Can't post a journal due to imbalance

This article explains why debits and credits might not be balanced in voucher transactions, so that the transactions can't be posted in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance. The article also includes steps for fixing the issue.

Symptoms

In some cases, a journal can't be posted, and the following message is shown:

The transactions on a specific voucher don't balance as of a certain date (accounting currency: 0.01 - reporting currency: 0.06).

Resolution

During posting to General ledger, every voucher must be balanced in the transaction currency, accounting currency, and reporting currency, if those currencies are defined on the Ledger setup page. (Vouchers are balanced when the total debits equal the total credits.)

At the bottom of the journal lines page, totals are shown in the accounting currency and reporting currency. They aren't shown in the transaction currency for foreign currency transactions. Additionally, the error message that users receive during simulation or posting shows the differences only in the accounting currency and reporting currency. It doesn't show them in the transaction currency, because a single voucher can have more than one transaction currency, and the journal can include vouchers in different transaction currencies. Therefore, it's important that you manually verify that the transaction currency amounts for every voucher that has only one transaction currency are balanced.

Transaction currency

During simulation and posting, the system verifies that every voucher that has only one transaction currency is balanced in the transaction currency. For every voucher that is entered, there can be one or more currencies for the transaction currency. For example, a voucher that is entered in the general journal might have two transaction currencies when cash is transferred from a bank account that uses euros (EUR) to a bank account that uses Canadian dollars (CAD).

If a voucher has only one transaction currency, the total debits must equal the total credits in the transaction currency for that voucher. Customers have encountered the following scenarios where the posting correctly failed because the transaction currency amounts weren't balanced:

• The total debits and total credits weren't balanced in the transaction currency, but they were balanced for the accounting currency and reporting currency. A customer assumed that the voucher would still be posted. However, that assumption was incorrect.

  Note

  The transaction currency amounts on a voucher must always be balanced when all lines of the voucher have the same transaction currency.

• The voucher was imported with a data entity through the Data Management Framework (DMF), and the user thought that the transaction currency amounts were balanced. In the import file, some of the amounts had more than two decimal places, and more than two decimal places were included when the amounts were imported. Therefore, the debits didn't equal the credits, because they were off by a fraction of a penny. The journal didn't reflect this difference on the lines of the voucher, because the amounts that are shown have only two decimal places.

• The voucher was imported with a data entity through DMF, and the user thought that the transaction currency amounts were balanced. Although the voucher was balanced, some lines on the voucher had different transaction dates. If you added the total debits and total credits in the transaction currency per voucher and transaction date, they weren't balanced. This requirement is enforced when you enter a voucher through the general journal in the system. However, it isn't enforced when a voucher is imported with a data entity through DMF.

In one supported scenario, a voucher can have more than one transaction currency. In this case, the system doesn't verify that the debits equal the credits in the transaction currency, because the currencies don't match. Instead, the system verifies that the accounting currency and reporting currency amounts are balanced.

Accounting currency

If all the lines of a voucher have the same transaction currency, and if the transaction currency amounts are balanced, the system verifies that the accounting currency amounts are balanced. If the voucher is entered in a foreign currency, the exchange rate on the voucher lines is used to translate the transaction currency amounts to the accounting currency. First, each line of the voucher is translated and rounded to two decimal places. Then the lines are summed to determine the total debits and total credits. Because each line is translated, the total debits and total credits might not be balanced. Nevertheless, if the absolute value of the difference is within the Maximum penny difference value that is defined on the General ledger parameters page, the voucher will be posted, and the difference will automatically be posted to the Penny difference account.

If the voucher has more than one transaction currency, each line of the voucher is translated to the accounting currency and rounded to two decimal places, and then the lines are summed to determine the total debits and total credits. To be considered balanced, the debits and credits must be balanced in the accounting currency. A penny difference account is never added to the voucher in the accounting currency to bring the debits and credits into balance.

Reporting currency

If all the lines of a voucher have the same transaction currency, and if the transaction currency amounts are balanced, the system verifies that the reporting currency amounts are balanced. If the voucher is entered in a foreign currency, the exchange rate on the voucher lines is used to translate the transaction currency amounts to the reporting currency. First, each line of the voucher is translated and rounded to two decimal places. Then the lines are summed to determine the total debits and total credits. Because each line is translated, the total debits and total credits might not be balanced. Nevertheless, if the difference is within the Maximum penny-rounding in the reporting currency value that is defined on the General ledger parameters page, the voucher will be posted, and the difference will automatically be posted to the Penny difference account.

If the voucher has more than one transaction currency, each line of the voucher is translated to the reporting currency and rounded to two decimal places, and then the lines are summed to determine the total debits and total credits. To be considered balanced, the debits and credits must be balanced in the reporting currency. A penny difference account is never added to the voucher in the reporting currency to bring the debits and credits into balance.

Example for an accounting currency imbalance

Note

The reporting currency amount is calculated from the transaction currency amount in the same way as the accounting currency amount.

Exchange rate: 1.5

Line	Voucher	Account	Currency	Debit (Transaction)	Credit (Transaction)	Debit (Accounting)	Credit (Accounting)
1	001	1101-01	EUR	3.33		5.00 (4.995)
2	001	1101-02	EUR	3.33		5.00 (4.995)
3	001	1101-03	EUR	3.34		5.01
4	001	4101-	EUR		10.00		15.00
Total				10.00	10.00	15.01	15.00

The accounting currency is out of balance by 0.01. However, as long as the maximum penny rounding in the accounting currency is at least 0.01, the difference will automatically be posted to the Penny difference account, and the voucher will be successfully posted.