TUTORIAL PRESENTATION
This presentation is
designed to provide you
information about
Journal Entries
WHAT IS A JOURNAL ENTRY?
 A journal entry is the record of a transaction that is
posted to the financial records in Datatel. Most often
it is used as an adjusting entry for the reclassification
of income or expenditure .
 An adjusting journal entry is made after actual
expenditure or income has been posted to an account.
 For example, it can be used to move expenditure or
income to another funding source, or it can correct a
budget number error that occurred when the
expenditure was charged or the deposit was made.
WHAT IS A JOURNAL ENTRY?
 In the Datatel system, these entries are included in the “Actuals” total
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 The journal entry form is available on the Business Office website
under Forms at:
http://www.cabrillo.edu/internal/businessoffice/
 Please use available forms provided by the Business Office. This
simplifies data entry and maintains consistency. This form can be
filled out using Excel or by printing out a blank form and writing in
the information.
 Journal entries and budget transfers share a common form, but the
two transactions are mutually exclusive — in other words, check
one box or the other. You cannot submit both a journal entry and
a budget transfer on the same form.
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 The journal entry amount should never exceed the available
budget within that account. If there is not enough budget to cover
the expenditure then a budget transfer should be submitted along
with the journal entry. No journal entries will be posted to an
account without available funding.
 The Business Office will create new accounts that are necessary
but do not currently exist; the journal entry/budget transfer will
serve as authorization to open the budget number.
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 Backup is required for all journal entries. Attach (please staple)
copies of paperwork that clearly shows the expenditure or income
being moved and why the transaction is necessary.
 Usually, a Datatel printout of the account from where the
expenditure or income is being moved is sufficient. Backup such as
shadow book copies and emails are supplemental only and do not
replace a Datatel printout. Datatel is the official database that
stores the financial records of the college.
 Since actual expenditures and income may have dollars and cents,
journal entries can and should use exact amounts that include
dollars and cents.
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 A journal entry can be posted between funds 1X, 22, 33, 4X and
5X as long as the integrity of the object code (type of expenditure
or revenue) is maintained.
 A journal entry cannot be posted between funds 7X (Trust and
Agency) and the other funds listed above as these funds are kept
in a separate bank. To process entries between funds 7X and all
others, a check request must be submitted.
See the Check Request guidelines for more info at:
http://www.cabrillo.edu/internal/businessoffice/
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 A very common question is:
Q - Should the entry be a Debit or Credit?
A - Ultimately, the sum of all Debits should equal the sum of all
Credits. The next screens provide samples of how a debit or
credit affects expenditure and revenue accounts.
For an EXPENDITURE Account:
a DEBIT increases the Expense
a CREDIT decreases the Expense
The balance in an Expense account should be a DEBIT (non negative) otherwise it is overdrawn
 Debit
 Credit
For a REVENUE Account:
a DEBIT reduces the Revenue
a CREDIT increases the Revenue
The balance in a Revenue account normally has a CREDIT (negative) balance
 Debit
 Credit
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 The left-hand “TO/DEBIT” column is for the budget number that you
would like to move the funds into.
 The right-hand “FROM/CREDIT” column is for the budget number that
you are moving the funds from.
 Note: The DEBIT and CREDIT are opposite for Revenue accounts Object: 8xxxxx
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 Each journal entry requires a description for data entry. This
description can be up to a maximum of 28 characters. The Business
Office Excel form will prompt you if this number is exceeded.
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 Each comment
corresponds to the
budget number above it.
 Journal entries will
appear in Datatel detail
reports with the code of
JE for Journal Entry.
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 The comment is the audit trail description that will remain
PERMANENTLY in Cabrillo's financial records. Therefore, relevant
information should be provided that will be as self-explanatory as
possible. Ideally, anyone, now and in future years, should be able
to understand what has occurred simply by reading the description.
 Keep in mind that the hard copy records are stored away at the end
of each fiscal year and may be difficult to locate in subsequent
years.
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 Below are examples of relevant comments:
 Payroll:
•
•
•
•
Name and pay date/range:
Smith 1/31 P/R fr 175
P/R Jan-Mar fr FD 11
1 TU Silva FA12
10/19 Football-Garcia OT
 Paid Invoices: Vendor name, voucher #, date paid, item:
• Dell V448482 2/5/13
• Fr #859 Smartsheet subscrip
• Apple/Laptop V#440631
 For journal entries, when possible, please avoid vague comments such
as “from 194” or “reallocate”.
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 The “NOTES” area at the bottom of the form can be used to write a
more extensive explanation about the transaction for the Budget
Officer and for the fiscal auditor. This information will not appear on
Datatel budget reports.
 Journal Entries require Administrative Approval from the authorized
Budget Officer of the funds.
 Submit the signed original form to the Business Office for data entry
into Datatel. To save paper, keep an Excel online copy for your files.
 Journal Entries are subject to audit approval by the Business Office
before being officially entered into Datatel.
JOURNAL ENTRY GUIDELINES
 This is the end of this learning module.
For additional information about Business Office policies and
procedures, please refer to the Business Office Guide located at:
http://www.cabrillo.edu/internal/businessoffice/