## Documentation Index Access the complete documentation index at: https://www.zoho.com/en-de/books/help/llms.txt Use this file to discover all available documentation pages before proceeding. # Manual Journals In reality, accountants use journals to record debit and credit entries for transactions in the general ledger, in a chronological order. The main types of journals are the Sales Journal, Purchase Journal, Cash Disbursement Journal, and Cash Receipt Journal. In Zoho Books, manual journals allow you to record unique financial transactions that can’t be recorded normally. For example, if you need to record a monthly depreciation rate, you can use a manual journal for that specific entry. ## Approval Statuses of a Manual Journal **Note:**This feature is currently available in early access. Write to us at [](support@zohobooks.com)[support@zohobooks.com](mailto:support@zohobooks.com) to enable it for your organization. Depending on whether you’ve [enabled approvals](/en-de/books/help/accountant/preferences.html#configure-approvals-for-manual-journals) for manual journals or not, it goes through the following statuses: 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 top right corner. * 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, 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. * Select your preference of how the journal entry should appear in your reports: * Select **Accrual only** to make the journal entry appear only in the reports that are generated on accural 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. Note that this option will be the default while creating a new journal. * Select the **Currency** you want to associate with the journal. * In the _Items Table_: * Select the **Account** you want to track credit and debit entries. * Select the **Contact** you want to associate with the journal entry. * 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**. The journal will be created. **Note:** * When a manual journal is created in the **Draft** status, the amounts will not get reflected in the respective accounts. 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 into Zoho Books: * Go to _Accountant_ in the left sidebar and select _Manual Journals_. * Click the _More_ icon in the top right corner of the page and select **Import Journals**. * Click **Choose File** to select and import the required file. You can also download a **sample file** for reference. * Check the option **Auto-generate Journal Numbers** to automatically generate journal numbers. The journal numbers in your import file will be ignored. * Click **Nex**t. * 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. * * * ## Reports Generally, the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss reports are affected when manual journals are recorded. For additional reports, go to **Reports** in the left sidebar, where you can view the **General Ledger**, **Trial Balance**, and **Journal Report**. * * * ## 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 recorded transaction will appear as a **Manually Added** transaction under the respective bank account, listed as either a withdrawal or a deposit. You can match a 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 the 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](/en-de/books/help/banking/matching-transactions.html). * * * ## Export Manual Journals You can export your manual journals from Zoho Books that can be password-protected. Learn more about [exporting data](/en-de/books/help/import-export/export.html) in Zoho Books. **Note:** The status of journals, i.e., **Draft** or **Published**, will also be included in the import file. * * * ## Other Actions There is a list of actions you can perform on the Manual Journals module of Zoho Books: * [Edit Manual Journals](/en-de/books/help/accountant/manual-journal.html#edit) * [Download as PDF](/en-de/books/help/accountant/manual-journal.html#download) * [Print Manual Journals](/en-de/books/help/accountant/manual-journal.html#print) * [Attach Files](/en-de/books/help/accountant/manual-journal.html#attach) * [Clone Manual Journals](/en-de/books/help/accountant/manual-journal.html#clone) * [Delete Manual Journals](/en-de/books/help/accountant/manual-journal.html#delete) * [Bulk Print Manual Journals](/en-de/books/help/accountant/manual-journal.html#bulk-print) * [Manual Journals Custom Fields](/en-de/books/help/accountant/manual-journal.html#cf) ### 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 to be edited. * Click **Edit** at the top of the journal’s _Detail_s page. * Make the necessary changes and click **Save**. The respective 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 to be downloaded as PDF. * Click _PDF/Print_ at the top of the journal’s _Details_ page and select **PDF** from the dropdown. ### 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 to be printed. * Click _PDF/Print_ at the top of the journal’s _Details_ page and select **Print** from the dropdown. * In the pop-up that appears, check for the preview and click **Print**. ### Attach Files 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 top right corner of the journal’s _Details_ page. * Click **Upload your Files** and select the required files to be attached. The respective file will be attached with 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 of the journal’s _Details_ page and select **Clone** from the dropdown. * Make the necessary changes and click **Save as Draft** or **Save and Publish**. The respective 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 to be deleted. * Click the _More_ icon at the top of the journal’s _Details_ page and click **Delete** from the dropdown. * In the pop-up that appears, click **Yes, Delete** to confirm. **Note:** You can also delete multiple journals at once by selecting journals in bulk and clicking the **Delete** icon. ### Bulk Print Manual Journals Once you [customize the journal PDF template](/en-de/books/help/settings/templates.html#common-customization), you can print journals in bulk in Zoho Books. To print journals in bulk: * 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 _Preview_ pop-up, click **Print** in the top right corner. The selected journals will be printed in bulk. ### Custom Fields for Journals To create custom fields for manual journals: * Go to **Settings**. * Select **Accountant** under _Preferences_. * Navigate to the **Journal Custom Fields** tab. * Click **\+ New Custom Field** in the top right corner. * In the _New Custom Field_ page, enter the required details and click **Save**. Learn more about [custom fields](/en-de/books/help/settings/customization/custom-fields.html). * * * Also Read: * [Base Currency Adjustments](/en-de/books/help/accountant/base-currency.html) * [Chart of Accounts](/en-de/books/help/accountant/chart-of-accounts.html) * [Transaction Locking](/en-de/books/help/accountant/transaction-lock.html)