Post entries, close periods, and run Ledger reports

This workflow takes accounting activity and its supporting evidence from a balanced draft through posting and period close, then verifies the result in the reports designed for account-level and cross-account review.

Before you begin

You need access to the correct book, permission to post entries, an editable fiscal period, and the approved accounts, amounts, dates, classifications, and supporting evidence. Have any local files ready before you create a new journal entry. Reversal, void, close, and reopen actions require additional authority.

Record and post a journal entry

1. Open the book and select Journal entries.
2. Start a new journal entry.
3. Enter the required Transaction date, Posting date, and Description. Optionally enter a Document number; Ledger auto-generates one when it is blank. Confirm the read-only Fiscal period that Ledger derives from the transaction date.
4. Add the first debit or credit line, then use Add new line for the balancing side and any additional allocations.
5. Select the correct account and enter classifications or supporting details required by your organization.
6. Attach the local files that support the new journal entry. You can queue up to 10 files per upload submission, no larger than 25,000,000 bytes each. Supported extensions are .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .heic, .webp, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, and .csv. ZIP files are unsupported, and a dedicated cloud import is unavailable.
7. Confirm that the entry is Balanced. An Unbalanced entry cannot be posted.
8. Select Save journal entry. Posting becomes available after the draft is saved.
9. Open the saved entry. When the entry and its evidence are approved and the period permits it, select Post journal entry.

The list supports search, filters, sorting, and shareable URL state. Row and bulk actions expose Post, Reverse, or Void only when the selected records, your permissions, and the period states allow the action.

Switching to line-level fields or filters expands entries into their journal lines. Selection and entry actions are suppressed in that view so one accounting entry is not mistaken for several independent records.

Maintain attachments while an entry is a draft

1. Open the draft journal entry and select Edit.
2. Add more local files while the entry remains a draft, then save the draft.
3. To remove an existing attachment, select its remove action. Removal is immediate; selecting Cancel afterward does not restore the attachment.
4. Reopen the entry and confirm that the intended attachments are listed.
5. Open the entry in its read-only view and select an attachment name to open it in a new tab. Use the browser's download action to save the attachment locally when needed.

After an entry is Posted, its evidence is frozen: you cannot add, remove, or change its attachments. People with access to the same book can still view the posted entry and download its attachments.

Attach evidence to a recurring entry template

1. Open Recurring entries, then create a recurring entry template or edit an existing one.
2. Add the approved local files to the template and save it.
3. Reopen the template and confirm that the intended attachments are listed. Select a name to open the attachment in a new tab, then use the browser's download action when you need a local copy.
4. Review each generated occurrence before posting it. A generated entry is a separate draft that starts without inherited template attachments, so attach any occurrence-specific evidence to that draft.

Use a bulk journal action safely

1. Set the intended filters in Journal entries.
2. Select the visible eligible entries, or choose the option that represents all matching results.
3. Review the operation and selected population.
4. Apply Post, Reverse, or Void. A reversal requires a valid reverse date; a void requires an audit-trail reason.
5. Reload if Ledger reports that the matching population changed.

For an all-matching action, Ledger resolves the population again on the server under the same authorized book and filters. If the population changed after selection, the action is refused instead of silently applying to a different set.

Progress a fiscal period

1. Open Periods and select the period.
2. Complete the close checklist and investigate unresolved items.
3. Move the period through Soft closing and complete preliminary checks.
4. Mark it Soft closed after preliminary review. New entries and edits are still allowed in this state.
5. Move to Hard closing when entry work must stop, then continue to Hard closed after final review.
6. Use Locked only when the period must become final and non-reopenable.

Authorized controllers can reopen a soft- or hard-closed period to Open. Enter a Reason for reopening of at least 50 characters and an Approval reference, then repeat the appropriate close checks. Reopening is refused when the next fiscal year is already closed. A locked period cannot be reopened.

Reconcile the reports

1. Open Reports, then Account ledger.
2. Select exactly one account and the intended date or period range.
3. Generate the report and review Opening balance, movements, and Running balance. On a populated report, the final running balance is the closing result; a separate Closing balance appears only in the zero-transaction empty state.
4. If you have book-admin authority, save the run when your process requires a durable frozen report snapshot. Fund Accountants, Fund Controllers, and Viewers can generate reports but cannot save runs.
5. Open Transaction history for cross-account transaction review.
6. Compare filters and underlying entries before comparing displayed signs.

Account ledger follows the selected account’s natural balance. Transaction history is always debit-positive. A credit to a credit-normal account therefore increases its Account ledger balance but may appear with the opposite sign in Transaction history. That difference is intentional.

Success check

The entry shows Posted, the trial and account-level outputs reflect its posted lines and amounts, and the selected period reflects the completed close stage. The Account ledger opening balance and final running balance reconcile under the account’s natural-balance convention.

For missing actions, stale selections, period restrictions, or report differences, use Troubleshoot Ledger.