Look up a journal
Where: Accounting → Journal lookup.
Who: accounting.journal.view, and access to the journal's business unit.
A journal is one balanced booking. Journals can't be edited or deleted from this screen; it is read-only.
Find a journal
Journals are opened by their transaction ID, a number such as 310. The journal number
(JRN-20261108-3F9A0C1B) is a different thing: it is printed on the journal but can't be used to search.
You can get a transaction ID in two ways:
- Open Journal lookup.
- Under Find a journal, enter the transaction ID.
- Select Open journal.
"Enter a valid journal transaction ID." means the box is empty or not a whole number.
Read the journal
The Journal summary shows the header:
| Field | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Draft, Posted or Reversed | Posted |
| Posting date | The accounting date | 2026-11-08 |
| Source | What created it, its reference ID and number | PAYMENT_ALLOCATION #77 PAY-0007 |
| Business unit ID | The unit it belongs to | 1 |
| Description | Free text | Customer receipt allocation |
| Transaction currency | Currency of the document | GBP |
| Base currency | Currency of your books | GBP |
| Exchange rate | Base ÷ transaction | 1.00000000 |
| Total debit / credit | In transaction currency; always equal | 200.0000 / 200.0000 |
| Base debit / credit | In base currency; always equal | 200.0000 / 200.0000 |
| Reversed transaction ID | The journal this one reverses, if any | (empty) |
The Journal entries table lists the lines:
| Line | Account | Type | Amount (GBP) | Base amount (GBP) | Description | Fund ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1000 | Debit | 200.0000 | 200.0000 | Payment received | |
| 2 | 1100 | Credit | 200.0000 | 200.0000 | Accounts receivable cleared by payment PAY-0007 |
Fund ID is filled only for charity journals.
Source references
| Source | Created by |
|---|---|
SALES_INVOICE | Posting a sales invoice |
PAYMENT_ALLOCATION | Allocating a customer receipt |
SALES_CREDIT_NOTE | Posting a credit note |
PURCHASE_INVOICE | Posting a supplier invoice |
VENDOR_PAYMENT | Posting a supplier payment |
CHARITY_DONATION, CHARITY_…_REVERSAL, CHARITY_CORRECTION_REPOST | Charity donations and corrections |
Foreign currency example
Bright Home invoices an overseas customer USD 1,000.00 when USD 1 = GBP 0.79:
| Line | Account | Type | Amount (USD) | Base amount (GBP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1100 Accounts Receivable | Debit | 1,000.0000 | 790.0000 |
| 2 | 4000 Sales Revenue | Credit | 1,000.0000 | 790.0000 |
Exchange rate 0.79000000. Both columns balance on their own.
Manual journals
Trade Manager does not yet have a screen for typing a manual journal. Corrections are made through the source document in its module. Where your organisation has an approved integration that posts manual journals, each needs its own unique reference; a second journal with the same reference is refused.
Next: Financial reports.