Summary

The Import Journal Entries process allows you to import journal entries from a comma delimited or fixed width file. This feature is generally used by organizations that import data from other software packages into the Springbrook Software application.

Step by Step

1     Create a journal entries batch.

• Select the Journal Entries palette in GL> Journal Entries. This will expand the Journal Entries palette and display the steps of the Journal Entries process.
• Select New from the Journal Entries batch number drop-down menu to create a new batch. This will open the New Batch window.
  • If there are open batches in the Journal Entries process, you can create a new batch without affecting the open batches.
• Enter a Batch Month and Batch Year. These fields default to the current calendar period and are used for reference only. The batch month and batch year do not affect the journal entry date of the journal entries created in the batch.
  • The journal entry date is set up during the Settings step (GL> Journal Entries> Settings> Journal Entry Date field).
• Click the Generate icon to populate the Batch Number field with the next available batch number. Batch numbers are limited to five digits and must be unique within the batch month of the batch year.
  • You can also manually create a new batch by entering a Batch Number and clicking the Save icon  .
• Highlight the batch in the batch number drop-down menu on the Journal Entry palette and press DELETE to delete a batch. Any uncommitted journal entries in the batch will be deleted.

2     Select the journal entry date of the journal entries in the batch.

• Open the Settings window (GL> Journal Entries> Settings).
• The Period Type drop-down menu is used to select the type of period you would like to generate the journal entries in.
  • Select Standard if you would like to post the journal entries to a fiscal period.
  • Select Adjustment if you would like to post the journal entries in the batch to an adjustment fiscal period (fiscal period 13).
    • This selection only applies to adjustments that you would like to post to the adjustment fiscal period. If you are making an adjustment, you are not required to post it to the adjustment fiscal period. For example, if you are creating a reversing journal entry and would like to post the reversal to a fiscal period and fiscal year based on the journal entry date, select Standard.
• The Journal Entry Date determines the fiscal period and fiscal year the journal entries in the batch will be posted to.
• The Fiscal Period and Fiscal Year fields will populate with a fiscal period and fiscal year based on the selection in the Journal Entry Date field.
• Press ENTER or click the Save icon when complete. This step will be processed by the application server, so it may take a few moments to complete. Open the Jobs Viewer window (Jobs Viewer icon   on the main desktop) if you would like to view the progress of the Settings step.

3     Import the journal entry file.

• Open the Import Journal Entries window (GL> Journal Entries> Import).
• The File Name field is used to select the path of the file you would like to import into the general ledger. Enter a path or click the File Name field label to locate the file by browsing through the file structure on your network.
• The Configuration drop-down menu is used to select the import configuration you would like to use.
  • A Journal Entries-specific import configuration can be created before importing journal entries. Import configurations are created and maintained on the Import Configuration Maintenance window (SS> Maintenance> Import Configuration).
  • The Standard Springbrook configuration will be selected by default.
  • The KVS file format is designed to import the native KVS Journal Entry Export file.
  • Once the desired configuration is selected, click the Display Format icon   to open the Import Configuration window and display the expected format of the imported file.
• The File Type drop-down menu is used to select the type of file you are importing.
  • Select Comma Delimited if you would like to import a comma delimited file. A comma delimited file is a file where all of the columns on the file are separated by a comma.
    • Click the Display Report Layout icon at the top of the window to view the format of the import file.
    • The general ledger account number is separated into seven sections by a comma.  Depending on the format of your chart of accounts, you may not use all seven sections but you have to include all seven sections on the import file. For example, if you would like to import GL account 610-0-0-1043, the import would look like this: 610,0,0,1043,,,,. Do not enter a 0 in the GL account sections that should be blank.
    • The dollar amount begins after the seventh comma on the import file; credits should be a negative amount. For example, 100.00 is a debit amount, -100.00 is a credit amount. When the import is processed, the journal entry will appear as a positive value.
  • Select Fixed Width if you would like to import a fixed width file. A fixed width file is a file with data entered into specific positions on the file rather than separated by columns.
    • Click the Display Report Layout icon at the top of the window to view the format of the import file.
    • The general ledger account number is seven sections long and there are six characters in each section. Each piece of the general ledger account must be aligned to the left of each set of six characters.  For example, if you have a GL account 610-0-0-1043, enter it like this (each cell in the table below represents a block of 6 characters):

• The dollar amount begins at position 43. Credits will have a negative sign in position 43. You also need to enter a decimal place. For example, if you would like to enter a credit of $50, enter -$50.00.

• Select Springbrook if you would like to import a Springbrook format file. The Springbrook format file contains all of the information associated with a journal entry.
  • Click the Display Report Layout icon at the top of the window to view the format of the import file.

• Click the Display Report Layout icon to view the expected format of the import file.
• Press ENTER or click the Confirm icon to import the file immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Confirm icon to schedule the import to process at a later time. You can view the progress of the import on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).

4     View the journal entries in the batch.

• After the Import step is complete, open the Journal Entry Selection window (GL> Journal Entries> Journal Entries) to view the journal entries in the batch. This window will be populated with the imported journal entries as well as any existing journal entries if the imported entries were added to a previously created batch.
• Highlight a journal entry and press DELETE or click the Delete icon to delete a journal entry.

5     Commit the journal entries.

• Once the journal entries have been imported into the Journal Entries batch, print the Proof List and commit the batch to post the journal entries to the general ledger.