Financial Services Division
Information Bulletin 2005-1
Topic:
Date:
Distribution:
Preparation of Journal Vouchers
June 30, 2005
FSD Clients
Content:
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Purposes of Journal Vouchers
Important Features of Journal Vouchers
Journal Types
Use of Debits and Credits
Tips for Preparing Journal Vouchers in UniFi
Journal Vouchers are a common transaction prepared in all University units. The implementation of UniFi provides
us with the opportunity to share some additional information and training on the use and preparation of these
accounting transactions.
Purposes of Journal Vouchers
Journal Vouchers are used to initiate a variety of accounting transactions.
• Transfer Funding for projects or initiatives.
• Make corrections to previously recorded transactions.
• Move expenditures or revenues between CFOAPALs.
• To record sales of services and products to other University units.
• To record sales of services and products to external customers of the University on Accounts Receivable.
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In UniFi, Journal Vouchers are prepared in the place of “Internal Transfers” or “ITs” that were prepared in
FRS.
Important Features of Journal Vouchers
When preparing journal vouchers, there are a number of pieces of information that are important in preparing a
complete transaction
• The transaction date will determine the accounting period that the transaction is recorded to. It is only possible
to record transactions to open accounting periods.
• Descriptions are important to identify the nature of the transaction and to provide reference to any document
numbers that are being corrected or adjusted.
• When correcting entries ensure the CFOAPAL used for the original transaction is known.
• Identify the journal type that is appropriate for the transaction you wish to process.
Journal Types
Depending on the nature of the transaction being recorded there are different journal types that should be used to
identify the nature of the Journal Voucher. Journal types that can be used and a description of their purpose is
identified below:
Journal Type
UniFi Plus
Self-Service
JV1
JS1
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JV2
JS2
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JV3
JS3
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JV4
JS4
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Purpose of Journal Type
Record corrections of previous transactions. This includes moving expenditures
or revenues between CFOAPALs.
Record sales of services or products to external customers of the University on
Accounts Receivable.
Record the sale of services and products to other University units. These
transactions should always be recording the credit to Internal Cost Recoveries
(accounts 78001 - 78003)
Transfer or provide funding for programs or initiatives. These transactions must
use accounts in the 80000 range on both the debit and the credit.
Record transactions between the University in Chart 1 and non-University
entities recorded in Chart 2.
Financial Services Division Information Bulletin 2005-1
Preparing Journal Vouchers
June 20, 2005
Page 2
Use of Debits and Credits
In UniFi most transactions relate to the recording of revenues and expenditures within a particular Fund. As a result,
journal vouchers are often created to record the movement or correction of revenues and expenditures between
CFOAPALs.
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Important Information for Self-Service Journal Vouchers:
• Ignore the From and To labels when preparing Journal Vouchers. These do not identify debits and
credits.
• A debit is identified by a “+” and a credit by a “-” on the far right of the Journal Voucher transaction line.
To assist you in preparing journal vouchers, below are identified common accounting transactions and the
appropriate use of debits and credits.
Recording a charge or expenditure.
• When a charge is originally recorded to a CFOAPAL it is recorded as a debit.
• To correct or move a charge, a credit should be recorded to the same CFOAPAL as the original charge, with
the new CFOAPAL recording the charge as a debit.
Recording revenue
• When recording revenue to a CFOAPAL the revenue is recorded as a credit.
• To correct or move the revenue, a debit should be recorded to the same CFOAPAL as the original revenue,
with the new CFOAPAL recording the revenue as a credit.
• Revenue resulting from sales to University units should be recorded to account 78001 or 78002.
• Revenue resulting from sales to non-University customers will normally be recorded as account 56001 or
56002.
Recording transfers of funding
• If funding is being transferred between two Funds, Organizations or Programs, the CFOAPAL the funding is
transferred from should record the debit with the CFOAPAL receiving the funding recording the transfer as a
credit.
• Transfers of funding must be recorded using account codes 80001 - 80006.
Tips for Preparing Journal Vouchers in UniFi
• All journal vouchers are reviewed and approved prior to posting. If there are any errors in your journal voucher
or if there are questions about the transaction, Financial Reporting will contact you.
• If you are correcting or transferring a previous transaction, ensure you include the original document number in
the description
• The Document Total of a journal voucher is equal to the sum of all of the amounts, regardless of whether they
are debits or credits.
• A journal voucher cannot be posted if the sum of the debit amounts does not equal the sum of the credit
amounts.
• Budget periods are not necessary for journal voucher transactions and can be ignored.
• Journal Types JS1 - JS4 will use “+” and “-” as Debit and Credit
• Journal Types JV1 - JV4 will use “D” and “C” as Debit and Credit
Self Service UniFi
• Debits are identified by a plus (+) and credits by a minus (-)
• Only press the complete button once. If you receive an error - you can confirm whether your voucher was
submitted by using the View Document option to search for journal vouchers you have prepared.
• Ignore the “From” and “To” descriptors on the two-line journal voucher, as these do not indicate the appropriate
debit or credit.
Financial Services Division Information Bulletin 2005-1
Preparing Journal Vouchers
June 20, 2005
Page 3
UniFi Plus
• Documents can be left In Process rather than being completed. However you must ensure that the Transaction
Date is within an open month.
• UniFi Plus will allow you to use a Self Service Journal Type (JS1 - JS4). If you are using a Self Service Journal
Type in UniFi Plus, you must use “+” and “-” otherwise all UniFi Plus Journal Types require the use of “D”
and “C” to identify debits and credits.
• Document text can be added to journal vouchers prepared in UniFi Plus. This feature is available when you are
in the journal voucher header by selecting Document Text [FOATEXT] from the Options pull-down menu.
For questions related to this Bulletin please contact:
Use of UniFi:
UniFi Support Desk
966-8783
Journal Voucher Preparation:
Financial Reporting
966-8303