Journals Entries
Journals are created by various campus departments for reasons such as transferring expense and budget or to chargeback departments for services received.
Journal Entry Upload Requests
Some journal transactions cannot be performed in Financial Transaction Services. In those instances, Accounting Services will enter transactions in the system for you.
If your department needs to collect funds from other departments (Chargebacks), make revenue corrections, or make any other journal entries that you cannot perform yourself, then submit a Journal Entry Upload Request [xlsx].
For assistance, see the Accounting Services Directory by Fund and contact the appropriate Accountant.
Journal Transfers
There are four types of transfers which can be performed in FTS:
Each type of transfer allows a department the ability to move an expense or budget from one chartfield string to another and pay another campus department for services/products received. Transfers are reviewed and approved by an Approving Official in FTS.
Some reasons why a budget or expense transfer journals are entered:
- Correct an expense paid of out the wrong chartfield string.
- Move budget to cover a future or pending expense that will occur within the same fiscal year.
- Obtain a reimbursement from an auxiliary for an expense paid out of university funds.
- Transfer all or a portion of an expense or a budget to another department (see also Auxiliary Organization Billing.)
- Pay another department for services received.
Submitting a Journal
Journals are entered, submitted, and approved in FTS. You can request access to our Finance Systems after the required course(s) are completed. See Training and Tutorials for more information about access and training.
All journal entries must follow certain rules:
- Transfers are created and approved by the department who is paying or being charged the expense.
- Must have a debit side and a credit side.
- Total debits must equal total credits.
Backup Documentation
Unlike the Travel and Purchasing/Payment modules in FTS, there is no upload feature in Transfers to attach support backup documentation. Departments are to maintain backup documentation pertaining to the transfer in their office.
FTS Email Notifications
When a transfer has been submitted for approval by the Requestor, an email notification is sent to the Approving Official for the DeptID being charged (debit side). The Requestor will receive notification when the transfer has been approved or cancelled by the Approving Official.
Accounting Services
There may be instances when a journal transaction cannot be performed in FTS by the department (e.g. specific Account Codes are not available) or when there are many entries to be made. Accounting Services can assist in posting the transfers for you through a journal upload. For more information see Journal Entry Upload Requests.
Journal Prefixes
All journals have a numeric Journal ID preceded with a prefix. The table below provides information on journal prefixes commonly found in CFS Data Warehouse reports including description, source of data and contact information for any questions you may have.
Journal Prefix | Data Source | Description | Contact |
---|---|---|---|
No Prefix | CFS | Journals that have a numeric ID without a prefix are entries created by Accounting Services or Budget & Financial Management | FinanceConnect |
AP | CFS | Journal related to the CFS AP subsystem, tied to amounts invoiced by suppliers and travel charges. | FinanceConnect |
CN | CASHNet | Deposits made at Cashiering Services, in the Bursar's Office | Cashiering Services |
HR | PeopleSoft HCM (SJSU@Work) | Journals fed from PeopleSoft HCM, related to salary and payroll expenditures. Review LCD reports for details. | FinanceConnect |
PMT | CFS | Journals related to voucher payments to suppliers. | FinanceConnect |
SF | Campus Solutions (Student Financials) | Fees, other revenues, and refunds fed from the Student Financials system. | Bursar's Office |
WB | FTS |
Budget journals (transfers) originating in FTS, created by a department. Budget Journals are for budget (not expense) transfers within an area under your control. (See definition under WE.) You may also credit budget to areas outside of your control; you may not debit budget to areas outside of your control. The From and To funds must be the same. |
FinanceConnect |
WE | FTS |
Expense journal (transfer) originating in FTS, created by a department. Expense Journals are for expense corrections/reclassifications for deptIDs within an area under your control, e.g.: within your department, for a Dean's office, within the college; for a VP's office, within the division. The From and To funds can be different. |
FinanceConnect |
WH | FTS |
Hospitality Payment (journal) originating in FTS, created by a department. Hospitality Payments are for payment to another department (Payee) for hospitality or other services rendered. You may only credit the Payee, not charge it. The Payee and Payor funds can be different. |
FinanceConnect |
WI | FTS |
Interdepartmental Expense journal (transfer) originating in FTS, created by a department. Interdepartmental Expense Transfers are for expense corrections/reclassifications between your area (Payor) and an area outside your control (Payee). You may only credit the Payee, not charge it. The Payee and Payor funds can be different. |
FinanceConnect |