Journal Entry File

The Journal Entry file (JE) contains the journal entry records that are created on the system.  A single journal entry consists of multiple lines, each line reflecting a debit or credit made to an account in a specific year, period, division and department.  Each journal entry has a "status", based on its posting history:  Each journal entry is also identified with a source code that indicates where the entry originated from.  Additional fields in each journal entry record are used to associate journal entry lines with related documents as appropriate.

The normal procedure for posting a journal entry to the General Ledger is as follows.

 The program requiring the creation of a Journal Entry, such as the Cash Receipts Program in the Accounts Receivable system, assigns the JE number and creates the JE lines with a status of "N" for new.  As part of creating the JE the executing program validates the account number/division/department combination (verifies the account is active and that period records exist for the period and year being posted to).

The executing program then calls the "posting overlay", passing it the journal entry number to post.  The posting overlay reads through the journal entry to verify that it is balanced and then posts it to the general ledger.  As the journal entry is posted the status of each line is changed to "P".  If the journal entry is not in balance or the posting program is not able to post the JE correctly for any reason the JE is voided (the status of all lines is set to "V").

Control is then returned to the calling program, leaving the first line of the JE in the JE buffer.  The calling program then checks the status of the record in the buffer to verify that the JE was posted properly.  The status should be "P"; otherwise the calling program must take corrective action.

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