General Journal Import

Purpose of this document

A generic General Journal Import was created in Ceres that can be used to import payroll entries and other journal entries into the General Journal based on a standard file format. The General Journal file layout is flexible to allow food banks to use the import, without further modification, regardless of how their Chart of Accounts, Branches, Funds, and Dimensions are defined.

This document describes how to import payroll entries and other journal entries into the General Journal based on a standard file format.

Ceres Object release 6.00.00 is required for the functionality described in this document.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Overview
• Standard General Journal Import File Layout
• Importing General Journals using the General Journal Import
• Reviewing the General Journal
• Posting the General Journal

Overview

The General Journal Import is designed so that:

1. Each food bank will create a file (xls) in Excel based on the standard General Journal Import Template outlined below.

2. Each food bank may define their Global and Shortcut Dimension differently any reference to Dimension will be by the true field name (Global Dimension 1, Global Dimension 2, Shortcut Dimension 3, etc.) vs. the caption name (Department, Project, Function, etc.).

3. The data will be imported as is from the data file unless otherwise noted below.

4. The import is launched from a General Journal, from Actions à Functions à General Journal Import.

5. The Journal Template and Journal Batch Name will automatically default based on which Journal the import is run from. To isolate the transactions, it is recommended that a Payroll Import Template and a General Import Template and an Import Batch Name be defined within Ceres.

Standard General Journal Import File Layout

Row 1:  = Column Headers. If the Headers are deleted, the data in Row 1 will not be imported.

Column A: Posting Date. Allow the Posting Date to be imported from the data file or to be overridden as part of the import. If the Replace Posting Date field on the Options Tab is toggled, then the Posting Date field in the data file will be overridden with the value that is in the Posting Date field on the Options Tab.

Column B:  Document No. Import from data file.

• If the Document No. is not included for a given line in the import data file and a No Series has been specified for the General Journal Batch, then the No Series for the Batch will be used.
• If the No Series has not been specified for the Batch, but has been specified for the General Journal Template, the No Series for the Template will be used.
• If the No Series has not been specified for the Batch or the Template and the Document No is blank for a given line in the import data file, the Document No in the General Journal will be blank.

Column C: Account Type. Import from the data file. Allowable options are G/L Account or Bank Account.

Column D: Account No. Import from data file.

Column E: Description. Import from data file.

Column F: Branch Code (Responsibility Center). Import from data file.

Column G: Fund No. Import from data file.

Column H: Global Dimension 1 Code. Import from data file.

Column I: Global Dimension 2 Code. Import from data file.

Column J: Shortcut Dimension 3 Code. Import from data file.

Column K: Shortcut Dimension 4 Codes. Import from data file.

Column L: Shortcut Dimension 5 Codes. Import from the data file.

Column M: Shortcut Dimension 6 Codes. Import from data file.

Column N: Amount. Import from data file. Positive amounts will be imported as debits and negative amounts will be imported as credits.

Note: When saving the data file, make sure there are no hidden columns or rows.

Importing General Journals using the General Journal Import

1. General Journals can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “General Journals” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “General Journals” from the results in the Go to Pages and Tasks section OR by selecting the “General Journals” menu action (if present) from your Role Center home page.

2. Select a Template from the General Journal Template List. If a List does not appear a single Template has been set up which you will be in.

3. Select a Batch from the Batch Name field. It is recommended that at least one import Batch be set up to isolate the imported entries. Refer to the General Journal Overview Procedure Document on how to set up new Batch Names.

4. From the General Journal, click on Actions à General Journal Import to launch the import.

5. From the General Journal Import Page, fill in the fields on the Import From FastTab.

Workbook File Name: Click on the AssistButton to browse to where you saved your data file.

Worksheet Name: Click on AssistButton and select the Worksheet you want to import. If your data file has multiple Worksheets you want to import, you will need to run the import for each Worksheet.

Posting Date: Input a Posting Date. This only needs to be filled in if you want to override the Posting Date field in the data file.

Replace Posting Date: If the Replace Posting Date field is toggled, then the Posting Date field in the data file (column A) will be replaced with the Import From Posting Date.

Auto-assign Document No: If the Auto-assing Document No.  field is toggled, then the Document No. will be assigned based on the No. Series that is associated with the Journal Batch. Do not toggle this field if you would like the Document No. to be imported based on the data file.

6. Click OK to start the import process. A message will display indicating % complete. Once the data has been imported an Import Complete message will display.

7. If invalid data is encountered during import, a XXXX data is invalid a Would you like to proceed? warning message will pop up. If Yes is selected, the import will continue processing and the valid data will be imported. If No is selected, the import will stop processing and no data will be imported.

8. Once the import is complete, the General Journal Lines will be populated with the data that was imported. Review and update the entries as needed.

Reviewing the General Journal

1. After all the Journal Lines have been entered confirm the Total Balance field at the bottom of the Page is $0. The debit and credit amounts must be in balance by Posting Date, and/or Document No. or Fund before the Journal will post.

2. Run the Test Report for a final review of the data. The Test Report can be accessed from Actions à Functions à Test Report. Select Preview to preview the report or Print to print a hard copy of the report.

Posting the General Journal

1. The General Journal must be posted before the General Ledger is updated.

2. Post or Post and Print the Journal. Select Post/Print à Print or Post and Print. Select Yes to confirm that you want to post the journal lines.