Correcting a Journal Entry in Dynamics GP

August 11 | By Ryan McBee

Tags: Journal Entry

It’s happens to all of us! You post a journal entry and then later decide that you want to delete it or change it. Well I have a solution for you! And it’s included in Dynamics GP at no cost! Now what could possibly be better than that?

Just a few caveats.

• If the entry originated from somewhere other than a General Ledger Journal entry, remember that those correcting entries should always be corrected from the series that it was originally entered in.
  • For example, if the journal entry originally came from Sales Transaction Entry, the entry should be corrected in Sales Transaction Entry.
  • If the journal entry originally came from Payables Transaction Entry, the entry should be corrected in Purchasing Transaction Entry.
• You can correct open-year transactions and transactions in the most recent historical year.
• The following transactions cannot be corrected automatically:
  • Voided entries
  • Consolidated entries
  • Year-end closing entries, created during year-end closing routine
  • Historical transactions
  • Clearing entries in multiple currencies
  • Clearing entries in a currency other than the functional currency
  • Transactions previously corrected
• Because Dynamics GP was designed to be very strong in accounting controls, you cannot actually delete a journal entry, but you can easily reverse it out, providing an audit trail. You can also easily edit the original transaction to make any changes that you want to see before you post the corrected entry.
• The following journal entry types can be automatically corrected:
  • Standard
  • Reversing
  • Clearing
  • Quick Journal

Now that I’ve listed disclaimers, here’s how it works.

You will need to know the Journal Entry number of the journal entry that you want to correct.

From Financial>>Transactions>>General, the Transaction Entry window will open.

When you click the Correct button, the Correct Journal Entry window will appear.

When you choose the drop down arrow in the Action:  field, you will be presented with the following choices:

• Back Out a Journal Entry – This option creates a single entry that will reverse the original journal entry.
• Back Out and Create a Correcting Entry – This option will create two separate entries.
  • One entry will reverse the original journal entry.
  • After you save or post the reversing entry, a copy of the original entry will be created for you to edit before you post it.

After you choose which action you prefer, you can select the Original Journal Entry Year and the Original Journal Entry number to correct. Then click OK to create the entries.

Back Out Entry Automatically Created

The reversing entry is created.  You can edit this window if you want before you post it, but you probably want to reverse the entry exactly as it was originally entered.

Correcting Entry Automatically Created

If you selected Back Out and Create a Correcting Entry as your action, when the reversing entry is posted or saved, a copy of the original entry is created and you can then edit the entry before you post it.

There it is!   Easy to correct or reverse a journal entry that has already been posted.   Your audit trail is completely preserved.