Cash Disbursements Journal

A standard report in many accounting software packages is a cash disbursement journal.  QuickBooks does not have a report in the format that accountants are used to working with.  The check detail report works well for seeing the actual expense codes on a check that has been created through the Accounts Payable system, but that report does not, by default, have a total of all checks for the period.  Below are the instructions to create a custom report that has a total of all disbursements.

1. 1.        Choose Reports > Custom Transaction Detail Report.
2. 2.        Click on the Modify Report button.
3. 3.        On the Display tab, change the date range to the appropriate period and the sort by to Num. 
4. 4.        Scroll to the bottom of the columns list and add a check mark next to credit, and remove the check marks next to account, class, amount and balance.
5. 5.        On the Filters tab, choose the appropriate bank account.  You will notice the date range as the same as number 3 above
6. 6.        Next, click on the transaction type, and from the pull down list, choose selected transaction types.  This creates a pop out box of all the transaction types.  Place a check mark next to the cash disbursement types (i.e. check, bill payment, sales tax payment, paycheck, payroll liability check, and possibly transfers.)
7. 7.        Choose the Header/Footer Tab and change the report title.
8. 8.        Click on OK.
9.  

TIP: To create a cash receipts journal, follow the same steps as above except choose debit in step 4 and deposits, sales receipt, payment, and possibly transfers in step 6.

TIP: To create a report that will agree to batch totals when completing data entry procedures, filter for the edit/modify date that the data entry was completed.  Depending on the review procedures, it is also possible to change the display tab to sort by account and the filter tab to include all accounts.  This will provide a report that shows the total for the cash account, while also showing the totals for the amounts coded to the other general ledger accounts as part of the transaction.

TIP: If a single report that includes both a cash receipts and a cash disbursements journal are desired, it is possible to change step 4 to be both debit and credit (i.e. a separate column for receipts and disbursements) and all transactions for step 6.

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Cash Disbursement Journal