Chapter 3c

General Journal Entries

The General Journal is where you record manual, balanced debit/credit transactions that don’t come from specialized modules like invoicing, cheque writing, or inventory adjustments. Common uses include accruals, reclassifications, depreciation, and opening balances.

When to Use the General Journal

Quasar has purpose-built screens for most transaction types — invoices, cheques, card adjustments, item adjustments, and more. Use the General Journal only when no specialized screen exists for the entry you need to make.

Use the General Journal for…	Don’t use it for…
Monthly accruals (e.g. prepaid rent)	Customer invoices → use Invoice Master
Expense reclassifications	Vendor payments → use Cheque Master
Depreciation entries	Inventory corrections → use Item Adjustment
Year-end adjustments	Customer/vendor balance changes → use Card Adjustment
Inter-account transfers (non-inventory)	Cash movements between tenders → use Tender Transfer

Never post directly to control accounts The AR, AP, and Inventory accounts are control accounts. Their balances must match the sum of individual customer, vendor, and item records. The General Journal blocks accounts that have Allow Manual Journal unchecked — do not override this. Use the proper specialized screen instead.

Creating a Journal Entry

Go to Ledger › General Journal to open the General Journal Entry screen.

Enter or auto-generate an Id No. (type # to auto-generate).
Set the Date (defaults to today).
On the first line, select an Account and enter a Debit or Credit amount.
On the second line, select the offsetting account and enter the balancing amount on the opposite side.
Add a Memo to each line describing the purpose.
Verify the Difference at the bottom shows zero.
Click Save.

Tip You can split entries across as many lines as needed. For example, a single credit to Bank can be offset by debits to three different expense accounts. The only requirement is that total debits equal total credits.

Line Item Columns

Each row in the journal entry table represents one side of the balanced transaction.

Column	Description
Account	GL account lookup. Only accounts with Allow Manual Journal enabled are available.
Account Class	Optional classification for revenue/expense lines. Only visible when the Account Classes feature is enabled. Balance sheet accounts cannot have a class assigned. See Account Class Master.
Debit	Debit amount. Enter either Debit or Credit, not both.
Credit	Credit amount. Enter either Debit or Credit, not both.
Memo	Per-line description. Double-click to open a multi-line editor for longer notes.

The Difference Indicator

The Difference field at the bottom of the screen shows the gap between total debits and total credits. When it is zero, the entry is balanced. A non-zero value is displayed in red, and the entry cannot be saved until it is corrected.

Using Account Classes on Journal Entries

If the Account Classes feature is enabled (see Chapter 3b), each journal line that posts to a revenue or expense account can be tagged with a class.

This is particularly useful for:

Accruals that need to be tracked by department or project
Reclassifications where the destination account should carry a class
Year-end adjustments split across business segments

If you attempt to assign a class to a line that posts to a balance sheet account (asset, liability, or equity), Quasar will show an error message and clear the class.

Recurring Journal Entries

Entries that repeat on a schedule (monthly accruals, depreciation) can be set up as recurring transactions:

Create and save the journal entry.
Go to File › Recurring.
Set the frequency (monthly, quarterly, etc.) and the next posting date.
Save the recurring template.

Recurring entries are posted automatically during the Recurring Transaction processing or can be posted manually. See Chapter 26 for month-end processing details.

Common Journal Entry Examples

Reclassify an Expense

Account	Debit	Credit	Memo
Marketing Expense	500.00		Reclassify from Office Supplies
Office Supplies		500.00	Reclassify to Marketing

Record Monthly Depreciation

Account	Debit	Credit	Memo
Depreciation Expense	1,200.00		Monthly depreciation — June 2026
Accum. Depreciation		1,200.00	Monthly depreciation — June 2026

Accrue Prepaid Insurance

Account	Debit	Credit	Memo
Insurance Expense	250.00		Monthly insurance — June 2026
Prepaid Insurance		250.00	Monthly insurance — June 2026

What’s Next?

Chapter 4 — Plan and create your inventory items
Chapter 22 — Cheques & Banking
Chapter 26 — Month-End & Year-End processing