Journals

##Journals##

User-defined journals provide a generic way of supplying data to the posting engine. They can be used to represent many different accounting objects - sales and purchase invoices, customer receipts, bank feeds, expense claims and so on.

======= ##Journals##

User-defined journals provide a generic way of supplying data to the posting engine. They can be used to represent many different accounting objects - sales and purchase invoices, customer receipts, bank feeds, expense claims and so on.

Internally, journals are implemented using three main classes:

###Journal Type###

(Sage_ACC_Journal_Type)

This object represent a class of journals. An example might be 'Sales Invoice' or 'Bank Feed'.

Field Name	Description
Is_Appendable	If set, this means that journals of this type will be 'appendable'. They will therefore be posted on an item-by-item basis, and further items may be appended even when others have already been posted. An example might be a bank feed. If unset, the journal is 'simple', which means that every instance of the journal is treated as a separate entity and posted/unposted as a unit. An example might be a sales invoice.
JSON_Info	A text field containing an (optional) block of JSON which can be used to determine how journals of this type are presented to the user. This field is really for internal use by the mobile client, although it is intended that a future desktop/web client will use the same information to provide a compatible user experience.
Item_Dimension	If specified, this is the dimension to use to specify the type of a Journal Item. Typically the dimension will have been created specifically for the purpose of acting as the item type and will have the Is_Universal field checked, indicating that the tags aren't tied to any one company. When the journal is eventually posted, the item dimension tags will be passed on to the ledger entries, as with any other tag.
Classification	This picklist value may be Standard, Collaborative or Feed, and is a user-friendly way of describing the nature of the journal. The Journals tab has links for these, so for example Expenses journals can be placed under 'Collaborative' while bank feeds under 'Feeds'.
Tax Type	This picklist value may be None or User Specified. If the latter, journals of this type will be tax aware and the user will be able to specify tax treatments and codes for those journals and items.
Show Credit and Debit Fields	Another UI-related option - if set, separate Credit and Debit columns should be shown for journal items rather than a single Amount column.
UID	The standard unique (external) identifier.
Template	The template in which this journal type was delivered.

A Journal Type may have one of the following Classifications:

####Collaborative Journals Collaborative journals allow individual users to record expenses and other transactions at source, and thus contribute to the accounting process in real time.

####Standard Journals General business transactions are recorded in standard journals, i.e. those transactions that are not attributable to individual contributors, and are not generated by feeds.

####Feeds Feeds are journals that are connected to a data source such as a bank feed or a partner app and are processed in the background. Once set up, feeds will not normally need any attention as they happen automatically.

###Journal###

(Sage_ACC_Journal)

This represents an instance of a Journal Type. Depending on whether the Journal Type has the Is_Appemdable field checked, the Journal will either be a self-contained postable object (like an Invoice), or more of a continuous source of data (like a bank feed) where the Journals Items are effectively independent of each other.

Field Name	Description
Company	The company to which this journal belongs. Although Journal Types are company-independent, each journal must be allied to a particular company. The declarative UI will attempt to populate this field automatically with the currently selected company.
Create_Tags	This field is checked by default in the declarative UI to ensure that the journal and its items are pre-decorated with the dimensions that they will require at posting time. The mobile client is free to do its own policing of journal tags, and can set Create_Tags to false, which means that no tags will be added when the Journal is first created.
Currency	The (optional) currency for this journal. If unspecified, the company base currency will be used.
Date	The notional date of this journal. This is only relevant if the Journal Type is Simple. For Appendable Journals, the date of the items will be used, and the journal date will be ignored, so this can be hidden by clients if possible.
Description	This is an auto-generated field, which is populated with the names of any tags that have been added to the journal.
Exchange_Rate	The (optional) exchange rate for this journal. If unspecified, the appropriate spot or fixed rate will be used - this will be relevant to the date of the journal or items as appropriate.
Is_Current_Company	A read-only formula which is True if the company of the journal matches the currently selected company.
Journal_Type	The mandatory link to the parent Journal Type.
Reference	A text field to hold a an appropriate reference or description for the Journal, as supplied by the user.
Status	This both represents the current posted status of the journal and a means of changing it (to Post).
Default Tax Treatment	For tax-aware journals, this is the default treatment to be used for journal items.
Total_Amount	This is a read-only roll-up total of the Amount fields of the individual journal items.
Total_Credit	This is a read-only roll-up total of the Credit fields of the individual journal items.
Total_Debit	This is a read-only roll-up total of the Debit fields of the individual journal items.
Total_Tax	For tax-aware journals, a read-only roll-up total of the Tax Amount fields of the individual journal items.
Total_Net	For tax-aware journals, a read-only roll-up total of the Net Amount fields of the individual journal items.
Total_Gross	For tax-aware journals, a read-only roll-up total of the Gross Amount fields of the individual journal items.
UID	The standard unique (external) reference for this Journal

###Journal Item###

(Sage_ACC_Journal_Item)

This represents an item in a journal. The nature of an item depends very much on the journal it belongs to - for Appendable journals, items are independent entities that may be submitted and unsubmitted on an individual basis. Journal items can be used to represent both single column and double column data. This is achieved by a single Amount field, and a separate checkbox determining whether that amount should be treated as a debit or credit. Separate read-only Debit and Credit fields reflect this, and can be used and summed as required.

Field Name	Description
Amount	The numeric amount associated with this item.
Create_Tags	This flag behaves as that for the Journal - if set, when the item is saved some empty tags of the required dimensions will be created. Client apps which do their own management of tags can set this to False.
Credit	A read-only formula field which is equal to Amount if Is_Credit is checked, or zero otherwise.
Date	The date associated with this item. This is only meaningful for Appendable journals, and will be the date used in the ledger when the item is posted.
Debit	A read-only formula field which is equal to Amount if Is_Credit is not checked, or zero otherwise.
Description	As for Journal, this is a read-only description auto-generated from any tags on the item.
Is_Credit	If checked, the Amount field is treated as a credit, otherwise a debit. The default status is checked.
Is_Gross	If checked on a tax-aware journal, the amount given is taken to be the gross rather than net amount.
Journal	The mandatory parent journal.
Journal_Type	The journal type - this is a convenience and should always match the equivalent field on the journal
Reference	A textual, user-supplied reference for the item
Status	This both represents the current posted status of the journal and a means of changing it (to Post). It is only meaningful for Appendable journals.
Tax Treatment	For tax-aware journals, the treatment to use for this journal item - by default this will be inherited from the Default Tax Treatment field of the parent journal.
Tax Code	For tax-aware journals, the tax code to use for this item. This will be chosen from those available for the given legislation and treatment.
Tax Breakdown Value	For tax-aware journals, this is the roll-up summary of all the values of the Tax Breakdowns for this item. These breakdowns are generated from all applicable tax rates once a treatment and code have been chosen.
Override Tax Amount	An optional, manual-entry tax amount - if given, this takes precedence over any calculated tax values.
Tax_Amount	A read-only formula field which takes the value of the Override Tax Amount, if specified, or the Tax Breakdown Value if not.
Gross Amount	A read-only formula which calculates the true gross value depending on the Amount, Tax Amount and Is Gross checkbox.
Net Amount	A read-only formulate which calculates the true net value depending on the Amount, Tax Amount and Is Gross checkbox.
UID	The standard unique (external) reference for this Journal Item