Overview: Users are able to export balancing journals to the client's file or export as a CSV from the Journals screen.
Note: Direct export to the client's file is only available for cloud accounting sources supported by Active, including Xero, MYOB, QBO, etc..
Please refer to the Glossary for definitions of key terms used in this article.
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Exporting a balancing journal
If you are processing all journals through Active Ledger and not directly in the client accounting file, you will need to export any pending journals back to the accounting source file. This can be done by exporting a balancing journal which will 'tag' all pending journal transactions as exported, and create a net balancing journal in the system.
Note: When a balancing journal is created, the journals' effect is removed from your trial balance. This is based on the expectation that your source system will contain these journals, and they will be re-imported the next time you load or re-import your trial balance.
If you do not wish to create a balancing journal, you can simply untick the 'Flag as Pending Export to Client File' checkbox. This will ensure your journals continue to impact your trial balance figures and do not get pushed back to the client's file.
To export a balancing journal, run a trial balance report in the Reports section with the Display set as 'Pending Export' and the Account Type set as 'Source Account'. After the report has been generated the Export as Balancing Journal or Tag as Exported button will be available.
These two options are explained below:
1. Export as balancing journal (default) - this will do three things:
Change the transaction from 'Pending Export' to 'Exported'
Create a balancing journal and post it to the system tagged as 'Balancing' in the Journals screen of your dataset.
Use the API connection to post the journal to the client's accounting source file.
2. Mark as exported - this will do two things:
Change transaction from "Pending Export" to 'Exported'
Create and post a balancing journal (within the dataset) tagged as 'Balancing' in the Journals screen.
Note: A user will manually need to enter these journals into the client's accounting system.
Note: It is advisable to do a fresh import from the source system after the balancing journal has been processed by clicking Load Data in the Information screen of your dataset because the 'tagged' journals will be excluded from the calculation of the trial balance in future reports to prevent any doubling up of information.
WARNING: Depending on the setup of your client's accounting system, the exported journal may be sitting in their file as a 'draft journal' and, therefore, it will first need to be posted in the accounting system before it will be imported back into Active Ledger.
More specifically, For Xero source files, please check that the journal has posted. If it has not, review the Draft Journals screen in the connected Xero file and post them manually. Additionally, Xero will not let you post journals to bank accounts and other system accounts. Please see Locked and system accounts in your chart of accounts for more information.
For MYOB source files, verify that the journal has posted. If not, in the relevant MYOB file, check the Transaction Journal for the year-end (30th June) date, as sometimes failed journals will post in MYOB as at the year-end date.
Undoing exported balancing journals
If you need to undo a previously committed balancing journal simply navigate to the Journals tab, select the relevant journal and select Undo Balancing Journal. This will remove the balancing journal, remove it from the client file (if it was posted there), and change the tag of the associated journals back to 'Pending Export'.
