# Journals

{% hint style="info" %}
User permission: Financial Statements > Data entry

This is an advanced feature, so we recommend you request training via the [Upgrades and services form](https://app.gitbook.com/s/qRvX8Eg8GftkyP0R8RVU/more-help-and-support#upgrades-and-services). If not, please ensure you read all this documentation and watch the videos before you start using this feature.
{% endhint %}

The Journals feature is a simple but flexible data entry tool that supports debit and credit-style journal entries for a variety of use cases, such as:

* Intercompany eliminations
* Management reporting methodology adjustments

Although adjustments are best recorded in your ERP, the Journals feature in Phocas gives you a quick way to make manual adjustments between business entities and publish them back into your financial statements. This is especially helpful if you are managing multiple ERPs and are currently managing adjustments via Microsoft Excel. You can then update your ERP later.

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Finding your intercompany journals
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## Prerequisites

Before you can start using the Journals feature, there are some things consider, and potentially some setup tasks you need to complete.

### Elimination entity

For intercompany eliminations, you must have an elimination entity to post journals against.

* If you're new to Phocas, you'll typically have this entity set up during your implementation.
* If you're an existing user, you might need to set this up in [Designer](https://app.gitbook.com/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/designer). If you're not familiar with Designer, request assistance from your administrator or partner.

The elimination entity is ideally a top-level dimension and not nested under accounts.

If your account structure is set up in a way that requires additional transactions (for example, accounts without activity or accounts that only exist in elimination entries), you need to:

1. Create transactions for those accounts.
2. Load them into the database using a spreadsheet, similar to the Budgets & Forecasts process for accounts without existing activity.

{% embed url="<https://phocassoftware.wistia.com/medias/ahhkjdi87f>" %}
Set up elimination journals
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### Sync sources (information for administrators)

Journals rely on supplementary data ([Sync](https://app.gitbook.com/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/sync)) sources to store journal data.&#x20;

* **Don't delete these data sources.** Deleting them will cause data loss and issues with you Financial Statements module.
* If you have issues with the data, deleting the sync sources won't fix the problem and will make it worse. [Raise a support ticket instead](https://app.gitbook.com/s/qRvX8Eg8GftkyP0R8RVU/more-help-and-support).
* If you don't want these data sources to appear in Phocas, you can use database restrictions to hide them.
* Only users with high-level permissions should have the ability to add to these data sources (create journals).

Future updates might add more dependencies between journals and other data tables. Please contact support before deleting anything linked to journals.


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