A Direct Journal Payment is used to record payments received by an agency that do not need to be applied to a customer AR Item, such as miscellaneous receipts. The process for creating a Direct Journal Payment starts with the agency entering the deposit and payment information in the ‘Regular Deposit’ navigation in SFS.

SFS Navigation: Accounts Receivable > Payments > Online Payments > Regular Deposit

When entering a Regular Deposit, the ‘Totals’ tab displays the summary data for the deposit. The agency must enter all required fields, including a detailed description that supports the chartfield values (e.g., fund, account) used to record the revenue. The ‘Control Total Amount’ must be equal to the total amount of the deposit and is displayed as a positive amount (except in the case of a reversal). The ‘Count’ should reflect the number of Payment ID sequences an agency has entered. 

On the ‘Payments’ tab, the agency must enter the Payment ID, Accounting Date, and Amount. The ‘Journal Directly’ box must be checked or else SFS will create a Payment Worksheet instead of a Direct Journal Payment in error.  Additional fields on the Payments tab include:

• Customer ID: A Customer ID is required when depositing receipts from public authorities to account codes 32001-32004. Customer ID may also be used if an agency needs to capture and relate customer information for other types of miscellaneous receipts that do not need to be applied to an AR Item. Omissions and corrections for Customer IDs cannot be done through the General Ledger Module as there is no chartfield that exists for Customer ID. A correcting entry can only be done on an AR Deposit using two sequences that net the deposit total to zero. These corrections should be coordinated for approval with OSC-BSAO by emailing [email protected].
• Attachments: The attachments hyperlink can be used if an agency needs to include additional backup on their deposit that cannot be included in the ‘Description’ field. Agencies should not attach private, personal, or protected (PPI) information such as: social security numbers, bank account numbers or check copies. If an attachment with PPI is necessary, then it should be redacted prior to attaching it to the deposit in SFS.
• Contract Reference: If an agency will be tracking miscellaneous receipts against a revenue contract, they must use the ‘Contract Reference’ hyperlink to enter the contract number on the AR Deposit in SFS. Omissions and corrections for revenue contracts can not be done through the General Ledger Module as there is no chartfield that exists for contracts. A correcting entry can only be done on an AR Deposit using two sequences that net the deposit total to zero. These corrections should be coordinated for approval with OSC-BSAO by emailing [email protected]. Additional information regarding revenue contracts can be found in Chapter XI, Section 7.A – Revenue Contracts of this Guide.

After the Regular Deposit is saved, the agency can then navigate to the Create Accounting Entries screen to enter the chartfield values to correctly record the type of revenue received. For information on chartfield coding requirements, see Section 2 – Miscellaneous Receipts / Accounts Receivable Receipts Overview of this Chapter.

SFS Navigation: Accounts Receivable > Payments > Direct Journal Payments > Direct Journal Acctg Entries (Create Accounting Entries)

If an agency is unable to find their deposit in the Create Accounting Entries screen, they should navigate back to the Regular Deposit screen and verify that the Direct Journal box has been checked.

Once the agency has located their deposit, they will enter the dollar amount(s) in the ‘Line Amount’ field. If the Control Total was a positive amount, the Line Amount must be negative (the revenue in the fund will be increased/credited). If the Control Total was a negative amount, the Line Amount must be positive (the revenue in the fund will be decreased/debited). Multiple Distribution Lines can be added if needed to distinguish multiple payments or to record revenue to different chartfields. 

After the chartfield information has been entered, the agency must click the lightning bolt to generate the additional accounting lines, then check the ‘Complete’ box and save the deposit. Once the deposit is completed by the agency, they can then send their payments and required documentation to DTF-Treasury. See Section 2.C – Direct Journal & Payment Worksheet – Treasury Requirements of this Chapter. Agencies should not send payments to Treasury until all accounting entries have been successfully created and the Complete box has been checked. 

Upon notification from DTF-Treasury that the funds have been received and deposited at the bank, OSC-BSAO will review and approve the deposit in SFS.