ACCOUNTING
Staff
Forms
Policy Manual
FAQ
Permissions
Training Schedule
Journal Entry Policies
Banner Pages (ELM)

• Banner Tips
• Reports
• Expense Codes
• Expense Code DESCRIPTIONS
• FOAPALS
• System ID's
• Revenue Codes
• Activity Codes
• Navigation Shortcuts

Business Services

• Accounting
• Budget
• Payables
• Pcard
• Procurement
• Student Accounts

Journal Entry Policies

Policies:

Journal Entries are used to transfer or adjust charges and credits posted from one FOAPAL to another.

Hard copies of Journal Entries must be submitted unless Accounting has arranged with the department for an electronic upload. Back-up support for hard-copy Journal Entries should be sent to Accounting. Support for electronic Journal Entries must be kept on file at the department level for at least 7 years. It will be requested from Accounting if needed for review.

Journal Entries must be approved by an individual authorized for the FOAPAL to be charged. If you are debiting another department and crediting your own, the other department must be the authorized signer on the Journal Entry.

Journal entries received from departments will be posted for the prior month if received by Accounting within the first 5 business days of the month.

For entries submitted during this time frame, please be sure to indicate the transaction date. If no date is indicated, the journal entry will be assumed to be for the month in which is was received. Example: A journal entry received on July 2 will be assume to be a July entry unless it is specifically noted as June.

Procedure:

Hard-copy Journal Entries should be submitted on a Journal Entry Form. The form totals debit and credit entries for you automatically.

To submit the Journal Entry, the authorized signer should send the hard-copy Journal Entry with its associated back-up to Accounting.

A submitted Journal Entry will be returned to the originator for the following errors:

1. Incorrect or incomplete FOAPAL string - The entire FOAPAL must be submitted for each entry.
2. An incorrect or missing signer for the debit FOAPALS.
3. The credit dollars don't exist on the FOAPAL given.
4. Entry is not in balance – Debit entries must equal credit entries. Prior to submittal, it is recommended that you check the bottom of the Journal Entry form to verify that the entry is in balance.
5. Journal Entries will be returned to the originator for correction of errors. When errors have been corrected, the entire corrected Journal Entry must be resubmitted for posting.

Macalester College · 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105  USA · 651-696-6000
Comments and questions to webmaster@macalester.edu