What happens if you need to view or change a journal entry in QuickBooks Online? Unlike many of the other tasks you complete in QuickBooks Online, viewing journal entries isn’t accessible from the main screen. Instead, you will need to find a specific report. Here’s how you can view and change journal entries in QuickBooks Online.
Follow the steps
Viewing journal entries in QuickBooks Online is relatively straightforward. In addition, you can easily adjust the parameters of your report to find specific entries. Here’s the general process for viewing journal entries.
Step #1: Go to Reports
Select reports from the left navigation bar.
Step #2: Select “Adjusting Journal Entries” Report
The report page will have multiple different categories of reports. Scroll down until you see the “For My Accountant” section. Then, select “Adjusting Journal Entries” from the left-hand column.
Step #3: Customize the Report
All of your Journal Entries should be shown for the current month. Now, you want to adjust the report parameters to find the journal entry you are looking for. You can either sort by a pre-defined period, such as last month or last quarter, or you can enter a specific date range.
If you are unsure when you made the entry, consider adjusting the parameters to cover the whole year. Although it may take time to sift through entries, you don’t want to create too narrow of a search.
Step #4: Make Modifications
If you need to modify the entry, select the applicable journal entry. This will bring you back to the journal entry input screen. Here you can make any modifications, such as changing the amount or the account. Then, click “Save and Close” once you’ve made all of your adjustments.
Should You Adjust a Journal Entry in a Prior Period?
When you adjust a journal entry that hits a bank or credit card account, you need to be cautious. Changing an item that has already cleared on the reconciliation can cause discrepancies in your ledgers.
As a rule of thumb, you should try and avoid changes that impact reconciliations. What cleared the bank is what should show up on your reconciliation.
For example, let’s say that a customer paid you $500 in June that cleared the bank. You added a journal entry to add the deposit. In July, you find out that the customer had a credit that should have been applied against the invoice. Your company then issues a check to repay the difference.
Instead of deleting the original journal entry for $500, you should create another entry dated in July to reverse the transaction. This ensures that your accounting system matches the bank statements and keeps a paper trail of the adjustment.
The same is true for accounts payable and accounts receivable accounts. Deleting items that hit accounts payable and accounts receivable can cause your aging schedules to be inaccurate. This can make it difficult to properly track what amounts tenants owe you and what your business owes to third parties.
Can You Change Journal Entries from Prior Years?
Similar to changing journal entries from prior periods, you want to be careful when adjusting entries from prior years. In most cases, you should not adjust any entries that were made in the past years. This is because financial statements and tax returns may have already been created and submitted.
Adjusting the entry after these items are complete can cause issues in retained earnings and tax compliance. Run any prior year adjustments past your general or tax accountant. In some cases, they may give you a different entry that you should be making to keep your accounting records accurate.
This is especially important for commercial real estate businesses, as it’s not uncommon for tenants to pay you after you’ve made adjustments. For example, let’s say that a tenant hasn’t paid you in six months, so you move the amount due from accounts receivable to bad debt. The year closes out and the new year begins. The tenant finally pays you. Instead of deleting your entry to move the amount in the prior year, you should create an adjusting journal entry in the current year to pick up the income.
Summary
Adjusting journal entries can be tricky, especially for commercial real estate businesses with multiple moving parts. This is why it’s important that you work with accounting software designed to manage your complex business structure. At STRATAFOLIO, we can help you with just that and more. Reach out to a team member today with any questions.
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