Basic Journal Entry Quick Guide Table of Contents: Create a New Journal Entry 2 Enter the Journal Header Informa on 3 Op onal Adding A achments to Journal Entry 4 Op onal Crea ng Automa c Reversal Journal Entry 4 Enter the journal entry lines 5 Le side of entry screen: 5 Right side of entry screen: 6 Edit the Journal Entry: 7 Correc ng Errors 8 Submit the Journal Entry for Approval: 9 From the Approval Tab 9 From the Lines Tab 9 Approving a Journal Entry: 10 Other Journal Func ons 11 Find an Exis ng Entry 11 Copy/Edit/Delete Process 12 Searching Within a Journal 12
Create a new Journal Entry: 2 Naviga on: 1. Business Unit = Your business area (even if you re going to be making entries to more than one business unit). 2. Journal ID: Will always default to the next number. 3. Journal Date: Determines the month where the entry will be posted (period must be open in order for journal to post). 4. Click Add: a er clicking you will be taken to the Header tab to begin entering the journal entry.
Enter the Journal Header Informa on: 3 1. Long descrip on: Use this field to provide an explana on of the purpose of the Journal Entry. It is important that the descrip on is clearly wri en and easy for others to understand. 2. Ledger Group: Always = ACTUALS 3. Source: Use these two op ons only ONL online entry. SA Student Account interim Journals (to feed entry back into the legacy Student Accounts System and debit/credit a student s account (Applies only un l the student por on of Mosaic launches expected March 2015) 4. Adjus ng Entry: Always = Non Adjus ng Entries. 5. Fiscal Year/Period: 2014 = 2013/14 fiscal year. 2015=2015/15 fiscal year. Period 1=May. Period 12=April. 6. Currency: Always = Canadian. Two Addi onal Op ons (see following pages for further explan on) 7. A achments: Click to a ach back up documents. 8. Reversal: Click to generate a reversal (used for month end/year end accruals only). 9. Click on the Lines tab when done with the header to begin making your entry.
Op onal Adding A achments to Journal Entry: 4 Mul ple a achments may be added. 1. Click Add A achment, then browse for and a ach the desired file. 2. A descrip on of each a achment may be added. 3. Use the symbol to delete an a achment. NOTE: A achments added/modified a er the journal has been submi ed for approval will cause the journal to restart the approval process. Op onal Crea ng Automa c Reversal Journal Entry: Remember: Reversals should only be used for month end/year end accruals (NOT to reverse an error). *You should ALWAYS choose to generate the reversal at the Beginning of Next Period. When the original journal has finished going through the approval process and gets posted (via overnight batch process), the reversal journal entry is automa cally created. NOTE: The reversing entry will maintain the same Journal ID as the original entry.
Enter the journal entry lines: Le side of entry screen: 5 1. Data Entry Area: Refer to the PeopleSo Char ield Guide for an explana on of required fields. You may enter the first digit(s) in each field and click the to bring up a list of values star ng with those digits. 2. Mul ple lines can be added or deleted at once. 3. Template List: (Op onal) When adding lines, values from the line above will automa cally be copied to the fields below in order to speed entry. The Template list can be used to customize the way this feature works, as well as to customize what fields are displayed in the data entry area. 4. Journal Status: Status of N = Not Edited. This journal has not been edited and is therefore NOT ready to be submi ed for approval and/or subsequent pos ng. Once done with the le side of the entry screen, use the tab key or scroll bar to access the debits, credits and other fields found on the right hand side of the data entry area (see next sec on).
Enter the journal entry lines con nued... Right side of entry screen: 6 5. Open Item Key: 00+employee number required for PDA/MPDA entries (accounts 5900xx). Otherwise blank. 6. Reference*: Student number required for entries feeding into the legacy Student Accounts system. Source MUST also be SA for these entries. (Applies un l student por on of Mosaic launches expected March 2015) 7. Journal Line Descrip on*: Defaults to Account descrip on and may be changed. This detail line appears in the GL. For entries feeding into the legacy Student Accounts system, descrip on MUST be: 49MM XXXAAAA 49 Entry Code MM = Month XXX = AR Code AAAA = Full student surname (or as many characters as will fit) The AR code will stay the same. Contact the Student Accounts Office if you are unsure what to do (acctrec@mcmaster.ca). 8. Save: Click save if you want to exit without finishing the journal. The journal ID number will be created, but the journal will NOT be budget checked and/or submi ed to workflow for approval. 9. Download: (Op onal) Click to download lines into Excel file. * Please note that for non student related entries, the Reference and Journal Line Descrip on fields are available to add addi onal informa on that may assist other users in understanding the purpose of the entry.
Edit the Journal Entry: 7 1. When finished entering the journal, select Edit Journal from the drop down menu. 2. Click the Process bu on. 3. If mul ple funds and/or business units were used on the journal, Intra fund (211001) / Inter unit (211000) entries will be auto generated. These are balancing entries required by the system, and DO NOT affect the amounts debited or credited to your department. 4. Journal Status: Status will change to V (valid ready to be posted) or E (errors). Possible statuses: N No Status > needs to be edited (see step 1). E Journal has Errors. V Valid Journal > edits Complete (can be submi ed for approval and/or is wai ng for approvals to be completed). P Posted to the Ledgers. T Journal Entry Incomplete > only show if save incomplete is checked in the header. Not the default setup for McMaster. 5. Budget Status: The edit process will also run the budget check. The status should be V.
Correc ng Errors: 8 Errors can occur at the Header or Line level. Lines in error are marked with an X in the Error column. Clicking the X will take you to the Errors tab which contains an explana on. NOTE: Only line errors currently displayed on the Lines tab will appear in the Error summary. If the Lines panel is only displaying 10 lines but the error is on line 20, it will not show up on the Errors tab (see #1) 1. Lines: The number of lines requested should be at least the number of lines contained in the Journal Entry. *You can see the total # of lines in the journal in the bo om Totals sec on of the Lines tab. 2. Errors Only: Check the box so that only lines with an error are displayed. NOTE: If there are more lines in error than there are lines displayed (see #1 above), not all the errors will be shown. 3. Download: You may click if you wish to download the en re journal entry into excel. 4. Error Tab: Click on this tab to display the cause of errors. Common Errors Include: Lines: Combo edit rules (eg. program and project used on the same line OR research fund used without project). Char ield values don t exist (would only occur with uploaded entries). Entry doesn t balance. Header Period not open* *NOTE: Journals that do not complete workflow approvals prior to month end close will go into error status. Users may copy these journals, change the date to the current month, and then resubmit for approval.
Submit the Journal Entry for Approval: From the Approval Tab: 9 1. Select the Approval tab. 2. Click on Submit 3. The screen shows the approval workflow. Outstanding approvals will show as Pending un l approved. OR From the Lines Tab: 1. On the Lines tab, select Submit Journal from the drop down menu 2. Click the Process bu on. This tab does not display the approval workflow. To review the workflow, select the Approval tab.
Approving a Journal Entry: 10 From the Mosaic Portal, the work list can be accessed by: Clicking on the My Work tab Clicking the Finance Work List link A list of all pending transac ons requiring the user s approval is shown. Click the link to approve the transac on. Alterna ve Naviga ons The work list can also be accessed by using the following naviga ons: Main Menu > My Work > Finance Worklist Main Menu > Finance > Worklist > Worklist 1. Go to Journal Entry Page: Click link to review the journal entry in full detail. *OR click on Journal Lines at the bo om of the screen for line detail only. 2. Choose ac on: Approve once all approvals are given the entry will post that night. Deny to reject the entry. You will be required to provide a reason. Hold not in use. Pushback push approval back to the previous approver. 3. Add Approver: (Op onal) Add approvers by clicking the + beside an exis ng approver. DO NOT use the + on the approval sec on which will start a new approval path.
Other Journal Func ons Find an exis ng entry: 11 Naviga on: Main Menu > Finance >General Ledger > Journals > Journal Entry > Create/Update Journal Entries Select the Find an Exis ng Value tab or click on the link to open the search interface. 1. Enter desired criteria. Op ons available include begins with, contains, equal to, not equal to, greater/less than and between. 2. Click Search bu on 3. Click on the Journal ID of the desired entry. You will be taken to the header tab of the entry. 4. Search Criteria can be saved for future use 5. Use the drop down to retrieve previously created searches. Example: Show all your December journals that are not posted: Journal Date: Select between and enter the start and end date of the month Journal Header Status: Select not= and Posted to Ledger(s) Entered By: Input your username.
Other Journal Func ons con nued... Copy/Edit/Delete Process: 12 1. From an exis ng entry ( Lines tab), you may select Copy Journal, Delete Journal or Edit Journal 2. Click the Process bu on to complete the requested ac on. Delete / Edit These func ons cannot be used if the Journal Status is already P (posted). Copy The journal can have any status. Searching Within a Journal: 1. From the Lines tab, click the Search Criteria link. 2. Journal Line Number the system will search from this line # forward (default is 1). 3. Business Unit default is MAC01, click search icon to display list of other units. 4. Criteria specific char ield values can be entered into each field (eg department 10385). 5. Wild Cards % symbol must be used in fields that are otherwise blank (ie. %=anything). Can also be used at the beginning/end of criteria (eg. 105% would search for all values star ng with 105, and/or % 888 would search for all values ending in 888). 6. Click OK when complete.