User Defined Journals - Nominal

Many of the transactions which you need to enter into the nominal ledger are the same from one period to the next, with only perhaps some changes in values. To help you speed up journal entries you can define up to 40 pro-forma journals which you can call up and modify whenever you need them.Examples include:

Standard accruals and prepayments — you should accrue for electricity, gas and telephone on a monthly basis, and make any adjustments at the end of the quarter when the real bills come in. Similarly, you may rent quarterly, and need to spread the cost over each month

When posting user-defined journals the entry process looks very much like Journals as described above, although the specific details you are asked to enter can vary according to how you have defined each transaction.There are in fact two types of user-defined transactions: standard ones which you can only change through a special option, and "easy mode” ones which you can change at run time and save for later use.

The easy mode transaction in particular can be used to develop a journal over a period of time until it is ready to enter. The journal definition is held and you can modify it many times until you are ready to post it fully.

Taking this option shows you the menu of journals you have defined so far. The following is a typical example.

Normally you select the journal option you wish to use by scrolling up/down the list using the mouse or arrow key and pressing <Enter> or clicking the required entry with the mouse.In addition, however, you can change the definition of any journal at this point by using the <F7–Options> key.The definition process is covered at the end of this section under Defining User Journals.

A standard user-defined journal follows the same pattern as the journal entry process, with three main exceptions

You may not be asked to confirm the nominal code, amount, and other details. The definition process allows you to fix many aspects of the journal to prevent changes at run time. This is handy for regular journals where no alterations are needed, just the journal to post

You must step through all journal entries first.If you <Escape> from within the journal, then you are asked to abandon the transaction. Reply ‘No’ to return to the journal details. If you reply ‘Yes’ the journal is abandoned and you are returned to the menu.

You do not have the option to delete or add entries when it comes to closing the journal. If you want to change the journal in this way, then you must go back and change the definition before you use it

Once you have updated the nominal ledger you are asked if you wish to post another journal entry. If you reply ‘Yes’ then the original standard journal entries are refreshed so that you can enter another journal. If you want to pick another user-defined journal, however, reply ‘No’ and you are returned to the menu.

After the journal has been posted the date of the journal is updated onto the menu of user-defined journals so you can review that all appropriate journals have been posted.

If you choose an "easy mode” journal, you are first asked if you want to change the transaction detail

It is only this question (unless you mark it as such in the menu title) which tells you it is an easy mode journal. Easy mode journals allow you to develop a repertoire of standard transactions which you can define and keep for later use as you enter them.

If you reply ‘No’ the journal is displayed for you on the screen and you must complete the header in the usual way. It follows the same procedure now as the standard user-defined transaction, itself modelled on the standard journal entry procedure.

If you reply ‘Yes’ you first go into the easy-mode definition described below.

First, the existing menu title is displayed so that you can change it if you want to.

If this is to be a provisional transaction, then reply Y <Enter>, otherwise reply N <Enter>. You are advised to note in the menu title that it is a provisional journal.

If the transaction already has details defined for it you are now asked: change/update the transaction definition

If you reply ‘No’ to initialise all values, then the original definition is ignored and you are given a blank transaction entry screen just like the usual journal entry procedure. (Whether the original definition is cleared depends on whether you update the new definition back at the end of this process).

From this point you proceed just as though this were a normal journal. You must complete the header information, and then step through the detail lines. Should you <Escape> from the Account prompt on any line, and then you go to the same Action options as for a normal journal.

Once you are happy with the transaction, you can enter it into the nominal in the usual way, or you can decide not to post it. Either way, you are now asked whether you wish to save the entered journal back to the definition.

Reply ‘Yes’ to save the details in the definition file so that you can use it again at a later date.

Instead of picking one of the user-defined journals you can use the <F7–Options> key to put you into the full journal definition process. This is described below.

If you’ve used all 40 slots within the definition file then Diamond and Premier users can create a new definition file. The usual definition file, ???-TXS.DEF (where ??? is the company id) is supplemented by ???-TXS.0nn (when nn is a number from 01 to 99).

You need to enable this option in the Application User Facilities and configure the menu to call this new definition – the parameter number is 2005nn where nn is the definition number from 01 to 99.

Article ID: 1033
Created On: Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 2:28 PM
Last Updated On: Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 7:17 PM

Online URL: https://kb.datafile.co.uk/article/user-defined-journals-nominal-1033.html