1. Journal Best Practices
October 25, 2018

2. FAS Journal Entry Best Practices
October 25, 2018

3. Journal Entry Best Practices: Highlights
Tubs/Schools and Central Units must perform a monthly review of all journal entries >=$100K and related documentation to validate that the backup is adequate, sufficient and supports the transaction.
All Journals should meet the following criteria
Re-performance Standard
Complete and Accurate  
Reasonable
Appropriate
Timely
Preparation and approval of journals must be done by different ind ividuals, with different levels of seniority.
Going forward, FAS Finance will reach out with monthly audit selections.

4. Tub/Department Procedures
Journal entry prepared and uploaded locally
Each person with journal upload responsibility runs Journals General Report monthly.
Support with proof of review and signatures/date maintained locally
Finance will reach out with monthly audit selections
Within Tub/Dept. Responsibility
Journal entry prepared and forwarded to FAS Finance Office
Outside Tub/Dept. Responsibility

5. Documentation & Record Retention
Explains the rationale and substantiates the amount
Enable a reviewer to recreate the journal and understand its purpose
Examples;
Transactions Listings (preferably in TLX Format)
System generated reports
Spreadsheets with supporting calculations s
Third party reports
Record Retention
Non-Sponsored documentation must be kept readily available on file for audit, either electronically or hardcopy, for four fiscal years.
Sponsored documentation should be retained for a minimum of seven years after the project end date or as determined by the awarding sponsor.
Record retention University Guidelines can be found at