This article covers the Journal Entries Resource in detail. If you haven’t yet learned about Resources in general and how to get the most out of them, we suggest you check out our Resources support article first.
What is a Journal Entry?
Journal Entries in Xero represent a transaction that contains at least one pair of distribution lines, a credit and a debit. Each distribution line has an account from the Chart of Accounts and the total of the debit column equals the total of the credit column.
Amalgam allows you to create and edit any data connected with a Journal Entry in Xero, including all of the required fields you see in the “Create Manual Journal” screen in the Xero web interface.
Filters for Downloading Journal Entries
When you want to download a group of Journal Entries to your worksheet, you can use the filters section (on the left side of the Resource template) to select only the journal entries you wish to download. These filters are cumulative (so if you make multiple selections, you will get results that fit all filters).
Start Date: find Journal Entries created after the specified date
End Date: find Journal Entries created before the specified date
Journal Entry Data Structure
Journal Entries consist of one Journal Entry with multiple Journal Entry Lines. Some Journal Entry data applies to the whole Journal Entry, other data applies only to a specific line. For example, each line may have its own credit and debit amount, but all lines will share the same date. You can see how this nested data looks on the template in the video above.
In the Journal Entry Resource, only the most commonly used fields are visible by default. You will see several hidden columns, indicated by a “+” button at the top of the sheet. By unhiding those columns, you can access several less-common but still powerful additional fields.
Note that some of these fields may have formulas in them. These are often used to fetch IDs for Xero data, stuff that is required by the Xero app but which isn’t important to a user. We caution against changing this data unless you know what you’re doing!
Xero Notes
Creating Manual Journals
Journal entries can not be connected to the following accounts:
- Accounts Receivable
- Accounts Payable
- Retained Earnings
- Bank Accounts
Reference Fields
There will be several fields in each Journal Entry that refer to other Xero data. For example, each Journal Entry is assigned to an Account, and that Account must exist in Xero. Amalgam makes these references easy for you by providing you with a dropdown list containing all of your options.
If you ever wish to refresh these lists, there is a refresh button on your sidebar that will sync your options with the latest data in Xero. This can be used in conjunction with other Amalgam templates to make edits in Xero without ever leaving Excel or Google Sheets.