The creditor journal (transaction number prefix CJ) is a specialised type of general transaction used to post the following figures:

 

This type of transaction typically credits the Creditors controlled account and debits multiple expense accounts. The direction is reversed when posting negative figures, but the cardinality remains the same.

 

In addition to the information required by all journal transactions, creditor journals require the selection of a creditor (used to partition the Creditors account for reporting purposes) and, optionally, an invoice date, number and due date. Typically, ContactsLaw automatically determines the due date of the invoice based on the credit terms stored against the creditor.

 

The creditor journal supports three states; requested, authorised and reconciled. (However, a 'request' step would not normally be configued) The amount posted is not considered payable until it has been reconciled. A creditor journal will exhibit different behaviour depending on whether the creditor is paid on invoice or on statement. A creditor reconciliation can be automatically posted if a CJ is to be paid immediately, and will be posted automatically if the creditor is pay-on-invoice.