Journal Giving and Dues Transactions

Journal/Void Transactions

In order to maintain an audit trail for your database, it is extremely important that you not delete existing data rows from the Gift or Dues tables. Doing so destroys your ability to recreate any statistical data from reports that have already been generated and published and so we strongly encourage you not to do so, especially data rows that have already been included in reports that have been generated. You may not do so for transactions whose Batches have been Closed. The preferred technique for canceling Transactions conforms to the auditing practice of journaling the old Transaction. This allows you to disregard Journal and Void Transactions when desirable for viewing or reporting purposes or to include them when necessary for accounting needs.

Within Millennium, when an existing Transaction is journaled, the existing Transaction is edited (by the system) so that the Type is changed to the Void of the previous Type. (A Gift becomes a Gift Void, a Pledge becomes a Pledge Void, etc.) In addition, the system will also create another Transaction row in the database with a Journal of the previous Type (Gift Journal, Pledge Journal, etc.) and with a negative dollar amount that cancels out the amount of the Void Transaction.

Note: The Processed Date must be corrected within the Gift Void to reflect the desired date. Otherwise it will reflect the processed date from the original Gift Transaction.

How to Journal/Void a Transaction (Primary Allocation)

1. Access the constituent's display of the appropriate table and locate the desired Transaction.
2. Pass the mouse pointer over the Edit button to the left of the display of that Transaction, and then over the item, Transactions in the resulting context menus.

3. Click the item, Journal Transaction. You will be given a Journal insert form. It will automatically show the Void version of the previous Type in that data box and all others will reflect the data that was present in the original Transaction. The system will not permit you to edit any of the data at this time, with the following exceptions:

   • Tab or mouse click to the Comments text box and type in a free text statement as to the reason that this Transaction is being Journaled.
   • Tab or mouse click to the Batch text box and type in a batch number associated with this Transaction that is being Journaled.

4. When you are sure that you want to proceed, click on Insert,

   OR

   Click Cancel to halt the process without altering the original Transaction or creating any other Transaction row.

How to Journal/Void a Transaction (Secondary Allocation)

1. Access the constituent's display of the appropriate table and locate the desired Transaction.
2. Click the Edit button to the left of the display of the specific Allocation, and then click on Journal Allocation.

3. You will be given a Journal insert form It will automatically show the Void version of the Type of the previous Allocation in that data box and all others will reflect the data that was present in the original Transaction. The system will not permit you to edit that data at this time, with the following exceptions:

   • Tab or mouse click to the Comments text box and type in a free text statement as to the reason that this Transaction is being Journaled.
   • Tab or mouse click to the Batch text box and type in a batch number associated with this Transaction that is being Journaled.

4. When you are sure that you want to proceed, click on Insert,

   OR

   Click Cancel to halt the process without altering the original Transaction or creating any other Transaction row.

How to Journal & Add Correcting Transaction (Primary Allocation)

1. Access the constituent's display of the appropriate table and locate the desired Transaction.
2. Pass the mouse pointer over the Edit button to the left of the display of that Transaction, and then over the item, Special in the resulting context menus.
3. Click Journal & Add Correction. You will be given a new Add Correcting Transaction form, showing the same information as the original Transaction. You should then edit the desired information for the transaction.

4. When you are sure that you want to proceed, click on Insert to create the correction,

   OR

   Click Cancel to halt the process without altering the original Transaction or creating any other Transaction row.

5. Once you click Insert, it will automatically Void the previous Type and show the new corrected transaction.

Correcting Transactions

In most cases it is likely that you will want to enter a correcting Transaction to replace the one that was journaled. There are different techniques for doing so for different situations. You may:

• Use the Journal function to Journal the original Transaction and then manually enter a new transaction as you would enter any new data row, with the appropriate information. If the original Transaction was entered for the wrong constituent, this is the only appropriate technique. If the correcting transaction is to be entered for the same constituent, you may use this technique, but must be aware that there will be no linkage between the correcting transaction and the original, (now-journaled) transaction.

• If the correcting Transaction will belong to the same constituent as the original, you may use the Journal & Add Correction function This feature of the software automatically prompts for the creation of the new, correcting transaction with an insert form containing the same information as shown in the original (now-journaled) transaction. After changing the desired portions of the data shown in the form and inserting the Transaction, the system will create a link between the new and the old transactions so that they may be displayed together.

  Note: Journal and Add Correction is not available for Pledges, Match Pledges, Sustainer Pledges and Expectancy Transactions to which Payments or Bequests have already been made.

Journal Transactions and Multiple Allocations

• If a Transaction has multiple Allocations, and you Journal the primary transaction, all of the linked Allocations are also automatically Journaled and Voided. You may use either of the correcting techniques described above to enter a correcting transaction. But, in either case, it will be necessary to manually enter the information for the secondary allocations for the correcting Transaction.

• If a Transaction has multiple Allocations, and you want to Journal individual, secondary allocations, you may do so by accessing the context menu for the specific Allocation, and then clicking the item, Journal Allocation. When you complete the insert form for the Journal, the amounts from the now-journaled Allocation will be added back into the primary Allocation. Then, if you want to enter a correcting Allocation, you must do so just as if you were entering a new, additional Allocation, by using the Transactions item in the context menu for the main display of the Transaction, and then locating the Add Allocation item in the resulting cascading menu.

  Note: Journal and Add Correction is not available for secondary allocations.

Journal Transactions and Linked Transactions

• If a Transaction is jointly owned, when one side of the original is Journaled, the joint side of the Transaction is also Journaled. You may use either of the correcting techniques described above to enter a correcting transaction. But, in either case, you must then manually enter the information for the Joint Transaction that links to the correcting Transaction (see the Joint Transaction How-To's, described above, for further details).
• If a Transaction is linked to a Matching Pledge, the linked Matching Pledge Transaction and any Transactions that link to the Matching Pledge (such as a Match Credit, or any payments made on the Match Pledge) are not affected by the Journaling of the original Transaction. They may be independently Journaled, as appropriate.
• If a Transaction is linked to other Transactions such as Credits or Honors, and if the System Option - Automatically Journal Credits and Honors is set to Yes, then those linked Transactions will also be Journaled, allowing for faster and more accurate data entry. This also includes Journaling Match Credit Transactions when Journaling the corresponding Match Pledge Transaction. You may use either of the correcting techniques described above to enter a correcting transaction. But, in either case, it will be necessary to then manually enter the information for the Transactions that link to the correcting Transaction. (see Credit Transactions How-To's, Honor Transactions How-To's for further details).

Journal Transactions and Serial Receipts

If your site is utilizing Serialized Tax Receipting, then these special considerations apply.

• Transactions that are included on a Manual Receipt cannot be journaled.
• Transactions that are included on a receipt that was generated by using the Issue New Receipts Tax Receipting Process cannot be journaled.
• Transactions that are included on a Manual or generated receipt that was subsequently voided, and for which a replacement receipt was not added or generated, can be journaled and journaled and corrected.

See the Serial Receipts topic for complete information about Serialized Tax Receipting.

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