Do you ever post a journal entry and then realize … oops!? I know you might be hesitant to admit it, but it seems like everyone has to, on occasion, fix a posted journal entry. And if you are unlucky as I am, the journal entry you have to back out and/or correct will have 100+ lines. Fortunately, Dynamics GP has a feature to help you with this process.

Transactions | Financial | General

Note the “Correct” button at the top of the Transaction Entry window. When you click this button, the Correct Journal Entry window will appear.

You can then select which action to perform:

• Back Out a Journal Entry
  • Creates one entry
    • Will create a reversal of the selected journal entry
• Back Out and Create a Correcting Entry
  • Creates two entries
    • Will create a reversal of the selected journal entry
    • Upon saving or posting the reversal, a copy will be created of the original entry for editing

After selecting the action, you can select the year and journal entry to back out or correct. Then click OK to create the entries.

Back Out Entry Automatically Created

You can then make whatever necessary edits to the back-out entry, which is a reversal of the original entry.

Correcting Entry Automatically Created

If you choose Back Out and Create a Correcting Entry, the correcting entry will be created whenever you post or save the back-out entry. The correcting entry is a copy of the original entry, which can then be edited as needed before posting.

A few notes about using the Back Out and Correct features:

• The following transactions can be backed out:
  • Standard
  • Reversing
  • Clearing
  • Quick Journal
• You can back out open-year transactions and transactions in the most recent historical year
• The following transactions cannot be backed out:
  • Voided entries
  • Consolidated entries
  • Year-end closing entries, created during year-end closing routine
  • Historical transactions
  • Clearing entries in multiple currencies
  • Clearing entries in a currency other than the functional currency
  • Transactions previously backed out
  • Transactions resulting from a previous back-out

Generally speaking, you may not want to back out or correct transactions that originate in a subledger (e.g., Payables Management or Receivables Management), as the back-out or correcting entries may cause discrepancies between the subledger and the general ledger. For this reason, you can control the ability to do this through General Ledger Setup. You can also control the ability to back out intercompany transactions. When backing out an intercompany transaction, Dynamics GP will only back out the portion in the selected company, not the portion that remains in another company.

Microsoft Dynamics GP menu | Tools | Setup | Financial | General Ledger

Simply mark the options if you choose to enable the functionality to void or correct transactions that originate in a subledger or back out intercompany transactions.

The back out and correct features discussed here do not affect the original transaction itself, thereby preserving the audit trail of the original entry. This ensures you can track the activity through the system and identify the original entry as well as the back-out entry (and also a potential correcting entry).

For more information, or for guidance on how to back out and/or correct journal entries, please contact our BKD Technologies support center at gpsupport@bkd.com.