Entering Transactions into the Cash Payments Journal

• The Cash Payments Journal is used to pay money from the Cash account with fewer clicks than the General Journal.
• Note that if the business uses the Inventory system, or the "No special journals"option is selected in the Company Setup, the simpler Cash Payments Form in the Banking tab is used to enter cash payment transactions.
• The Cash Payments Journal uses one special Debit column for the most common payments, debiting Accounts Payable, as well as general debit and credit columns for cash transactions that don't fit the standard accounts. This latter case most commonly occurs when a payment is made to a party not in the Vendor list , or because multiple accounts are affected.
• The  Cash Credit column is filled in automatically with the balance required to make debits equal to credits, and so this amount does not need to be entered.
• Roll your mouse over the graphic below and follow the numbered instructions to see how to enter new Cash Payments Journal transactions. The first example below shows a standard transaction, while the second example shows a non-standard transaction.
• Note that you can either click on any of the buttons or use the "hotkey" by pressing the CTRL key with the underlined letter on the desired button.

Standard Transaction:

1. Click the Add New Entry button or key CTRL-Y
2. Enter the Date of the tranasction. A pop-up calendar will also display next to the date to aid you in selecting the date.
3. Press Tab to enter a brief Reference for the transaction, usually the check number of the cash payment.
4. Press Tab to enter the amount of the transaction into the appropriate special Accounts Payable Debit column.
5. Enter a Vendor name using the drop-down box.   
6. Note that the Cash Credit column should be automatically updated with the balancing credit amount.
7. Now you can click the Post button or key CTRL-O to post the transaction to the General Ledger.

• To correct an error in your journal entry - Simply click on the field in error and change it, or click on Delete to remove the entry and start over again.
• Click the Post button again to record your corrected entry.

Non-standard Transaction:

1. After creating a new entry as in steps #1 through #3 above, click the Insert Debit/Credit button or key CTRL-I.
2. Enter the Account Number of the account to be debited (the usual case) or credited (a more rare exception). A pop-up chart of accounts will be displayed next to the account number, which you can use to select the desired account.
3. Press Tab to enter the amount of the transaction into the general Debit (usually) or Credit (more rarely) column.
4. Note that no Vendor is required if this is not an Accounts Payable transaction.
5. Note that the Cash Credit column should be automatically updated with the balancing credit amount. Click the Insert Debit/Credit button again to enter as many additional debits or credits as required for the entry.
6. When done, you can click the Post button or key CTRL-O to post the transaction to the General Ledger.

• To correct an error in your journal entry - Simply click on the field in error and change it, or click on Delete to remove the entry and start over again.
• Click the Post button again to record your corrected entry.