GENERAL JOURNAL ENTRY FORM

AND GENERAL JOURNAL ENTRY – CONTINUATION FORM

These forms may be completed on-line or blank forms may be printed and the forms completed manually. If completed manually, please be sure the writing is legible or the journal may be returned.

GENERAL JOURNAL ENTRY FORM

The following steps are the tab sequence for completing the form on-line.

Step 1. Click on “Accounting Date” field and fill in the date. Then hit the tab key to advance to the next field. This is the date of the transaction, NOT the date you complete the form. For instance, if you are preparing a journal to be posted in April but today’s date is May 3rd, the Accounting Date should be an April date NOT a May date. The format for the date is month, day, and year with the month spelled out. You may input the date numerically with “/” or “-“ separators and the form will convert to the alpha month when you tab to the next field.

Step 2. Indicate the total number of pages for this journal. If you do not know how long the journal will be, skip this field and enter it later (handwritten is OK).

Step 3. Complete each journal line with the proper ChartField string, the amount in either the debit or credit column, and a description for that line. This description is limited to 30 characters and is the description that will be printed on the Detail Transaction Management Report. Meaningful abbreviations are appropriate. The line description is not intended to be a complete explanation of the journal (see Step 7).

Step 4. If there are not sufficient lines available to complete the journal, additional lines can be completed on a separate “General Journal Entry – Continuation” form (see General Journal Entry – Continuation instructions below). Finish page one by completing steps 6 through 11.

Step 5. Enter the total amount for each of the debit and credit columns. If the journal is longer than one page, do not enter the totals on page one; enter the totals on the last page of the journal.

Step 6. If appropriate documentation to justify the journal is too voluminous to attach to the journal, please note where additional documentation is available, i.e. department name and address.

Step 7. Provide a complete but concise explanation for the purpose of the journal. Remember, what might make sense to you today may not be as clear a few months later. Consider those who may read the journal sometime in the future.

Step 8. Indicate to whom and where additional copies of the journal should be sent, if appropriate.

Step 9. Indicate who is requesting the journal.

Step 10. Indicate who prepared the journal, the date the journal is being prepared (different from the Accounting Date, see Step 1.) and the phone number of the person preparing the journal.

Step 11. Print 2 copies of the journal by clicking on the “Print Form” button at the top of the form and select 2 copies in the dialog box. Keep one copy in your office and send the other copy with appropriate documentation to the appropriate accounting office. Journals affecting only Contract and Grant Projects should be sent to Grants & Contracts Accounting, 406 Park Building. Journals initiated by Hospital personnel that affect Business Units 02 & 03 should send the journal to Hospital Accounting in the Ambassador Building for approval. All other journals should be sent to Financial Reporting & Accounting, 403 Park Building.

Step 12. Obtain appropriate departmental or other approvals before sending a copy to the accounting office.

Step 13. To prepare additional journals, click the “Reset Form” button at the top of the form. All fields will be cleared and the “Ref #” field will be incremented. A new “Ref #” is required for each journal. This field is used to retrieve copies of journals from the imaging system. Therefore, please do not make a blank copy of the journal and reuse it for more than one journal.


GENERAL JOURNAL ENTRY – CONTINUATION FORM

The following steps are the tab sequence for completing the form on-line.

Step1. Click on “Ref # J” field and fill in the number from the first page of the journal. Then hit the tab key to advance to the next field.

Step 2. Fill in the same date used on the first page of the journal.

Step 3. Indicate the page number of the journal and the total page numbers for the journal. If you do not know how long the journal will be, skip this field and enter it later (handwritten is OK).

Step 4. Complete each journal line with the proper ChartField string, the amount in either the debit or credit column, and a description for that line. This description is limited to 30 characters and is the description that will be printed on the Detail Transaction Management Report. Meaningful abbreviations are appropriate. The line description is not intended to be a complete explanation of the journal.

Step 5. If there are not sufficient lines available to complete the journal on this continuation form, use as many continuation forms as necessary to complete the journal.

Step 6. Enter the total amount for each of the debit and credit columns for the entire journal on the last continuation form.

Step 7. Print 2 copies of the form by clicking on the “Print Form” button at the top of the form and select 2 copies in the dialog box. Keep one copy in your office and send the other copy, with all other pages of the journal, to the appropriate accounting office.

Step 8. To prepare additional continuation pages, click the “Reset Form” button at the top of the form. All fields will be cleared and the process can be repeated.