General ledger journal entry export definitions
Practice CS includes a feature that enables you to export journal entries that record accounting activity and import them into Accounting CS. This topic details the difference between the cash basis and accrual method, and defines the account descriptions used on the journal entry.
Definitions
The following table defines each of the account assignments used in the journal entry export in Practice CS
Item | Details | Usual Type |
|---|---|---|
Receipts | Normally a debit. Use as your "cash" account. There is currently no accommodation for the journal entry to flow to multiple bank accounts, even if you have set up multiple banks in Practice CS. You must pick a single GL account for the journal entry and then make an adjusting entry in Accounting CS to transfer funds between accounts. | Asset |
Accounts Receivable | A/R is normally a debit entry, but will change from debit to credit from month to month as the amounts flowing into this category net to reduce the accumulated A/R. | Asset |
Credit Memo | Normally a debit entry as it is the offset for the reduction in A/R. | Expense |
Debit Memo | Normally a credit entry as it is the offset for the addition to A/R. | Revenue |
Write Offs | Normally a credit entry as it is the offset for the addition to A/R. | Expense |
Service Charge | Normally a credit entry. | Revenue |
Revenue | Credit entry to your revenue/sales account. | Revenue |
Sales / Service / Tax | Credit entry to sales tax payable account. | Liability |
Process Billings | Entry to record progress billings | Revenue |
Unapplied Receipts | Credit entry that acts like Revenue (above) to record a cash receipt that has not been applied yet, so that all money actually receipted in the system can be debited to cash account ("Receipts" above). Note that once the receipt is allocated, however, the results of the journal entry will change (it will move from the "general" revenue account here to the appropriate section of the journal entry).* | Revenue |
* Unapplied Receipts Example: Record an unallocated receipt of $100 and the journal entry originally records that $100 as a credit to the Unapplied Receipts section. Once the receipt is allocated to an invoice that contained a $10 service charge and $5 sales tax, the JE will now show that $85 is allocated to "revenue", $10 "service charge", and $5 "sales tax".
Accrual vs. Cash Basis
The following table defines how journal entries are created under each accounting basis, and what happens in Practice CS to cause amounts to flow to the account assignments listed. (In the following table, "CCR" is a credit card return transaction and "NSF" is a nonsufficient funds reversal transaction.)
Description | Cash | Accrual |
|---|---|---|
Receipts | Total amount of all receipts (whether applied or not) -NSF -CCR | Total amount of all receipts (whether applied or not) -NSF -CCR |
Accounts Receiveable | N/A | Posted billings + sales tax +service charges +DM -CM/WO -receipts +NSF +CCR |
CM / DM | The amount of receipts APPLIED to DM's, less any NSF and CCR amounts (only portion applied to DM's and assigned as "DM" originally is reversed by NSF/CCR).
note
CM not valid for cash basis. | The amount of DM/CM's (whether applied or not) |
Service Charge | The amount of receipts APPLIED to SC's, less NSF/CCR portion. | The amount of your service charges |
Write Offs | N/A | The amount of your write offs (whether applied or not) |
Revenue | The amount of receipts APPLIED to invoices, less any NSF and CCR amounts (only portion applied to invoices and assigned as "revenue" originally is reversed by NSF/CCR).
note
Revenue does NOT include the amount of receipt applied to other items listed elsewhere under Cash Method. GL account detail is based on the method chosen. Example: if method is Activity, on any receipts for the period that are applied to invoices, the system looks up the Activity billed on the invoice and records the applied amount to this Activity's GL account number specified in Setup. | The amount of your posted invoices (detailed based on method chosen). Example: if method is activity, the system looks up the Activity billed on any posted invoices for the period and records the amounts billed, broken down by that Activity's GL account number specified in Setup. |
Sales / Service / Tax | The proportional** amount of receipts APPLIED to invoices with sales taxes, less NSF/CCR portion. | The total amount of sales tax billed for the period specified. |
Progress Bills | The amount of receipts APPLIED to invoices with progress billings whether those progress bills have been "relieved" or not, less NSF/CCR portion. The GL account detail is based on the method chosen. | The amount of your UNRELIEVED progress billings for the period specified (detailed based on the method chosen). |
Unapplied Receipts | The total amount of your UNAPPLIED receipts. | N/A (note that this line will not appear with the Accrual method) |
**Proportional example: Sales taxes work differently using the cash method. The system won't record sales tax until you receipt the invoice that contained the sales tax. The liability isn't recorded immediately upon posting the invoice. So, if someone records a partial payment for an invoice that contained sales tax, Practice CS must record that same proportion of sales tax. Example: Invoice: $500. Sales Tax: $5. Receipt keyed for $101.00. Under cash method, the system will record $100 of Revenue and $1.00 of Sales Tax (because $101 is 20% of $505, the system applies the receipt to 20% of the sales tax).