the statutory accounts |
| Must balance | Yes | No, but you are warned |
| Needs approval | Yes | No, it applies when saved |
| Changes your bookkeeping | Yes: posted to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, or added to the imported figures | Never |
This article covers journals. Presentation journals have their own article.
The example below is Example Fabrication Ltd, which imported its trial balance from a spreadsheet and then received a £1,200 invoice for steel delivered three days before the year end.
Create a journal
- Open the accounting period and go to Trial Balance.
- Open the Imported Data tab, find one of the accounts the journal affects, and choose Create Journal from the menu at the end of its row. The first line is set to that account.
- Check the Journal Date. It is written year first, for example 2025-03-31, and cannot be after the period end.
- Enter a Narrative saying what the journal is for. (QuickBooks journals have no narrative.)
- Complete each line: a description, the account, and a debit or a credit. Use Add Journal Line for further lines.
- Choose Save Journal.
With an imported trial balance there are also Prior Year Debit and Prior Year Credit columns, for correcting last year’s comparative figures. They must balance too.
What stops a journal being saved
- “The credits and debits do not tally up”: total debits must equal total credits, for this year and for the prior year columns.
- “You must have at least 2 lines”.
- “You must select an account”: every line needs one.
- “Please enter a description on each line.”
- A journal date after the end of the accounting period.
Approve it
A saved journal is a draft. It is listed, but the figures have not moved. While any journal is waiting, Actions > Journal List shows a red count.
Open the Journal List, click the journal’s name to see its lines, and tick the box on the right under Approved.
If you are sure of a journal as you enter it, tick Approve in the Create Journal window and it is approved as it is saved.
Who can approve
- A company with no accountant firm: anyone signed in to the company.
- An accountant firm: team members who have Can Approve Journals ticked on their user record. The firm’s administrator sets this, so a junior can prepare journals for a senior to approve.
- A client of a firm signing in with their own login can enter journals but not approve them.
If you cannot approve, the tick box in the Journal List is greyed out and the Approve box is not shown when you create a journal.
What approval does
- Imported trial balance: the journal is added to the imported figures. Purchases moves from 31,207.45 to 32,407.45 on the Imported Data tab, and the Trial Balance tab, the accounts and the Corporation Tax computation follow.
- Xero, QuickBooks or Sage: the journal is posted to your bookkeeping software as a manual journal, so the two stay in step.
Xero would not accept it? You see “The journal was saved but not approved because Xero didn’t accept it.” The journal stays as a draft. The usual causes are a lock date in Xero that covers the journal date, an archived account, or a connection that needs renewing. Fix that in Xero and approve again.
Review your journals
- Actions > Journal List lists every journal for the period, named after the period and numbered: YE-2025-1, YE-2025-2 and so on. Approved journals have the box ticked.
- Download to Excel in the Journal List gives a spreadsheet of all of them for your working papers.
- Show Journal, in the row menu on the Imported Data tab, lists the journal lines posted to that one account beside the figure originally imported.
- With an imported trial balance, the document icon on a journal shows exactly what approval changed.
Delete a journal
Use the bin icon on the journal in the Journal List. What is allowed depends on where the figures came from:
| Trial balance from | Draft journal | Approved journal |
|---|---|---|
| A spreadsheet import | Can be deleted | Can be deleted; its amounts are taken back out of the imported figures |
| Xero | Stays in the list; it has no effect | Can be deleted; the journal is voided in Xero |
| QuickBooks or Sage | Stays in the list; it has no effect | Cannot be deleted here. Reverse it in your bookkeeping software and sync again |
No journal can be deleted once the accounting period is complete.
Frequently asked questions
I saved a journal but the trial balance has not changed. Why?
It has not been approved. Open Actions, Journal List and tick the box beside it. A red number on Journal List tells you how many journals are waiting.
Why is there no Approve box when I create a journal?
Your login does not have the right to approve. In an accountant firm, ask the firm’s administrator to tick Can Approve Journals on your user record. A client of a firm cannot approve; their accountant does.
Will the journal appear in Xero or QuickBooks?
Yes, once it is approved. It is posted as a manual journal dated with the journal date. Nothing is sent while it is a draft.
Can I edit a journal after saving it?
No. Delete it where that is allowed and enter it again, or post a second journal that corrects the first.
I re-imported my spreadsheet. Are my journals still there?
The journals stay in the Journal List, but a new import replaces the imported figures, including the amounts earlier journals added. Put the adjustment in the spreadsheet before importing again, or delete the old journal and post it afresh.
Should I use a journal or a presentation journal for a 1p difference?
A presentation journal. It is meant for rounding and does not touch your bookkeeping. See Presentation journals and the Balance Check.