Create a manual journal

Use a manual journal for an accounting adjustment that belongs outside a normal invoice, bill, receipt, or payment workflow. Have the accounts, date, amounts, and reason reviewed before posting.

Enter the journal

1. Open Accounting → Manual Journals and start a new journal.
2. Set Journal Date, review the journal number, and add a Reference to the supporting calculation or document.
3. Add the required account lines with their debit or credit amounts and descriptions. Fill any required contact or other fields for the selected account.
4. Check that total debits equal total credits and that every account reflects the intended business event. Equal totals do not prove the accounts or date are correct.
5. Add a clear Memo and retain the supporting calculation.
6. Choose Save and Close when ready to post, or Save and New to post and start another journal. These actions post the journal; they are not draft saves.
7. Review the journal and its effect on the affected accounts and reports.

Example: recognize one month of prepaid insurance

Assume your accountant has already verified that $1,200 is recorded as a prepaid asset for twelve equal months and that one month should now be expensed. This illustrative adjustment is:

Account	Debit	Credit
Insurance expense	$100	—
Prepaid insurance	—	$100

The prepaid asset falls to $1,100 and this month’s expense increases by $100. No money moves as part of this adjustment. Do not also record a second bank payment.

See the balanced entry

Open full-size screenshot ↗

Filled example using Insurance and Prepaid Expenses in the Demo chart. Debits and credits both total $100. The form was canceled without posting; the hypothetical $1,200 prepaid balance was not created.

When to use a different workflow

Use customer payments and bill payments to settle documents. A journal to A/R or A/P is not a substitute for allocating a receipt or payment to the intended invoice or bill. The app requires the appropriate contact and validates the direction of customer/vendor adjustments. Cash and sensitive-account warnings are prompts to review the workflow; they do not mean every such account is prohibited. For stock counts, use inventory adjustments so item records and accounting stay connected.

If the period is closed or validation rejects a line, investigate the reason. Do not change a date or account only to bypass a restriction.