Recurring Journal Entries/Checks

The Recurring Journal Entries or Recurring Checks feature allows you to enter a journal entry or check once and have the system automatically create an identical journal entry or check at regular intervals.

Recurring Journal Entries

The Recurring Journal Entries feature is ideal for payroll service entries, depreciation and amortization and electronic funds transfer (EFT) payments of notes or leases.

The Recurring Journal Entries templates are created and maintained in the Financial Center. The recurring journal entries are then generated as part of Daily Process at intervals established in the setup.

To set up a new recurring journal entry template:

  1. Open the Financial Center.
  2. On the Actions menu, click New Recurring Journal Entry. The Recurring Journal Entry form opens.

Complete the following fields to set up a recurring journal entry:

Group/Field Available Changes

Journal Entry Selection
Field/Option What is this?

Account Type

Select the individual or company type corresponding to the entity involved in the journal entry to be created. When this selection is made the Name field appears.

Name

Select the Name of the entity involved in the journal entry. This list contains only those entities associated with the Account Type selected above.

  • If no entity is involved, such as a monthly entry for amortization or depreciation, select Other as the Account Type.
  • If the Account Type is Other, type the entity name in the Name field, such as Monthly Depreciation.

Post Immediately

If the Post Immediately box is checked, the recurring journal entry transaction intervals that are not current, will be created and posted to the general ledger when Daily Process is run for a date that includes that interval.

  • Selecting this option gives you no opportunity to review and approve the elements of the journal entry, such as variable amounts in a payroll from a payroll service.

If the Post Immediately box is left unchecked the recurring journal entry transaction intervals will be created and saved when Daily Process is run for a date that includes that interval. These journal entries are saved in the appropriate center, and must be reviewed and approved before they post to the general ledger.

  • This method allows you to review the journal entry, edit the information, including the selected GL account numbers and amounts, and approve it before posting.

Interval Recurrence
Group What is this?

Frequency

Select the appropriate frequency for the journal entry, Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Annually. Based on the frequency selected the interval options change.

Choice Examples

Daily
  • Every __ day(s). - "Every 10 days."
  • Every weekday. - "Monday thru Friday."

Weekly
  • Recur every __ week(s) on:
    • Enter the number of weeks interval, and check the day of the week. For example, "Every 2 weeks on Wednesday."

Monthly
  • Day __ of every __ month(s). - "Fifth day of every 1 month."
  • The ___ _____ of every ____ months. - "The fourth Thursday of every 1 month."

Annually
  • Every ____ ___________. - Enter month and day. "Every April 15th".
  • The ___ ____ of ________. - "The first Tuesday of January."

Range of Interval
Field/Options Examples

Start

Enter the desired start date. This date cannot be earlier than the current system date.

If you select a start date equal to the current date you receive a reminder message:

AMS360 - message

The first interval date is today's date. Recurring items will not be created until Daily Process is run.

OK

Run Daily Process to create the first interval journal entry for the current date.

End After __ occurrences

Enter the number of desired occurrences. Use this option if the journal entry amount changes at specific intervals, such as with an annually adjusted electronic lease payment.

End by _____

Enter the desired date you want to end the occurrences by.

Example Enter the last payment due date for an electronic installment loan.

Create Recurring Journal Entry

To create the journal entry detail, click Create Recurring Journal Entry. This takes you to the Recurring Journal Entry data entry form.

The General Information portion of the journal entry pre-fills as for any other type of journal entry.

  1. Select the appropriate Division for your journal entry.
  2. The Journal Date field defaults to the date of the first interval, and cannot be changed.
  3. The Journal Memo default is "Adjusting JE" and can be changed.
  4. The Totals automatically calculate as you enter your journal entry detail. To post the journal entry, the Debits must equal the Credits and the Balance must equal 0.00.

The voucher types available on a recurring journal entry are different than those available for a regular journal entry. The Other GL Accounts section is available for all Account Types.

The Employee Account Type includes additional voucher sections:

  • Administrative Salaries
  • Employee Draw
  • Employee Expenses and Reimbursements
  • Taxes Employee Withholdings
  • 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.

Fields 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.

Division
Field What is this?

Division

Defaults to the division selected in the General Information section. This cannot be changed.

Department

Choose the appropriate GL Department for your transaction.

  • The list includes all Active departments for the selected division.
  • The GL Department is available and required only if the GL # selected, is greater than 40000000. The accounts in this category are income & expense accounts. Otherwise, this field is inactive.

1099

If this journal entry transaction should be included in 1099 reporting, select the appropriate 1099 Category and Type.

If the Employee or Vendor is setup with a 1099 default, this information automatically pulls to the 1099 Category, and Type information. If necessary, this can be changed.

If this is not a 1099 transaction, delete the Category and Type.

Questions concerning 1099 issues should be directed to your agency accountant.

GL # Required Fields

The GL # Required Fields drop-down lists are subledger entities (Insurance company, brokerage company, etc.). Depending upon the GL # selected, the account may require that a subledger entity be chosen.

If the account is subledgered, the subledger list becomes available.

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 into AMS360.

Use the Administrative Salaries voucher section to enter the total gross salaries by employee category.

  • 61100000 - Executive Salaries
  • 61200000 - Office Salaries
  • 61300000 - Other Salaries
  • 62000000 - Accounting & Legal.

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.

Fields 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
Field What is this?

Division

Defaults to the division selected in the General Information section. This cannot be changed.

Department

Choose the appropriate GL Department for your transaction.

  • The list includes all Active departments for the selected division.
  • The GL Department is available and required only if the GL # selected, is greater than 40000000. The accounts in this category are income & expense accounts. Otherwise, this field is inactive.

1099

If this journal entry transaction should be included in 1099 reporting, select the appropriate 1099 Category and Type.

If the Employee is setup with a 1099 default, this information automatically pulls to the 1099 Category, and Type information. If necessary, this can be changed.

If this is not a 1099 transaction, delete the Category and Type.

Questions concerning 1099 issues should be directed to your agency accountant.

Employee Draw

Draws against future salaries or commissions are generally paid by agency check. Then, they are reported to the payroll service as a deduction against future salaries or commission payments.

Use this voucher section to record the entry from the payroll service, reimbursing the agency for the draw amounts.

Entries to this section post to general ledger #21139000 and are subledgered in the general ledger by commissioned person.

Fields What is this?

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.

1099

If this journal entry transaction should be included in 1099 reporting, select the appropriate 1099 Category and Type.

If the Employee is setup with a 1099 default, this information automatically pulls to the 1099 Category, and Type information. If necessary, this can be changed.

If this is not a 1099 transaction, delete the Category and Type.

Questions concerning 1099 issues should be directed to your agency accountant.

Employee Expenses and Reimbursements

Use the Employee Expenses and Reimbursements section to record a payroll service amount involving an expense or reimbursement transaction for an employee. Examples include travel allowances, or life & health insurance co-pay deductions.

The general ledger account is #21160000. This account is subledgered by employee.

Fields What is this?

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.

1099

If this journal entry transaction should be included in 1099 reporting, select the appropriate 1099 Category and Type.

If the Employee is setup with a 1099 default, this information automatically pulls to the 1099 Category, and Type information. If necessary, this can be changed.

If this is not a 1099 transaction, delete the Category and Type.

Questions concerning 1099 issues should be directed to your agency accountant.
  • Taxes Employee Withholdings

Use this journal entry voucher section to record taxes withheld from the employee's salary, as indicated on the payroll service report.

The system defaults any general ledger account 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.

Fields What is this?

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.

1099

If this journal entry transaction should be included in 1099 reporting, select the appropriate 1099 Category and Type.

If the Employee or Vendor is setup with a 1099 default, this information automatically pulls to the 1099 Category, and Type information. If necessary, this can be changed.

If this is not a 1099 transaction, delete the Category and Type.

Questions concerning 1099 issues should be directed to your agency accountant.

The following menus are available in a data entry form. Click each menu item to see detailed information. Note that the available menus vary depending on the form.

To modify a recurring journal entry template, do the following:

  1. Open the Financial Center.
  2. Select the Journal Entries view.
  3. Click the link in the Type column to open the desired recurring journal entry template.

If you cannot find the desired journal entry, you may need to modify your View Options.

  1. Modify the template per the rules described in the table below.
  2. Click the Save & Close icon to save your changes and exit the form.
Group/Field Available Changes

Frequency

You cannot change the Frequency type (monthly to weekly, etc.). If this type of change is required, delete the existing template and then create a new template with the correct frequency. For more information, see Deleting a Recurring Journal Entry section in this topic.

You can, however, change settings within a given frequency. For example, if a date has changed and the frequency is still monthly, you can change the day of the month that the recurring item is created.

Range of Interval
Fields/Options What is this?

Start Date

The Start Date can be changed if the existing start date is in the future.

End After ___ Occurrences

You can edit the number of occurrences or the End By date.

The End by date must be set to the current date or greater.

End By

Example If a note is paid off, reduce the number of occurrences or change the End By date to equal the final payment date.

View Journal Entry

Click View Journal Entry to view the journal entry details. No changes can be made. When finished viewing, click the Cancel icon to return to the template.

To delete a recurring journal entry template:

  1. Open the Financial Center.
  2. Select the Recurring Journal view.
  3. Click the link in the Type column to open the desired recurring journal entry form.
  4. Select File > Delete.

Running Daily Process for a date that includes an interval of an existing recurring journal entry template, generates the recurring journal entry. Once the journal entry is generated, you are given the opportunity to review/change the journal entry data prior to posting.

 

If Post Immediately was checked when the recurring journal entry template was created and saved, Daily Process generates and posts the recurring journal entry to the general ledger immediately, with no review process.

To review recurring journal entries created by Daily Process:

  1. Open the Financial Center, and select the Journal Entries view.
  2. Recurring journal entries needing review are unposted. If the GL Date column is sorted in descending order (default) then these journal entries sort to the top of the list. You can also identify them by RJE in the Type column.
  3. Click the RJE link to open the entry. Review the data on the journal entry form. At this point, proceed with posting as with any other journal entry. Review the Journal Entries topic for more information.

The Recurring Checks feature is ideal for payroll, mortgage and insurance payments and other transactions that have the same payee and purpose every time. For more information, see Recurring Checks.

Related Topics Link IconRelated Topics