In the setup record, you may assign each type of JE a different JE numbering scheme, although it is optional. In addition, you'll tell the system whether or not to assign a JE number upon posting or simply upon entry, as well as whether an "out of balance" JE can be saved (not posted).

Special Considerations

After we describe each of the fields in the form, we will point out some elements of the setup that you should consider before implementing.

Journal Entry Setup Examples

Escape provides you with a few "standard" journal entry types that we believe most customers will use, such as general ledger, expenditure, encumbrances, etc. These are by no means the only journal entry types that you will want to set up. In addition, the "way" they are set up is meant to give you a start and they can be changed to meet the needs of your organization.

Specific Field Descriptions

The following are specific field descriptions of the fields that appear in the Journal Entry Setup record:

JE TYPE: Enter a JE Type Code, up to eight characters. This field is alphanumeric. This code will appear on lists, such as Journal Entry transaction lists, as well as GL reports, and will be used by Screen Tool as a parameter.

WHICH DETAIL SCREEN TO BE USED WITH THESE JE'S: Enter default detail screen number here. These numbers refer to different detail screen "looks." This is simply the default look or list. Once you are in a JE, you may use the gray "*" (on your keypad) to change the look of the detail screen. The detail screen shows you different fields of information.

"01" or "02" - JE screen will show Account #, Transaction Type, Debit and Credit Amounts. These two views provide the user with the most information about the detail lines.
"03" - JE screen will show Account #, Description (11 character wide), Transaction Type, Debit and Credit Amounts.
"04" - JE screen will show Account #, Description (30 character wide), Transaction Type and Debit and Credit Amounts.
"05" - JE screen will show Fund-Object only, Description (30 character wide), Transaction Type and Debit and Credit Amounts.

TIP: As we mentioned above, if you want to view other fields in a journal entry, simply press the gray "*" and change the look. Keep pressing the gray "*" until you find the look you like.

JOURNAL ENTRY TITLE BAR: Enter the text you would like to appear at the top of the JE screen for this JE type. For example, if the user will enter an Appropriation Transfer JE, you may want a Title Bar at the top of the screen to display "APPROPRIATION TRANSFER ENTRY."

DEFAULT COMMENT: Enter the default comment that you wish to be filled in when the system automatically creates a journal entry for you. For example, if this is an encumbrance journal entry, you may wish the default comment to be ENCUMBRANCE.

Record Keeping for These Journal Entries Section

TURN ON MULTI-YEAR PROCESSING?: Enter a Y here to enable processing this journal type in two fiscal years. The numbering sequence must also be set up in order for multi-year processing to be functional.

SOURCE TO BE FILLED IN FOR THESE JE'S: Enter here the text you would like the system to fill into the SOURCE field in the JE. The SOURCE is a text field that can help a user to know where the JE was created. You may want the source for an appropriation transfer JE to state BUDGET because the budget office manager and asst. manager are the only users who create these JEs. This user-defined field is used solely for grouping journal entries in a list. You may enter up to eight characters.

NUMBERING SEQUENCE USED FOR THESE JE'S: Press Shift+Enter here for a Lookup Window for the possible numbering sequence for the JEs. Each type of JE may have it's own numbering scheme. Some districts may decide that they do not want to have different numbering schemes for different JEs. If desired, all JEs may use the same numbering sequence.

Once the Lookup Window of JE Sequence Records is on your screen, you may choose one, add a new one or edit an existing one. For information on the Escape philosophy on JE numbering sequences, please see the Special Considerations section.

TIP: If you decide to use different numbering sequences, these sequences must be unique or mutually exclusive!

ASSIGN JOURNAL ENTRY # WHEN POSTING? If you enter a Y, a JE # will not be assigned until the JE has been posted. If you leave this field blank, the JE # will be assigned when you create the JE.

TIP: If you decide that the JE # should be assigned when creating the JE, the number will be skipped if, after creating the JE, you decide to delete it. This will happen even if another journal has not been added after the one that was deleted.

JE GROUP OPTION: The standard Fund/Object Journal Entry Detail Report uses this field. If left blank, this report will group all transactions with the same batch # if one exists or by JE# if no batch #. If an S is entered, the report will group all transaction for that Source for one day together. If a T is entered, the report will group all transactions for that JE Type for one day together.

This field ONLY applies to the Fund/Object Journal Entry Detail report. It is used in this report to group journal entries. You cannot use this field to filter.

How this Journal Entry Works

JE FUNCTIONALITY: This field is recommended for Revised Budget and Expenditure journal entry types.

For system generated journal entries, this field should be left blank. System-generated JEs are those journal entries that are built by Escape. JEs created during requisition processing - encumbering, expensing, paying invoices (printing warrants) and payroll labor distribution - as well as those created during budget adoption, budget revision, salary encumbrance, closing the books, rolling balances forward, etc. are all examples of system generated journal entries.

It is also recommended that this field be left blank for all other manual journal entry types. If this field is left blank, Escape automatically presents a lookup window of the valid transaction types for the account type when a user creates a manual journal entry. For example, if the user entered a revenue account in a detail line and pressed TAB into the "T" field, Escape would default an "R" for Record Revenue. If the user tried to enter an "X" (expenditure) for the revenue account and pressed TAB to leave the field, once again Escape would take over, presenting a lookup window showing "Record Revenue" and "Revise Budget."

Only enter a transaction type in this field if you want to FORCE the transaction type. For example, if you enter a T, Escape will FORCE the transaction type in every JE Detail line for this journal entry type to be "T". Your cursor will not even land in the "T" field. It will default the type and skip over the field.

The potential JE functionality options for this field are:

S - Starting Balance
T - Revised Budget
E - Encumbrance
X - Expenditure
R - Record Revenue

WARNING: This field should be used with extreme caution. If you manually enter a JE for an asset account when this field is set to "T", your system could become out of balance.

AUTOMATICALLY BALANCE JE?: This field is recommended for most manual journal entry types. However, DO NOT turn this flag on for closing journal entries. It is also unnecessary to turn this flag on for system-generated journal entries. Escape automatically balances all journal entries that are system-generated.

If you want your journal entries to automatically be balanced by resource and object, enter a Y here. If you leave this field blank, journal entries may be created that are out of balance between resources. Please note this field does not affect journal entries that have already been posted.

The journal entries are balanced during the Save process. They are balanced with the associated cash account or fund balance account (for budget and revised budget journals). If those accounts do not exist, the JE Out of Balance flag will be set.

NOTE: This feature works in conjunction with the JE functionality field. For example, if the JE Functionality field has a "T" for revised budget, then Escape will balance the JE using an account that contains the fund balance object code found in the Chart Setup Screen - the first field in the Year End Objects section. If the JE functionality field has any other value (including blank), then Escape will balance the JE using an account that contains the interfund cash object field as defined in the Chart Setup screen.

CAN AN OUT OF BALANCE INTER-FUND JE BE POSTED?: Most districts will never allow this type of processing. Enter a Y here if your district allows journals to be posted out of balance between funds. The journal will still need to be in balance overall.

RESTRICT THIS JE TO WHAT OBJECT RANGE: If this type of JE should be restricted to a particular range of Objects, enter a beginning and ending number in the fields here. If left blank, this type of JE will be allowed in the entire range of Objects.

CAN THIS JE BE UNPOSTED AND DELETED?: Enter a Y here to enable this type of journal to be unposted and deleted. This feature is normally only used when unposting payroll encumbrance journal types. The Unpost and Delete menu choice in the Journal Entry List screen will not work unless this flag is set.

WARNING! This is a potentially dangerous feature. You should never set this flag in any journal type other than payroll encumbrance journal entry types!

DISALLOW CHANGE IN OVERALL CASH?: Enter a Y here to disallow users the ability to change overall cash. This field controls whether or not a user trying to post a manually entered Journal Entry can change the overall Cash balance.

For example, if the user tried to create a JE with a debit to expense account and a credit to cash, Escape would not post the JE because it would cause the cash balance to decrease. In this case, the user would receive an error and the out of balance JE flag would be set to a "Y".

However, you CAN transfer money between funds with this flag turned on. If the Automatically Balance JE flag is also turned on, Escape will balance the JE to the cash accounts of both funds. (The Cash Object code found in the Account Setup screen designates Cash balances.)

UPDATE BUDGET MODEL?: Enter a Y here to allow users to create budget revision journal entries. The journal entry type must be a "T" for this field to work.

Special Considerations

Journal Entry Sequence Approach

In the Journal Entry Setup Record, you have the ability to specify a different JE numbering sequence for each type you create. There are two schools of thought on this issue. One is that all JEs, regardless of type will be numbered using the same sequence. So, an appropriation transfer and a PO encumbrance would use the same numbering sequence. The other is that each JE type be given its own numbering sequence. This decision is completely up to you. However, let's review some of the advantages to creating unique numbering sequences for each JE type:

Simply by knowing the JE number, you will recognize whether it's an appropriation transfer or an interfund transfer, etc.
When accessing a list of JEs, through the JE number you will be able to "filter" out other types of JEs from the list.
At year end, by looking at the numbering sequence record, you can have an exact count of each type of JE you created during the fiscal year.

Adding Journal Entry Types to Menus

After adding the journal entry types and sequences, you're ready to add these to the menus, using the Escape Screen Tool, ETMENU. For details on how to do this, please see the Escape System Manager's Guide.

Tip: For manually entered journal entries, you should consider turning on the Automatically Balance JE feature. This feature will automatically balance the journal entry.

Autobalancing Journal Entries

If Automatically Balance JE flag is on and a user creates a JE but saves it before completing the detail, Escape automatically marks the details lines that were added by the system to balance the JE. When the user calls up the JE again to edit it, they can continue to add lines. When they save again or post, Escape analyzes the JE again and adds or removes detail lines as appropriate. Escape may also adjust the dollar amounts of the offsetting accounts (manually or system entered) to balance the JE.

If the user creates a JE before creating the offsetting accounts needed for balancing the JE, Escape will set the out of balance JE flag to a "Y". This will keep the journal from posting. The user can then create the necessary accounts and edit the JE again to post.

The user should never enter a cash account manually in a journal entry that is "auto balanced." If you need to have a journal entry with manual entries to cash, you will need a JE type that does not have this flag set.