Recording Manual Transactions

This guide will show you how to create a manual journal entry also referred to as an account transaction.

Common Reasons for Creating Manual Transactions

Businesses are complex and not everything is automated. Here are just two examples of why you would create a manual transaction:

Cash purchases: When you buy office supplies with petty cash, you'll need to record this to update your 'Cash on Hand' and 'Office Supplies' expense account
Future payments: If you receive inventory now but pay later, you'll want to record this upcoming expense in 'Accounts Payable' for accurate budgeting

See more reasons for manual transactions

Recording cash transactions - Essential for keeping an accurate record of cash flows that aren't processed through electronic means, such as petty cash expenses
Adjusting entries at month-end or year-end - Crucial for ensuring financial statements reflect the correct revenues and expenses within the appropriate accounting period
Depreciation of assets - Important for reflecting the consumption of the economic benefits of fixed assets over their useful lives
Accruals for unpaid expenses or unearned revenue - Necessary for compliance with the accrual basis of accounting, ensuring expenses and revenues are matched to the period in which they are incurred or earned, regardless of cash movement
Recording non-monetary transactions like bartering - Important for capturing the exchange of goods or services where no cash is involved, affecting the financial position and performance of the business
Correcting errors in previously recorded transactions - Critical for maintaining the integrity and accuracy of accounting records
Creating Opening and Closing balances - Fundamental for starting new accounting periods correctly and closing out the books at period end

Take an interactive walkthrough on how to create a manual journal entry

See step by step instructions for creating a manual journal entry

Navigate using the left menu to Accounting > Chart of Accounts
Choose Assets > Cash & Cash Equivalents to expand and see all of its accounts (As the business owner you would typically be adding journal entries directly to their accounts in Cash & Cash Equivalents and Credit Cards)
Select the account you are adding the transaction to
Choose if you want to debit or credit the account. When working from what we term the money accounts it can be useful to use the IN/OUT notion of money flowing into or out of the account
Enter a name for your transaction
Assign a category by selecting an available category from the category selector
You can add a tax, create a new tax or leave empty if there was no tax
Enter the transaction amount
Select client and vendor if this transaction is associated with either or both
Click on the # icon to add a reference number if needed
To add an attachment, click on the paperclip icon
Click "Create" to save your transaction

Your transaction will appear in your account and your balance will change. The transaction will also be saved in the selected category account.

Fiskl offers two ways to record foreign currency transactions:

In any Cash and Cash Equivalent account, you can record the transaction directly by choosing a category in either foreign or base currency
You can open a foreign currency Cash or Cash Equivalent account and input the transaction amount in that specific foreign currency

To record in a different currency:

Follow steps 1-4 from the instructions above
Click on "Record in different currency?"
Select the required currency
Enter the foreign currency amount. The exchange rate will be displayed automatically or can be adjusted if necessary
Complete the remaining details as in the standard instructions
Click "Create" to save your transaction

Your transaction will appear in your account, displaying both the foreign and base currencies.

Remember, keeping accurate manual entries ensures your financial reports are always up-to-date and reliable.