## Documentation Index

Access the complete documentation index at:
https://www.zoho.com/za/books/help/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available documentation pages before proceeding.

# Manual Journals

In accounting, journals are used to record debit and credit entries for transactions in chronological order. These entries are then posted to the general ledger. The main types of journals include the Sales Journal, Purchase Journal, Cash Disbursement Journal, and Cash Receipt Journal.

In Zoho Books, manual journals are used to record financial transactions that cannot be recorded through standard modules such as invoices or bills. Certain accounting adjustments, such as depreciation, accruals, and error corrections require manual intervention. A manual journal allows you to directly record debit and credit entries for multiple accounts, ensuring accurate financial reporting. These entries typically impact reports such as the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss, and can be further reviewed in reports like the General Ledger, Trial Balance, and Journal Report. For example, you can use a manual journal to record monthly depreciation.

## Approval Statuses

Manual journals can have different statuses based on whether [approvals are enabled](https://www.zoho.com/za/books/help/accountant/preferences.html#configure-approvals-for-manual-journals).

Journal Status

Description

Applicable When

Draft

The manual journal is created and saved as a draft.

Approvals is enabled or disabled

Pending Approval

The manual journal is waiting for approval.

Approvals is enabled.

Approved

The manual journal is approved and ready to be published.

Approvals is enabled.

Rejected

The manual journal is rejected.

Approvals is enabled.

Published

The manual journal is finalized and recorded in the accounts.

Approvals is enabled or disabled

* * *

## Record Manual Journals

You can record manual journals in Zoho Books either by creating new journals or importing them.

### Create Manual Journals

To create a manual journal:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Click **\+ New Journal**.
*   In the _New Journal_ page, enter the required details:
    *   Select the **Date** on which you want to record the manual journal.
    *   The journal number will be auto-populated in the **Journal#** field. To configure it manually, click the **Gear** icon next to the field.
        *   In the _Configure Journal Number Preferences_ pop-up, select if you want to auto-generate journal numbers or enter them manually.
        *   Click **Save**.
    *   Enter the **Notes** for the journal entry.
    *   In the _Reporting Method_ field, select how you want the journal entry to appear in your reports.
        *   Select **Accrual only** to make the journal entry appear only in the reports that are generated on accrual basis.
        *   Select **Cash only** to make the journal entry appear only in the reports that are generated on cash basis.
        *   Select **Accrual and Cash** to make the journal entry to appear in the reports generated on both accrual and cash basis. This option is selected by default when creating a new journal.
    *   Select the **Currency** you want to associate with the journal.
    *   In the line item table of the journal:
        *   Select the **Account** you want to track credit and debit entries.
        *   Select the **Contact** you want to associate with the journal entry.
        *   Select **Sales** or **Purchases** as the required _Transaction Type_.
        *   In the _Tax_ column, select the tax rate you want to apply to the journal entry. If you’ve provided a tax rate for a journal entry and did not select a _Taxable Type_, then the journal entry will be considered taxable as a Sales transaction.
        *   Enter the required credit or debit entries.

**Note:** Ensure that the amount debited is always equal to the amount credited.

*   Click **Save as Draft** or **Save and Publish**.

Once the journal is created, you can view its details on the Journal details page in both **Details** and **PDF** view. The Details view shows complete journal information, including journal number, date, accounts, debit and credit amounts, and other fields like reporting tags. The PDF View displays the same information in a clean, formatted layout with totals.

**Note:** When a manual journal is created in the **Draft** status, the amounts will not get reflected in the respective accounts. On the journal’s details page, click **Publish** to reflect the amount in their respective accounts. You can also publish multiple manual journals by selecting the required journals and clicking **Publish**.

### Import Manual Journals

To import manual journals:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Click the _More_ icon in the top right corner of the page, then select **Import** and choose **Import Journals** from the dropdown.

![Import Manual Journals](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/import-manual-journal.png)

*   In the new page that appears, click **Choose File** to select and import the required file. You can also download a sample file for reference.
*   Select the **Character Encoding** and **File Delimiter** for your uploaded file.
*   Check the **Auto-generate Journal Numbers** option to automatically generate journal numbers. Any journal numbers in your import file will be ignored.
*   Click **Next**.

![Map Fields](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/map-fields.png)

*   In the _Map Fields_ page, check if the fields are correctly mapped with the headers of the import file.
*   Click **Next**.
*   In the _Preview_ page, click **Import**.

**Insight:** The status of journals, i.e., Draft or Published, will also be included in the import file.

* * *

## View Associated Reporting Tags

To view the associated reporting tags of a manual journal:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Select the manual journal for which you want to view the associated reporting tags.
*   In the journal’s details page, click the **Details** view.

![View Associated Reporting Tags](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/view-reporting-tags.png)

You can view the reporting tags associated with the manual journal in the **Journal Details** table.

* * *

## View Activity Logs

To view the activity logs of a manual journal:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Select the manual journal for which you want to view the activity logs.
*   In the journal’s details page, navigate to the **Activity Logs** tab.

![View Activity Logs](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/view-activity-logs.png)

You can view all the activities related to the manual journal, such as creation, edition, approvals, and status changes.

* * *

## Create Manual Journals for Bank Accounts

You can also create manual journals using the bank accounts you’ve added in Zoho Books. After creating a manual journal, the transaction will appear under the respective bank account as a **Manually Added** transaction, listed as either a withdrawal or a deposit. You can then match this manually added transaction with an uncategorized transaction. Here’s how:

*   Go to **Banking** on the left sidebar.
*   Select the bank account where you want to match transactions.
*   Select an uncategorized transaction to match.
*   The best possible matches will be displayed in the right pane, including the manually added transaction if the date and amount are the same.
*   Click **Match** next to the required transaction.

Learn more about [matching and categorizing transactions](https://www.zoho.com/za/books/help/banking/matching-transactions.html).

* * *

## Export Manual Journals

To export manual journal:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Click the _More_ icon in the top right corner of the page, then select **Export** and choose **Export Journals** from the dropdown.
*   In the _Export Manual Journals_ pop-up that appears, fill in the following fields:
    *   The _Module_ will be auto-selected as **Manual Journals**.
    *   Select whether you want to import **All Manual Journals** or only journals from a **Specific Period**
    *   Select the **Decimal Format**.
    *   Select the **Export Template** with which you want to export data.
    *   Select the required **Export File Format** of your export file. The available options include **CSV**, **XLS**, and **XLSX** formats.
    *   Enter a password in the **File Protection Password** field to encrypt your export file from unauthorized access.
*   Click **Export**.

![Export Manual Journals](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/export-manual-journal.png)

**Note:** The status of journals, i.e., Draft or Published, will also be included in the export file.

* * *

## Other Actions

You can perform the following actions in the Manual Journals module of Zoho Books.

## Edit Manual Journals

To edit a manual journal in Zoho Books:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Select the manual journal you want to edit.
*   Click the **Edit** icon in the journal’s details page.

![Edit Manual Journals](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/edit.png)

*   Make the necessary changes and click Save.

The manual journal will be updated.

* * *

### Download as PDF

To download a manual journal in Zoho Books:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Select the manual journal you want to download as a PDF.
*   Click _PDF/Print_ at the top of the journal’s details page and select **PDF** from the dropdown.

![Download as PDF](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/pdf.png)

The manual journal will be downloaded as a PDF file.

* * *

### Print Manual Journals

To print a manual journal in Zoho Books:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Select the manual journal you want to print.
*   Click _PDF/Print_ at the top of the journal’s details page and select **Print** from the dropdown.

![Print Manual Journals](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/print.png)

*   In the pop-up that appears, review the preview and click **Print**.

## The manual journal will be printed.

### Attach Files to a Manual Journal

You can attach necessary files to a manual journal. Here’s how:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Select the manual journal for which you want to attach files.
*   Click **Attach Files** in the journal’s details page. Then, select **Upload your Files** and choose the files you want to attach.

![Attach Files to a Manual Journal](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/attach-files.png)

The selected files will be attached to the manual journal.

* * *

### Clone Manual Journals

If you want to create a journal with details similar to an existing one, you can clone it. Here’s how:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Select the journal you want to clone.
*   Click the _More_ icon at the top right corner of the journal’s details page and select **Clone** from the dropdown.

![Clone Manual Journals](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/clone.png)

*   Make the necessary changes and click **Save as Draft** or **Save and Publish**.

The journal will be cloned.

* * *

### Delete Manual Journals

To delete a manual journal in Zoho Books:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Select the journal you want to delete.
*   Click the _More_ icon at the top right corner of the journal’s details page and select **Delete** from the dropdown.

![Delete Manual Journals](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/delete.png)

*   In the confirmation pop-up that appears, click **Yes, Delete** to confirm.

**Note:** You can also delete multiple journals at once by selecting them in bulk and clicking the **Delete** icon.

* * *

### Bulk Print Manual Journals

To bulk print manual journals in Zoho Books. Here’s how:

*   Go to _Accountant_ on the left sidebar and select **Manual Journals**.
*   Select the journals you want to print in bulk.
*   Click the **Print** icon at the top of the page.
*   In the pop-up that appears, review the preview and click **Print**.

The selected journals will be printed in bulk.

* * *

### Create Custom Fields for Journals

To create [custom fields](https://www.zoho.com/za/books/help/settings/customization/custom-fields.html) for manual journals:

*   Go to **Settings**.
*   Navigte to _Module Settings_ and select **Accountant** under _General_.
*   Navigate to the **Journal Fields** tab.
*   Click **\+ New Field** in the top right corner.

![New Field](/books/help/images/accountant/manual-journal/custom-field.png)

*   In the _New Field_ page, enter the required details and click **Save**.