Journal Entries
View every entry in your books and record manual journal entries for corrections and adjustments.
Every transaction in Anchor is a journal entry with equal debits and credits. Most entries are created for you when you send an invoice, approve a bill, record a payment or categorise a bank line. You add a manual entry yourself only for corrections and adjustments that no other screen covers.
Where to find them
Open Accounting → Transactions. The list shows your manual entries: ones you added here, imported from a file, or that came from recurring journals, opening balances, accruals and year-end closes. Choose All journals to include the entries that invoices, bills, payments, bank lines and other documents post for themselves. The totals for what is in your books, drafts and cancelled entries cover every entry that matches, and the list shows 50 at a time with Previous and Next. You can:
- switch between Manual entries and All journals,
- filter by status (In your books, Drafts, Cancelled),
- search by description, reference or entry number,
- limit to a date range,
- sort by date, entry number or amount.
Click an entry to see its lines, source, and the Audit Trail.
Record a manual entry
- On Accounting → Transactions, click New manual entry.
- Enter the Date, a Description (for example Office rent payment) and an optional Reference (for example ADJ-001).
- Under Entry lines, pick an Account and enter a Debit or Credit on each line. Add a line memo if it helps. You need at least two lines.
- Save. The entry is created as a draft and opens on its own page.
Total debits must equal total credits. Amounts are in your organisation's base currency unless a line says otherwise.
Draft, finalize, cancel
| Status | What it means | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Saved but not in your books | Edit, Finalize, Delete |
| Finalized (in your books) | Counted in balances and reports | Cancel (reverse) |
| Cancelled | Reversed, no longer affects your books | View only |
- Finalize locks the entry and adds it to your books. To undo it later you must cancel it.
- Cancel reverses a finalized entry. You must give a reason; it is kept on the entry.
- Delete permanently removes a draft. Finalized entries cannot be deleted.
You cannot create or finalize an entry dated on or before your lock date, or inside a closed fiscal year. Date the correction in an open period, or have the owner move the lock date (see Lock past dates).
Entries created by other modules
| Action | Typical entry |
|---|---|
| Send an invoice (email or mark as sent) | Debit Accounts Receivable; credit income and Output VAT |
| Approve (receive) a bill | Debit expense or stock and Input VAT; credit Accounts Payable |
| Record a customer payment | Debit bank; credit Accounts Receivable |
| Pay a supplier | Debit Accounts Payable; credit bank |
| Categorise a bank line | Bank against the account you chose |
| Record depreciation | Debit depreciation expense; credit accumulated depreciation |
Each entry shows its Source (for example invoice, bill, payment, bank or manual). To change an entry that came from a document, change or cancel the document rather than the entry.
Related
- Recurring journals: manual entries that post on a schedule
- Accruals: spread a cost or income over several months
- Opening balances: starting balances when you begin using Anchor
- Double-entry concepts
MCP tools
list_entries, get_entry, create_entry, update_entry, post_entry (finalize), void_entry (cancel), recode_entries.