How to view and download the journal entries behind an engagement's data
GL Transactions lists the individual journal entry lines that make up the engagement's general ledger. It is the most detailed view of the data, showing every posting with its date, account, reference and amount. If you have used Validis before, this is the report that used to be called Journal Entries.
You can read it on screen or download it to work with in Excel.
Opening GL Transactions
Step 1
Open the engagement
On the Engagements tab of the dashboard, find the engagement you want and select its name.
Step 2
Go to the General Ledger
In the menu on the left, under Detailed Reports, select General Ledger.
Step 3
Select the GL Transactions tab
Along the top of the page are tabs for each detailed report. Select GL Transactions, the last one.
Setting the period range
Unlike the other detailed reports, GL Transactions covers a range of periods rather than a single one. The button at the top left shows the range currently applied.
The button shows the range currently applied.
Select it to open Select Period. Choose a From period and a To period from the two lists, then select Apply. Only periods that hold data for this engagement are offered, under Available Periods.
To look at a single month, set From and To to the same period. Cancel closes the window and leaves the range as it was.
Reading the transactions
Each row is one line of a journal entry, so a single entry usually takes up several rows that share the same No. Reading those rows together shows you the whole double entry, and their amounts net to zero.
Three lines of one journal entry, sharing entry number 112576.
| Column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| No | The journal entry number. Lines belonging to the same entry share it. |
| Type | The kind of transaction the entry came from, for example SALES. |
| Date | The transaction date. |
| A/C Code | The account code the line was posted to. |
| A/C Name | The name of that account. |
| Reference | The reference from the source accounting package, such as an invoice number. |
| Description | The narrative recorded against the line. |
| Amount | The value of the line. Credits are shown in brackets. |
Every column can be sorted using the arrows beside its heading, and the search box above the table filters the rows, which is the quickest way to find a particular reference or account. A Total row at the bottom adds up the amounts for the range you have applied, and the currency is noted above the table.
Downloading the report
Select Download Report, at the top right. The download covers the period range you have applied, so set the range before you download rather than after.
An Excel file is saved to your browser's usual download location. The file name is built from the engagement name, the report and the date and time you downloaded it, so repeat downloads do not overwrite each other.
Please note
A wide period range can produce a very large file. If you only need part of the year, narrow the range first.
The downloaded file
The file opens with a short header block giving the engagement name, the report, the Report Date in your local time with UTC in brackets, and the Period range the figures cover. Below that are the same columns you see on screen, in the same order, followed by a Total row.
The download is more detailed than the on-screen table. Alongside the eight columns above it carries nine more, which are worth knowing about if you are working through the ledger in Excel.
| Extra column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Creation Date | When the entry was created in the accounting package, which can differ from the transaction date. |
| Created User Name | The user who created it. |
| Posted Date | When the entry was posted. |
| Posted User Name | The user who posted it. |
| Cust/Supp Code | The customer or supplier account the line relates to, where there is one. |
| Cust/Supp Name | The name of that customer or supplier. |
| COA CATEGORY | The top-level category the account is mapped to, as shown on the Trial Balance. |
| COA SUB-CATEGORY | The more specific mapping beneath it. |
| Transaction Category | The category the transaction itself falls into, for example SALES or PURCHASES. |
Two differences to expect between the screen and the file. The column shown as Description on screen is headed Details in the spreadsheet, and credits appear as negative numbers rather than in brackets, so the Amount column adds up to zero across a complete range.