Purpose: This guide will explain the ins and outs of the Journal Entry report found in BambooHR.

Table of Contents: 

• Journal Entry report
  • Journal Entry report on the Date Range tab
  • Running the report
  • Download error
• Journal Report option examples
  • Summary (No Segmentation) Report
  • Segmented by Department report
  • Segmented by Division report
• Pay Date vs. Date Range Journal Entry report download

With the Journal Entry report, we have made it easier than ever to transform your payroll data into a standard accounting format so that you can quickly import the necessary debit and credit information into your accounting software. This report will become available as soon as payroll is approved and is viewable by users with the View Payroll Reports permission in access level settings. If you reopen payroll before the due date, the report will display a pending status until payroll is approved again. To find this report, navigate to Reports > Payroll Reports > Pay Date or Date Range tab > Popular Reports. On the Pay Date tab, you will be able to select which pay date you want to review the data from in the dropdown menu. 

On the Date Range tab, you will have the ability to adjust the Date From and Date To fields to pull data from the desired date range. By default, the date range will be set to the current calendar year, starting January 1. It is recommended to keep the date range small, as the Journal Entry report’s intent is to help record your payroll transactions to your accounting books as close to the pay date as required. If you would like to view or analyze historical payroll records for a larger timeframe, we recommend using the other payroll reports on the Date Range tab.

If you have multiple syncing pay schedules with BambooHR Payroll, the Pay Schedule dropdown menu will appear. By default, all pay schedules will be selected and included when running the report. Click the dropdown arrow to select a specific pay schedule. 

To run the Journal Entry report, hover your cursor over the name in the Popular Reports section and click on the download icon. If you apply any filters, the ability to run the report will not be available. This ensures all necessary payroll transaction information is always included in the report. 

Click on the download icon and then select from the three report options we have found to be the most common among our customers: 

1. Summary (No Segmentation)
2. Segmented by Department
3. Segmented by Division

The system will remember and automatically choose the option you have selected the next time you run the report. Once you have chosen your preferred option, click Download Report to download a CSV file of the report onto your computer, allowing you to view and add to the data if necessary.

If the report is unable to balance the debits and credits, you may come across an error message. Please contact Payroll Support, and our team will work quickly to solve the issue and send you a balanced report. 

All reports will have basic formatting within the Debit/Credit columns that do not include dollar signs or commas. You can easily update the formatting of these columns to fit the specifications of your accounting software.

All report options will generate a GL Code column but will be left blank for you to enter the necessary GL codes unless you have added GL Codes through Payroll settings. 

The CSV download of this report will include the following fields:

1. Date
2. GL Code
3. Debit
4. Credit 
5. Memo

The CSV download of this report will include the following fields:

1. Date
2. GL Code
3. Debit
4. Credit 
5. Memo
6. Department

The CSV download of this report will include the following fields:

1. Date
2. GL Code
3. Debit
4. Credit 
5. Memo
6. Division

There are two key differences regarding how the data is presented in the Date column and within the rows. See the table below: