Journal entry template

Equal debits and credits across accounts, with a date, a reference and a narration: the entry for what has no document of its own, such as depreciation or an accrual.

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Journal Entry

Number
JE-2026-0310
Date
2026-10-13
Reference
Depreciation — October
CodeAccount nameDescriptionDebitCredit
5400Depreciation expenseEquipment, October2,500.00
1590Accumulated depreciation — equipment2,500.00
Total2,500.002,500.00
Total debit
2,500.00 SAR
Total credit
2,500.00 SAR
Prepared byApproved by

Debits must equal credits before the entry posts. A posted entry is corrected by a reversing entry, never by editing.

A template from Aqid ERP — aqiderp.com. Replace the sample figures with your own.

The entry behind every balance

A journal entry (قيد يومية) records a transaction as equal debits and credits across accounts, with a date, a reference and a narration saying why. Sales, purchases and payments usually post from their own documents; the manual journal is for what has no document of its own: depreciation, accruals, prepayments, provisions, corrections. Debits must equal credits before it posts, and a posted entry is corrected by a reversing entry, never by editing.

  • An entry number and date, and a reference or narration.
  • Per line: account code, account name, a description, and either a debit or a credit.
  • Totals of debits and credits, which must agree.
  • Who prepared and who approved, and the supporting document attached.

The sample: one month's depreciation

Equipment costing 120,000.00 depreciated straight-line over four years is 2,500.00 a month. The entry debits depreciation expense and credits accumulated depreciation; the asset's cost stays where it is and the net book value falls by the credit.

5400 Depreciation expenseDebit 2,500.00
1590 Accumulated depreciation — equipmentCredit 2,500.00
NarrationEquipment, October

Questions

What goes in the narration?

Enough for someone else to understand the entry a year later without you: what it is, which period, which document. "Depreciation, equipment, October 2026, per fixed-asset register" is a narration; "adjustment" is not.

What are the usual month-end entries?

Depreciation, accrued expenses not yet billed (utilities, bonuses), prepayments released (insurance, rent paid in advance), the end-of-service provision, bad-debt allowance, and foreign-currency revaluation of bank and receivable balances.

How do I fix an entry I posted wrong?

Post a reversing entry that undoes it, then the correct entry, both dated and narrated. Editing or deleting a posted entry breaks the audit trail; ZATCA's record-keeping rules and any auditor expect to see the correction, not a clean slate.

Does a manual journal affect VAT?

It should not touch the VAT accounts directly: VAT posts from invoices and credit notes. If a manual entry to VAT is unavoidable, it needs a narration and a document, because the VAT return is reconciled to the ledger.

Related

The general ledger in Aqid ERPReceipt voucher templatePayment voucher templateExpense report templateAll templates

Terms used on this page

Journal entriesDebit and creditGeneral ledgerDepreciationAll terms

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