Getting Started with Journal Entry

Journal Entry refers to entries made in the journal, which records all you financial business transactions, e.g. purchases, sales, rental payments etc. When a journal entry has been made, it is transferred to the Nominal Ledger.

The Journal Entry module, which you can access by going to View - Accounting - Journal Entry, is the most important module to familiarise yourself with when using Mamut as your accounting system.

Getting started with Journal Entry made easy

With Mamut Business Software, you can start making journal entries immediately after installation. The program's Journal Entry module comes with basic settings in place that allow you to work with your business' journal entry in an easy and efficient manner. During the installation of the program, a default Chart of Accounts is installed as well, including all N/Cs used for standard UK book-keeping. Find out more about the Chart of Accounts in Chart of Accounts.

Opening Balance

Unless your business is just starting out, you will have a large amount of data that needs transferring before you can start working with Mamut. This data includes all information about your customers, suppliers, products, customer & supplier ledger items as well as an opening balance.

If you worked with a different accounting system previously and would like to transfer the balance to your Mamut program, you post a journal entry of the Opening balance journal type. Since the opening balance is usually entered at the start of a new accounting year, it may be practical to plan the transfer for the end of the accounting year.

Opening balances may also be entered between two accounting or VAT periods. Whether you are liable to register for VAT depends on your turnover. Find out more about VAT and accounting periods on HMRC's homepage . Read more about Opening Balances in Entering Opening Balances.

Below you will find a brief description of the central elements in Journal Entry you should familiarise yourself with before starting to work with the program.

Important functions in Journal Entry

N/C column: The N/C column allows you to enter an account number or account name. As you type in the account name, a new window with the Chart of Accounts opens automatically. The Chart of Accounts is sorted alphabetically from the letter you typed in. Entering 1100 in the N/C column, opens a list of your customers for entries to the Debtors Control Account. Entering 2100 in the N/C column, opens a list of your suppliers for entries to the Creditors Control Account. Read more in Entering Journals.

Shortcuts: To simplify journal entry and to allow you to work more efficiently, you may want to make use of the shortcuts for the most important functions in Journal Entry. For example, the Chart of Accounts can be opened by pressing the - (minus) key when in the N/C column. Pressing the + (plus) key will open a new journal, if the previous journal balanced. Please beware that the shortcut keys change their function depending on the position of the cursor in the registration window.

A full list of all available shortcuts in Journal Entry can be found in Shortcuts for Journal Entry.

User Settings: By clicking on the User Settings icon (alternatively: shortcut Ctrl+I or by going to View - Settings - User - Settings per Module - Journal Entry) you can select yourself which columns you would like to show in the Journal Entry window, as well as which functionality should be available there.

For example, by ticking the boxes under the Enter-stop column, you can select where the cursor is to move to when you press [ENTER].

Find out more in User Settings for Journal Entry.

VAT

Mamut Business Software handles VAT calculations automatically. This means that you select an N/C that has been setup; to divide the gross amount between the main account (e.g. 4000 Sales) and the VAT account (e.g. 2200 VAT on Sales). You are thus guaranteed a correct VAT report and that the connection between the reported codes is calculated correctly. In the User Settings (see above) you can select to Enter amount without VAT (net) to register the net amount to an N/C that has been setup with a VAT code. The VAT is calculated and added in a separate line in the Journal.

Following are two examples of journal entry with automatic VAT handling:

Sales invoice:

Select N/C 4000 linked to VAT code 1. Sales Standard. This VAT code is the default for the account. In the Credit field, enter the gross amount incl. VAT you are charging, e.g. £120.00.

The automatic VAT handling will ensure that £100.00 is posted to account 4000 and £20.00 is allocated to N/C 2200.

Purchase invoice:

Select N/C 5000 linked to VAT code 4. Purchase Standard. This VAT code is the default for the account. In the Debit field, enter the gross amount incl. VAT, e.g. £240.00.

The automatic VAT handling will ensure that £200.00 is posted to account 5000 and £40.00 is allocated to N/C 2100. Should you enter the wrong amount you can easily correct this afterwards - the system will ensure that a correct allocation is made to N/C 2100.

Once all journals have been registered, they are transferred by clicking on Update Ledgers or by using the shortcut Ctrl+H. Ensure that all the debits and credits equal the same amount so that the journal 'balances'. You can see this by looking at the totals on both the debit and credit columns.

Journal Templates

In companies of a certain size, you will usually encounter that you register any number of similar journal entries with only minor differences. A journal template allows you to preset information that is common to these regular journals so that you only have to enter the information that will be different for each entry. Typical examples for this would be for the posting of recurring invoices or when depreciating investments.

Find out more in Journal Templates.

Integrated system

In Mamut Business Software it is easy to move between the various modules so that you can view details for the various transactions. For example, you can click the Go to invoice button in order to navigate from the customer ledger to the original invoice, or you can click the Go to Customer Supplier Ledger button in the Financials module in order to go to the ledgers.