Record a journal voucher
You will have a balanced journal voucher saved as Approved and posted to its ledgers, or parked as a Draft for review, with the entries visible on the Ledger Report and Trial Balance.
A journal voucher is the manual entry for anything the operational screens cannot express: a correction between two ledgers, an accrual at month end, a provision, writing off a small balance, or moving an amount from one customer to another. Books › Voucher lists them with their JV number and a Status of Approved or Draft.
Use it sparingly. Receipts, payments, expenses, fuel and services all have their own screens, and entering them as journals skips the links to bookings, vehicles and parties that make the reports useful.
Before You Start
- Every ledger you will debit or credit exists in Books › Chart Of Accounts.
- You know which side each ledger goes on. If in doubt, ask your accountant before saving as Approved; save as Draft instead.
- For an entry that touches a customer, supplier or employee, you have checked the party’s statement so the balance after the journal is what you expect.
Steps
- Open Books › Voucher and click Add. The voucher number with prefix JV is assigned on save.
- Enter the voucher Date. For a month-end accrual use the last day of the month so it lands in the right period.
- Add the first line: pick the ledger in Accounts and enter the amount in Dr Amount or Cr Amount. Type a Narration on the line saying why. The narration is what you will read on the Ledger Report later.
- Add the opposite line or lines. A voucher can have several debit and several credit lines, for example one expense split across three vehicles against one accrual.
- Check the Difference. It must be zero: total debits equal total credits. The voucher will not save as Approved while a difference remains.
- Add Notes and attach the working or supporting document under Journal Files.
- Click Save to post it as Approved, or Save As Draft to park it. Drafts do not post to any ledger. Open the draft later, review it and save it to approve.
Fields On This Screen
Field | What to enter | Required |
|---|---|---|
Date | The posting date | Yes |
Accounts (line) | The ledger for this line | Yes |
Dr Amount (line) | Debit amount; leave blank on a credit line | One of Dr/Cr |
Cr Amount (line) | Credit amount; leave blank on a debit line | One of Dr/Cr |
Narration (line) | Why this line exists | Recommended |
Difference | Debits minus credits; must be zero to save | Calculated |
Notes | Voucher-level explanation | No |
Journal Files | Supporting document | No |
What This Changes
- An Approved voucher posts every line to its ledger. Each ledger’s Ledger Report and the Trial Balance show the entry immediately.
- Lines on income or expense ledgers move the Profit & Loss; lines on asset or liability ledgers move the Balance Sheet.
- A line on a customer or supplier ledger changes that party’s Current Balance and statement, but it does not change any invoice’s Balance Due. Use Payments to settle invoices.
- A Draft changes nothing until it is approved. It is listed under Books › Voucher with Status Draft.
- The voucher appears in the Day Book on its date.
Tips
- Write the narration as a sentence your accountant will understand a year later, including the reference of the document you are correcting.
- Use Draft for anything prepared by one person and approved by another; the list shows which vouchers are still Draft.
- Never post cash or bank through a journal when a bank transaction, expense or payment can record it; those screens keep the Cash Book and Bank Book complete.
Frequently asked questions
Need Help?
Chat with the NShine ERP support team on WhatsApp at +91 79950 87755, or ask from inside the app. Last checked 9 November 2026 against app.nshineerp.com.