This article describes the Office Journal and Disbursement Journal chit features with Unity® Practice Management

General Information

This chit journals money between the Office side of two ledgers.

It creates two transactions: a debit and a credit which balance to zero.

It can be used to post either an Office journal or an Office disbursement journal.

An Office disbursement journal chit allows you move an incorrectly posted disbursement from the wrong ledger over to the correct ledger. A credit is posted to the wrong ledger and a debit to the correct ledger.

How To Access The Chit

1. Open the Accounts program.
2. Click the posting icon
3. Double click the Office folder to display a list of Office chits.
4. Double click the Office Journal option.

How To Post An Office Journal Using This Chit

1. Select a Matter code to debit. Enter the Matter code manually or search for a matter code by clicking the ellipsis.
2. Select a matter code to credit. Enter a matter code manually or search for a matter code by clicking the ellipsis
3. Enter the amount to journal. To credit any bills or disbursements as part of the journal do the following: 
   • Click next to the amount field and a new window will pop up. This window is divided into 2 sections. The upper section will display any unpaid bills and the lower section will display any unpaid disbursements. The lower section allows you to directly mark disbursements as paid (i.e. if you do not intend to include them on a bill). This will help keep the unbilled disbursement statistics and reports accurate. To partly pay a bill/disbursement locate the required record then enter an amount into the "Amount To Credit" field. To fully pay a bill or disbursement locate the required record then tick the "Pay All" checkbox.
   • Click OK to save any changes or click Cancel to quit the window without saving.
4. Enter a reference.
5. To enter a narrative either enter the text manually or click to select from a list of standard narratives. (An entry in this field is not mandatory).
6. Select a posting date. The posting date field will default to the current date. 
   • If the date selected is within the next financial month then the "Post Into Next Month" checkbox will become available.
   • The checkbox will be ticked by default which means the transaction will automatically be posted into the next financial month. You may click on the checkbox to remove the tick. This will disable the post ahead feature allowing the transaction to be posted into the current financial month.
7. Click Post to post the transaction to the ledger card.

How To Post An Office Disbursement Journal Using This Chit

1. Select a matter code to debit. Enter a matter code manually or search for a matter code by clicking the ellipsis
2. Select a matter code to credit. Enter a matter code manually or search for a matter code by clicking the ellipsis
3. Tick the Disb Required? checkbox.
4. Select a disbursement type.
5. Tick the Already Billed? checkbox if the disbursement has already been billed.
6. Enter the amount of the disbursement you wish to journal.
7. Enter a reference.
8. By default a VAT code E will be allocated. To amend the VAT details do the following:
   • Click the ellipsis next to the VAT field and a new window will pop up.
   • All fields within the window are editable. Simply locate the required field and re-enter the new information
   • Click the + symbol to add a new record (in order to split the VAT between different codes)
   • Click the – symbol to delete a record.
   • Click OK to save any changes or click Cancel to quit the window without saving.
9. To enter a narrative either enter the text manually or click to select from a list of standard narratives. (An entry in this field is not mandatory).
10. Select a posting date.
    • The posting date field will default to the current date.
    • If the date selected is within the next financial month then the Post Into Next Month checkbox will become available.
    • The checkbox will be ticked by default which means the transaction will automatically be posted into the next financial month.
    • You may click on the checkbox to remove the tick. This will disable the post ahead feature allowing the transaction to be posted into the current financial month.
11. Click Post to post the transaction to the ledger card.

Miscellaneous Options

1. Click Posting on the top toolbar to enable a dropdown menu. From here you can open another chit type.
2. Click View on the top toolbar to enable a dropdown menu. From here you can display either the accounts or the time ledger card for the selected matters.
3. Click Options on the top toolbar to enable a dropdown menu. From here you have 3 options:
   • Click Chit Colours to enable/disable to posting chit colour schemes.
   • Click Dialog Style to enable/disable the dialog style. This affects the role of the ENTER key when you are filling in a posting chit. When the dialogue style is enabled it means there is always a default button on the chit which you can activate by hitting enter/return without the need to focus the button first.  Make sure the Dialog Style option is ticked and open a bill chit. You will see that the button has a border around it. This means it is the active button so if you ever press the enter/return key the chit will attempt to post regardless of where your cursor is on the chit. If you choose to disable the dialogue style this means there will be no active button and the ENTER key will do nothing unless a specific button has been highlighted by your cursor at that time.
   • Click Case-Sensitivity Dictionary to launch the Case Sensitivity Dictionary utility.
4. Click Keep to enable a dropdown menu. From here you can select to retain the branch, bank, date, details, reference or narrative for future postings.
5. Click Cancel to clear the contents of the chit.