Manual journal entries can be sent through an approval process before the entry is posted to the general ledger account.  This requires setting up an approval process. Once setup, users can enter entries as normal.  The entries are then routed to the appropriate users who can be notified of pending entries requiring their approval.  

Setup 

To setup an approval process, we first need to enable those users entering and approving entries in the General Ledger.  

1. In the General Ledger, go to Organization | Users.
2. Click the New button on the toolbar.
   
3. Click on the Search button next to the User ID field to select a user
   

4. If you would like the user to receive an email notification when an entry is waiting for their approval, make sure the Receive emails checkbox is checked and that a valid email appears in the Email field.
   
5. Click the Save button on the toolbar.
   
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 to add additional users
   
7. Click Close when finished.
   

Next, we need to create our approval groups.  

1. In the General Ledger, go to Organization | Approval Groups.
   
2. Click the New button on the toolbar.
   
3. Enter a name in the Approval Group field.
   
4. Click Select next to Users. These are the users that will be approving the entries.  
   
5. Move any users from Available items to Selected items by double-clicking on their name.  Click OK when finished.       
6. Click the Save button on the toolbar.
   
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 to add additional groups.
   

Now, we need to setup the approval steps.

1. In the General Ledger, go to Organization | Approval Steps
   
2. Click the New button on the toolbar.
   
3. Enter a title in the Approval step field (this will often tend to match the names of the groups but not always).
   
4. Assign the appropriate group to the step by selecting a group from the Assigned to group dropdown.
   
5. We do not need to populate the Assigned to or Departments fields at this time.
   

6. Click the Save button on the toolbar
   
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 to add additional steps.
   

Next, we need to setup the approval process.  This means who is approving what.

1. In the General Ledger, go to Organization | Approval Processes.
   
2. Click the New button on the toolbar.
   
3. Enter a name for the approval process.
   
4. Change the Type to “Journal”.
   

5. Click on the Approval Steps tab.
   
6. Click the New button to the right.          
   

7. Click on a step and click OK.
   
8. Check any of the following checkboxes as appropriate:
   

1. Required before the next approval step – If you have more than one approval step, check this box so that this step needs to approve the entry before it moves to the next approval step.
   
2. Override preceding approval steps – If you have more than one approval step, check this box if this step can then bypass prior approval steps once approved.
   
3. Allow approver to modify request – Check this box if the approver has the ability to edit the entry. 
   

9. Repeat steps 6 through 8 to add additional approval steps.  Please note: At least one step must have the Required before the next approval step checkbox checked.
   

10. Click the Save button on the toolbar.
    
11. Repeat steps 3 through 10 to add additional approval processes.
    

Finally, we need to tie the different approval processes to the appropriate journal codes.

1. In the General Ledger, go to Organization | Journal Codes.
   
2. Enter the journal code needing an approval process into the Journal code field at the top (e.g. “JE”).
   
3. Specify the users that have access to input entries for this journal code.
   

1. Deselect the Include all users checkbox under Journal submitters.
   
2. Click the Select… button.
   
3. Double-click on all users that should have access to this journal code.
   
4. Click OK when finished.  
   

4. Check the Use checkbox under Approvals.
   
5. Select the approval process from the drop-down under the Approvals.  
   
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for all other journal codes needing an approval process.
   

Approval 

Entries can be inputted as normal through Enter Journal Amounts.  If any of the journal codes with an approval process specified are used, the entry will not post to the account until approved.  To approve the entry, follow these steps.

1. In the General Ledger, go to Journals | Approval Journal Amounts.
   

A list of all entries needing approval will appear. 

2. To edit any entry, click the Edit button (pencil) next to any line.  A popup will appear providing you with the ability to edit any information
   

Each line of an entry needs its Status changed to “Approved”.  

To approve each line of an entry individually, follow these steps:  

3. Click on the drop-down under the Status column next to each line and select “Approved”.  
   
4. Once all lines have been approved, click the GO button on the toolbar.  
   

You do have the ability to approve all lines quickly without having to do each one individually.  To approve all lines at once, follow these steps:

5. Check the top checkbox on the left in the data grid so that all check boxes are checked.  
   
6. Change the Set selected records to to “Approved”.
   
7. Click Apply.  The Status column for all lines should now show “Approved”.
   
8. Click the GO button on the toolbar.