QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual

Creating General Journal Entries

In essence, every transaction you create in QuickBooks is a journal entry: When you write checks, the program balances the debits and credits behind the scenes. To explicitly create general journal entries in QuickBooks, open the Make General Journal Entries window using any of the following methods:

• Choose Company→Make General Journal Entries.

• If the Chart of Accounts window is open, right-click anywhere and then choose Make General Journal Entries on the shortcut menu.

• If the Chart of Accounts window is open, click Activities and then choose Make General Journal Entries.

Here are the basic steps for creating a general journal entry in QuickBooks:

1. In the Make General Journal Entries window, choose the date on which you want the general journal entry to happen.

   If you’re creating a general journal entry to reassign income or an expense to the correct account, you should use the date that you make the correction. However, when you or your accountant make end-of-year journal entries—to add the current year’s depreciation, say—it’s common to use the last day of the fiscal year instead.

   Note

   If you turn on the multiple currency preference (Multiple Currencies), the Make General Journal Entries dialog box includes boxes for the currency and the exchange rate. If you select an account that uses a foreign currency in a journal entry line, QuickBooks fills in the exchange rate and asks you to confirm that the rate is correct. If it isn’t, open the Currency List ...