Journal Entry
Use the Journal Entry form to enter various types of accounting adjustments within AMS360.
Pre-Defined Journal Entries
From several points in the system certain specialized journal entry actions are available. These actions are referred to as "pre-defined" journal entries because they have a specific function and, depending on the function, they often require very little data entry.
Pre-defined journal entries in the Customer Center and the Broker Center allow those with CSR level security (or higher) to make adjustments to customer/broker receivables, as long as amounts are within thresholds set in Agency Setup. Access to standard (not pre-defined) journal entries in all Centers through selection of New Journal Entry on the center Actions menu requires Bookkeeper or Owner level security (unless assigned in a user-defined custom Security Group). See Security Group Setup for more information about security levels.
Access Points
- Open any center.
- Select and open the applicable bank, customer, broker, company, employee or vendor.
- On Actions menu, click New > Journal Entry.
Journal Entry Sections
Creating a journal entry involves entering general information as to the division, date and memo description to be attached to all parts of the journal entry.
General Information
| Fields | What is this? |
|---|---|
|
Division |
Select the applicable division from the list. The list displays only those divisions matching the logged in user's security. If you need to change the displayed division, select the correct division from the list and a message advises you that the form will be cleared. You do not need to exit the form to change divisions. |
|
Journal Date |
Using the Date Picker, select or enter the Date you want the journal entry to post to the general ledger. The current system date defaults and can be changed. |
|
Journal Memo |
Enter a meaningful Memo description for the journal entry. This description defaults into voucher section description fields and is also available when viewing the completed journal entry. |
|
Totals |
The Balance field is the calculation of accumulated Debits minus accumulated Credits. The display changes as section rows are updated. The journal entry balance must be 0.00 before it can be posted. |
Then, depending on where you choose to access the journal entry form, one or more of the following Voucher Detail Sections are available to enter the debit and credit rows of the journal entry.
Insured/Broker/Finance Receivables
Many of the accounting adjustments you need to make to receivables accounts can be handled by the use of the pre-defined journal entries.
When entering a journal entry involving a receivable account, the key step is locating the customer/broker/finance co. invoice balance to which the adjustment is to be made. See sections below for information about grid defaults and available actions.
|
See Sections in the Receipts topic for more information about locating invoices in receivable voucher detail sections. |
Insured Accounts Receivable
Defaults all the open invoices for the selected insured and division, regardless if the invoices are brokered or non-brokered.
To apply an adjustment to an invoice having a zero balance, select the All Invoices Since option, select or enter a date, and click Get Data. All invoices with an Invoice Date greater than or equal to the date you entered are displayed.
Using the type-in-grid functionality, enter the amount and journal description.
Click Add On Account on the section menu to apply an adjustment to an insured's AR without attaching it to an invoice. Enter the amount and description only, if you want the adjustment at the customer level. Enter the Amount, Description and select a Policy from the list if you want the adjustment at the customer/policy level.
Broker Accounts Receivable
Defaults all the open invoices for all customers of the selected broker and division. Adjustments applied to the Broker AR post to general ledger account #11221000, subledgered by broker.
If you wish to see receivable balances for a specific customer of the selected broker, click the column filter arrow on the Customer grid column and select the desired customer name.
To apply an adjustment to an invoice having a zero balance, select the All Invoices Since option, select or enter a date, and click Get Data. All invoices with an Invoice Date greater than or equal to the date you entered are displayed.
Click Add On Account on the section menu to apply an adjustment to the broker without attaching it to an invoice. Enter the amount and description only, if you want the adjustment at the broker level. Search and find a Customer, if you want the adjustment at the broker/customer level. Select a Policy from the list if you want the adjustment at the broker/customer/policy level.
Finance Accounts Receivable
Select the applicable finance company from the Company list in the Display group. All of the open invoice balances for the selected company display.
To apply an adjustment to an invoice having a zero balance, select the All Invoices Since option, select or enter a date, and click Get Data. All invoices with an Invoice Date greater than or equal to the date you entered are displayed.
Click Add On Account on the section menu to apply an adjustment to the finance company without attaching it to an invoice. Enter the amount and description only, if you want the adjustment at the finance company level. Search and find a Customer, if you want the adjustment at the finance company/customer level. Select a Policy from the list if you want the adjustment at the finance company/customer/policy level.
Company Statement
This voucher section is only available when accessing a New Journal Entry from the Bank or the Financial centers.
Use this voucher section to attach a Ready to Pay account current statement to a journal entry. Posting the journal entry clears the company payable for all invoices included in the statement.
|
This can be useful when clearing statements containing small adjustments that the agency elects to write off. It can also be used to post payments to companies made by electronic funds transfer (EFT), although the EFT option in Checks may be more efficient. |
The grid fills with any account current statements with a status of Ready to Pay for all companies.
| Option/check box | What is this? |
|---|---|
|
Select All |
Click the button to place a check in the Pay column for all of the account current rows in the grid. |
|
Clear All |
Click the button to remove all checks in the Pay column for all of the account current rows in the grid. |
|
Pay |
Check the box to attach an account current statement to the journal entry. |
Direct Bill Deposit
Use the Direct Bill Deposit section, to enter a journal entry adjustment against a previously posted direct bill deposit amount. These adjustments are posted to general ledger account #21121000.
| Field | What is this? |
|---|---|
|
Customer |
Select the customer you want to post your direct bill deposit adjustment to. |
|
Amount |
Enter the amount of the adjustment. |
|
Description |
Enter a meaningful description of the adjustment. |
Example Postings of receipts and checks occur against the Direct Bill Deposit account when customers or brokers pay the agency for a direct bill policy or application, instead of making payment directly to the carrier.
Occasionally, the amounts receipted from the insured or broker do not agree with the check amounts issued to the company requiring a journal entry adjustment. Or perhaps a refund check from a company for an unacceptable application is receipted to Direct Bill Commission Receivable or Direct Bill Commission Income and should have been recorded to Direct Bill Deposit, requiring a journal entry for correction.
Direct Bill Commission Receivables
Whether you bill your direct bill business by invoicing it or posting it through the direct bill statement, AMS360 posts the commission due your agency (normally a debit), to general ledger account #11241000 - DB Comm Receivable Insurance companies or #11242000 - Direct Bill Comm Receivables Brokerage Companies.
Subsequently, you need to post the commission check (receipt) from the insurance/brokerage company to account #11241000/11242000 (normally a credit) via the Direct Bill Commission Receivables section of the receipt.
Occasionally, the total invoicing (or statement posting) corresponding to the commission check received from the company is in disagreement due to rounding differences or minor posting errors.
|
If an adjustment needs to be made to this account, most often the offsetting entry is posted to the Direct Bill Commission Income. |
Direct Bill Commission Income
Use this section to post adjustments to Direct Bill Commission Income accounts.
| Group/Field | What is this? |
|---|---|
|
GL # |
|
|
Amount |
The amount of the direct bill commission income adjustment. |
|
Division |
This is the division selected in the General Information section of the journal entry and cannot be changed. |
|
Department |
Select the department for the adjustment. This is a required field since the GL accounts are income accounts. |
Pay Commissions
This voucher section is only available if accessing a New Journal Entry from the Bank or the Financial centers.
Use this voucher section to attach a Ready to Pay commission payable statement to a journal entry. Posting the journal entry clears the producer payable for all invoices included in the statement.
|
This voucher is most commonly used to clear commission payable statements when posting payroll issued by a third-party payroll service. This voucher can also be useful when clearing statements containing small adjustments the agency elects to write off. |
The grid fills with any commission payable statements with a status of Ready to Pay for all employees/brokers.
| Option/check box | What is this? |
|---|---|
|
Select All |
Click the button to place a check in the Pay column for all of the commission payable rows in the grid. |
|
Clear All |
Click the button to remove all checks in the Pay column for all of the commission payable rows in the grid. |
|
Pay |
Check the box to attach a commission payable statement to the journal entry. |
Administrative Salaries
If your agency contracts with a payroll service to process it's employee payroll, generally you use a journal entry to record the data from the payroll service report in AMS360. In posting such a journal entry, Administrative Salaries is the voucher section you use to enter the total gross salaries by employee category.
| Group/Field | What is this? | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
GL# |
The general ledger administrative salaries account. Available account numbers are:
|
||||||||||
|
Amount |
The amount of the administrative salary. |
||||||||||
|
Business Unit |
|
||||||||||
|
1099 |
If the employee setup included a designated 1099 category and type, it appears in this field. You can choose a category and type from the list.
|
|
The system defaults any general ledger account numbered between 61000000 and 62000000 into this grid. If you need additional accounts to default for data entry, be sure they fall within this number range. |
Employee Draw
Draws against future salaries or commissions are generally paid by agency check. They are then reported to the payroll service as a deduction against future salary or commission payments. Use this voucher section to enter the entry from the payroll service reimbursing the agency for draw amounts.
Entries to this section post to general ledger #21139000 and are sub-ledgered in the general ledger by commissioned person.
| Field | What is this? | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Amount |
The amount of the employee draw being reimbursed to the agency. |
||||||
|
Description |
Enter a description of the employee draw transaction. |
||||||
|
1099 |
If the employee setup includes a designated 1099 category and type, it appears in this field. You can choose a category and type from the list
|
Employee Expenses and Reimbursements
Use the Employee Expenses and Reimbursements section to record a payroll service entry or an adjustment to a prior posted amount involving an expense or reimbursement transaction for an employee. The general ledger account is #21160. This account is sub-ledgered by employee.
| Field | What is this? | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Amount |
The amount of the employee expense or reimbursement. |
||||||
|
Description |
Enter a description of the employee expense or reimbursement transaction. |
||||||
|
1099 |
If the employee setup includes a designated 1099 category and type, it appears in this field. You can choose a category and type from the list or delete it altogether if this is not a 1099 transaction.
|
Taxes Employee Withholdings
Use this journal entry voucher section to record in AMS360 taxes withheld on the employee salaries as indicated on the payroll service report.
The system defaults any general ledger accounts numbered between 21210000 and 21220000 into this grid. If you need additional tax accounts to default for data entry, be sure they fall within this number range.
| Field | What is this? | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Amount |
The amount of the employee taxes withheld. |
||||||
|
Description |
Enter a description of the employee taxes withheld transaction. |
||||||
|
1099 |
If the employee setup includes a designated 1099 category and type, it appears in this field. You can choose a category and type from the list.
|
Other GL Accounts
The Other GL Accounts section is available to apply adjustments to general ledger accounts that may not be available through other journal entry sections.
| Field | What is this? | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
GL # |
Select the GL # to which the adjustment should be made. |
||||||||||
|
Amount |
Enter the Amount to apply. Enter a minus (-) in front of credit amounts. |
||||||||||
|
Description |
Enter a Description for the transaction. A default description pulls to the field. This can be changed. |
||||||||||
|
Business Unit |
|
||||||||||
|
1099 |
If this journal entry involves a 1099 transaction, you can choose a category and type from the list.
|
||||||||||
|
GL # Required Fields |
The GL # Required Fields drop-down lists are subledger entities (customer, broker, insurance company, brokerage company, etc.). Depending upon the GL # selected, the account may require a subledger entity be chosen. |
Saving a Journal Entry
Saving a Journal Entry
At any time you want to save in-progress data for a journal entry, click Save & Close.
Retrieving a Saved Journal Entry
To retrieve a saved journal entry:
- Open the Financial Center.
- Click the Journal Entries view. Saved but unposted journal entries appear at the top of the list and display blanks in the GL Date and Ref # columns.
- Click the link in the Type column of the appropriate row to display the saved journal entry.
- Continue adding or editing voucher rows.
- When you have finished adding vouchers, click Post. See the Posting and Canceling section later in this topic for more information.
Deleting a Saved Journal Entry
To delete a saved journal entry:
- Open the Financial Center.
- Click the Journal Entries view. Saved but unposted journal entries appear at the top of the list and display blanks in the GL Date and Ref # columns.
- Click the link in the Type column of the appropriate row to display the saved journal entry.
- Select Delete from the File menu.
Posting and Canceling
To post, or cancel a journal entry, click the File menu and make your selection or click the appropriate icon. When Post is selected, the Balance field in the Totals group in the General Information section must be zero (0.00) before the journal entry posts.
What's Next?
Rather than entering the same data every month for the same journal entries, see Workflow: Copy a Journal Entry and Recurring Journal Entries for alternative solutions.