Journal Entries

Journal Entries is the ledger-level workspace for a client. Use it for adjusting entries, manual postings, review, imports, and corrections that cannot be completed from the Banking feed.

Open Journal Entries

Select a client, then choose Journal Entries in the client sidebar. Start in All Accounts, switch to an account category when needed, or use Rule Evidence to review entries created by automation.

Use filters such as date, account, amount, payee, or entry type to narrow the list.

Before you begin

• Read access can inspect and export journals. Write access is required to create, edit, import, or delete them.
• Confirm the posting date and whether the period is open. Closed dates reject journal creation, editing, deletion, posting, and unposting.
• Prepare balanced debits and credits and the evidence supporting the entry.
• Review Banking before creating a journal for bank activity. If the transaction is already there, match it to the existing journal instead of posting the activity twice.
• Open any saved reconciliation connected to the entry before changing it.

Review the ledger

1. Set the reporting date range and account context.
2. Use filters to isolate manual entries, AJEs, rules, payees, types, or unusual amounts.
3. Open an entry to inspect its date, reference, memo, debit and credit lines, account assignments, payees, tags, type, source, and linked evidence.
4. Use Inspect to analyze all journals in the current date range for repeated patterns and consistency issues. Review each finding and verify the proposed change before choosing its Fix action.
5. Use Ask Client when the accounting decision requires context from the client.

Use Customize > View Columns to show the optional Clr column. It displays each journal line's clearing status: R for reconciled, C for cleared, and an em dash for not cleared.

Bulk actions can change account, date, AJE status, vendor, customer, class, location, or project, ask the client, or delete. Select a batch only when one change is correct for every entry. Inspect is a separate period-wide analysis, not a manual flag on the selected rows.

Create an adjusting or manual entry

1. Choose New Entry(AJE).
2. Enter the journal date, name, and reference.
3. Mark the entry as an AJE when it should be identified as an adjusting journal entry.
4. Add debit and credit lines with an account and amount. Add line memos and, where applicable, a payee, class, location, project, or type.
5. Confirm that total debits equal total credits.
6. Attach or link supporting evidence when it will help the reviewer reproduce the decision.
7. Create the entry.

Creating the entry posts it directly to the general ledger. For bank activity already imported into Banking, match the transaction to this entry to avoid a duplicate posting.

Copy or make an entry recurring

Use Copy when a prior entry is a useful starting point. Wesley opens a separate draft; the original remains unchanged. Update the date, amounts, accounts, and evidence before posting the copy.

From the entry editor, choose Make recurring to turn the current draft into a scheduled template. A recurring template is not a posted journal until a run creates one. See Recurring Journals.

Import, sync, or export

The Journal Entries action menu can import from another Wesley client or prepare entries from a payroll report. Review account mapping, dates, payees, tags, and totals before approving an imported batch.

When QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop is connected, the page can show a sync action. Review every listed difference and its direction before approving changes.

Exports include Excel and a QuickBooks .iif file where supported. Export before a high-impact cleanup when an external record of the current state is useful.

Result and side effects

• A created or imported journal immediately changes account balances and financial reports.
• Bank-account journal lines can appear in Banking and reconciliation contexts.
• Payees, tags, types, and AJE status influence filters and reports.
• An approved sync can create or change records in the connected QuickBooks company.
• Editing or deleting reconciled lines can make a saved reconciliation report disagree with the current ledger.

Correct, copy, or delete

Edit an entry when the original record should remain the same journal with corrected detail. Use Copy when a new, separate entry is required. For a reversal-based accounting policy, create a clearly dated reversing entry instead of deleting historical evidence.

Deletion is permanent and has no built-in undo. The confirmation warns when reconciliation may be affected. Do not delete an entry merely because its report presentation is inconvenient; correct the coding or create an adjusting entry where appropriate.

If a period is closed, an authorized manager or owner must reopen it before the entry can be changed. Reopening permits edits but does not itself reverse or restore any journal.

Troubleshooting

The entry will not post. Confirm that debits equal credits, every required line has an account, and the date is not closed.

The entry appears in the wrong account report. Inspect each line, not only the journal title. Correct the assigned account or post a supported reclassification.

The bank feed now looks duplicated. Determine whether a Banking row should have been matched to this journal. Do not keep both a manual journal and a second bank posting for the same activity.

A reconciled entry needs correction. Open the reconciliation report, document the reason, make the approved correction, and recheck the reconciliation difference.

A QuickBooks sync shows unexpected changes. Stop before approving the batch. Refresh the comparison, verify account mapping and direction, and review each proposed action.

Delete is blocked. Check write access and the closed-period date. If the record is part of an audit trail, use a reversing or adjusting entry instead.

After final journal review, prepare the period in Book Close.