Create recurring journal entries

This article explains how to set up a recurring journal profile to automatically create journal entries at a set interval in FreeAgent.

Journal entries are a way of moving an amount from one account category to another.

However, there are occasions where you would have to create journal entries, for example if you need to make an adjustment in a VAT-locked period, record weekly payroll or adjust your Corporation Tax liability in FreeAgent. You’ll need full (level 8) access to your FreeAgent account to create journal entries.

We recommend that you speak to your accountant about whether you need to create journal entries and which journals are required before following the steps below.

Create a recurring journal profile

Navigate to the ‘Accounting’ tab at top of the screen and select ‘Journal Entries’ from the drop-down menu.

If the journals that you want to recur have already been created, select ‘Actions’ to the right of the journals and select ‘Create a recurring profile from these journal entries’.

If the journals that you want to recur haven’t already been created, select ‘Add new’ and choose ‘Recurring Journal Profile’ from the drop-down menu.

Journal start date

Use the date picker to choose the date that you want the first set of journal entries to be created on. Please note that the start date can’t be a date in the past.

Journal frequency

Select how often you’d like the journals to be automatically created from the ‘Frequency’ drop-down menu.

If the journal series should stop after a specific length of time, select an end date from the calendar menu in the field next to ‘until’.

If you leave this field blank, the profile will continue to create the journals on the selected interval indefinitely. Please note that monthly recurring journals are generated on the same day every month.

Journal details

Next, enter the details of the journal entries as advised by your accountant.

Enter a description and choose a date

Enter a description to identify what the journal entries relate to.

Choose the relevant codes

When moving an amount from one category to another there needs to be equal debit and credit entries.

Select the relevant categories using the ‘Code’ drop-down menus and enter the amounts that you want to post as debits and credits into the appropriate fields. You can also enter ‘Additional information’ for each entry in the fields provided if you wish.

If you need to create more than two lines for this journal profile, for example if you're moving an amount from one category into two separate categories, select ‘Add Another’ and enter the relevant information on the new line.

The total debit and credit balances of the journals must be equal for you to be able to create the journal entries. Read more on how to create journal entries.

Add an attachment

If you have any paperwork that relates to the journal profile (e.g. a receipt that shows the total cost for a full year, which the recurring journal will post in 12 monthly instalments), you can attach a scanned document to the journal profile by choosing ‘Upload a file’ from the 'Attachments' area and following the instructions.

If you used the FreeAgent mobile app to upload a file to the Files area of your account, select 'Choose from saved files' instead. Attaching a file to a journal profile will remove it from the Files area of your FreeAgent account.

Please note that attachments that are added to the recurring journal profile will be added to each set of journals created by the profile.

Once you’re happy with the journals, select ‘Create recurring Journal Profile’ to complete the process, or 'Create and add another' to create more recurring journal profiles.

You can view the new recurring journal profile by navigating to the ‘Recurring Journal Profiles’ tab on the Journal Entries page.

You’ll see the journals that have been created from the profile in the 'Posted Journals' tab.