Manual journal entries
Capital contributions, non-cash adjustments and corrections the system does not post by itself. Expenses go in Expenses.
Prestafolio posts the entries for loans, collections and services by itself. Business expenses (fuel, rent, utilities) are also posted by themselves when you record them in Expenses. But there are things the system cannot guess: the money you put in from your own pocket, an account you want to reclassify. For those, there is the manual journal entry.
What it's for and when I use it
A manual entry is an accounting movement you write. The three real uses:
- Recording a capital contribution. You put RD$25,000 of your own into the business so you have something to lend.
- Making an adjustment that moves no cash. For example, moving an amount from one expense account to another because it was classified wrongly.
- Correcting something. Through a reversal, never by deleting.
Operating expenses do NOT go here. Fuel, rent or electricity are recorded under Accounting → Expenses (Expenses): there the system posts the entry for you, takes the cash out of the cash box if you paid in cash, and keeps the receipt.
What you should NOT do with a manual entry: touch the portfolio (1200) by hand or fake a collection. Loans and payments have their own flow, and that flow already posts the correct entry. A manual entry on 1200 would leave your books saying one thing and your loans another.
Careful with cash (1101): a manual entry on the cash account creates no cash movement. Your accounting would change, but the cash count would not see it and the two would stop matching. Cash coming in or going out is recorded through its own flows (collections, disbursements, expenses).
How to create one
- Go to Accounting → Entries and press New manual entry.
- Set the date and a clear description.
- Add the lines with Add line: pick the account and its nature (Debit or Credit) and enter the amount. Each line goes either in debit or in credit, never both.
- You'll see the debit and credit totals and whether the entry is Balanced or Unbalanced. You can only save when the two totals match.
- Press Post entry.
The entry is created and posted in a single step. There are no drafts: either it lands recorded and balanced, or nothing lands.
Example 1: You contribute RD$25,000 of capital to the bank
Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
1102 Bank | RD$25,000 |
|
3101 Lender's Capital |
| RD$25,000 |
Totals | RD$25,000 | RD$25,000 |
You have RD$25,000 more in the bank, and equity reflects that the money came from you. It is not profit: that's why it goes to 3101 and not to a revenue account. It goes to the bank and not to the cash box on purpose: that way there is no accounting change in cash that the cash count cannot see.
Example 2: Reclassifying a RD$800 expense
You recorded a transport expense under Operating Expenses (5301) and it should have gone under Transport and fuel (5305).
Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
5305 Transport and fuel | RD$800 |
|
5301 Operating Expenses |
| RD$800 |
Totals | RD$800 | RD$800 |
Total expenses do not change: the amount just moves from one account to another, and your Income Statement shows it where it belongs.
Rules the system enforces
Rule | What happens if you break it |
|---|---|
Minimum 2 lines, maximum 50 | It won't let you save. |
Each line: exactly one of debit or credit, greater than zero | It won't let you save. A line with both (or neither) means nothing. |
Σ debits = Σ credits | "Debits and credits must add up to the same total." It is the golden rule of the ledger. |
The account must exist and be active | "One of the selected accounts no longer exists." / "One of the selected accounts is inactive." |
The date must fall within the period it is posted in | "The entry date falls outside the selected period." |
The period cannot be closed | "The period for this date is closed. Choose another date or period." See Periods and closing. |
The entry is posted in the open period containing today, so the date must fall inside it.
Reversing an entry
Nothing is deleted in accounting. If you made a mistake, you reverse it: a new entry is created with the same lines and the debits and credits swapped, so the net effect is zero. Both entries (the original and its reversal) stay visible forever.
How: open the entry under Accounting → Entries, press Reverse and, if you want, write the reason. To find it faster, the list can be filtered by From, To, Source (for example, Manual, Expense or Expense reversal), Status (Posted, Reversed or Reversal) and Till.
Three things you should know:
- Only MANUAL entries can be reversed here. The entries the system posts by itself (a collection, a disbursement) are not reversed from this screen: they are reversed by undoing the business operation (reversing the payment, voiding the loan), and the entry is reversed along with it. Reversing them on their own would leave your ledger saying one thing and your loans another. The same goes for an expense's entry: it is undone by cancelling the expense.
- An entry can only be reversed once. If it already has a reversal, it will tell you.
- If the entry lives in an already-closed month, the reversal does not go into that month: it is posted, dated today, in today's open period. The closed month stays intact. If today's period is closed too, the reversal is rejected with "This can't be done: the accounting period for that date is already closed."
Plan and permissions
- Premium plan only (Financial statements module).
- Viewing entries: permission
accounting:read. - Creating and reversing entries: permission
accounting:write, separate from the read permission, because it writes to the ledger. The owner always can.