Journal Entries
Last updated: 27 May 2025
Journal Entries in ControlWORQ¶
The ability to post journal entries is one of the key features of ControlWORQ. This topic presents the underlying concepts behind journal entries and Planning Analytics.
Posting a Journal Entry: Example¶
Consider a simple cube with four dimensions: Accounts, Companies, Versions and Time. In this case, the Accounts dimension is the only journal dimension. All other dimensions are considered static. When a journal is posted, the user must specify the Company, Version, and Time elements which apply to all entries within the journal. Each entry in the journal specifies which account it goes to.
Example journal entry:
Company: Alarmax, Inc.
Version: Actual - Adjustments
Time: Jan-2014
| Accounts | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 100.00 | |
| Cost of Sales | 10.00 |
After the journal has been posted, the values in the Planning Analytics cube are changed:
Company: Alarmax, Inc.
Version: Actual - Adjustments
Time: Jan-2014
| Accounts | Old Value in Planning Analytics | New Value in Planning Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 5,703.26 | 5,603.26 |
| Cost of Sales | 3,219.45 | 3,229.45 |
All journal entries must have a description that explains the purpose of the entry. All updates to a journal entry are associated with the ControlWORQ user making the changes.
Journal Entry Controls in ControlWORQ¶
ControlWORQ ensures that an adjustment cannot be posted to Planning Analytics that is not in balance. For example, if a user manually changed Sales directly in Planning Analytics to 5,603.26, but forgot to adjust Cost of Sales accordingly, the trial balance would no longer balance in Planning Analytics. ControlWORQ prevents this scenario by ensuring that proper controls are in place and followed when making adjustments.
ControlWORQ also provides a workflow capability with journal entries. Users can be assigned one or more of the following roles (which exist in addition to Planning Analytics security):
- Save: Can create and edit journal entries, but not approve or post them.
- Approve: Can approve entries, which is required before an entry can be posted. Only balanced entries can be approved.
- Post: Can post entries, which commits the journal entry adjustments to Planning Analytics.
Journal Entry Cube Dimension Types¶
Dimensions in a cube configured for posting journal entries will have 2 primary types:
Journal Dimensions¶
These are dimensions whose elements are selected for each line of a journal entry. In the above example, Accounts was a Journal Dimension. The accounts dimension must always be configured as a Journal dimension, and you can have more than one Journal Dimension for a cube, for example if you need to post entries that span cost centers.
Header or Static Dimensions¶
These are dimensions whose elements are selected once for each journal entry. In the above example, Company, Version, and Time were Header dimensions.
Session Dimensions¶
Session dimensions are a sub-category of header dimensions. Session dimensions are header dimensions whose elements are only selected once per journal entry posting session. Dimensions like Version, Currency and Time are typically configured as session dimensions, since this will save time for people entering the same version and time period for multiple entries.
Journal Entry Numbers¶
Journals are identified by number, which must be unique. The journal number is built from two parts:
- The first part is system-generated in the ControlWORQ Web Application based on Session Dimension element selections.
- The second is specified by the user when the journal is posted.
An example journal number might be 0110-1-ACT/1016. The portion to the left of the slash (the journal entry prefix) is made up from codes identifying session dimensions:
- Time (0110)
- Currency (1)
- Version (ACT)
The journal entry suffix (to the right of the slash) is entered by the user. The entire journal entry number must be unique.
Journal Entry Groups¶
You can group journals as you input them, putting them into categories. Journal Groups provide another filtering capability on the main journals screen and in journal reporting. Journal Groups are optional.