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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics AX (Archived) / Difference of General ...
Microsoft Dynamics AX (Archived)

Difference of General journal vs Invoice Journal

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Posted on by Community Member

I am trying to find a solid comparison of the the two modules. My understanding both are the same, financially as liabilities entry and functionally  user can create Invoice Journal in General Journal.

Thanks for the help.

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  • Verified answer
    Ludwig Reinhard Profile Picture
    Ludwig Reinhard Microsoft Employee on at
    RE: Difference of General journal vs Invoice Journal

    Hi Jonathan,

    You are right, GL journals offer more flexiblity but also a larger risk of people recording something wrong.

    Therefore it is a good practice enabling journal controls and posting restrictions for the different kinds of journals you use.

    AP journals cannot directly be used in GL, as the AX code prevents selecting this journal type.

    Yet, I have seen a lot of companies that do parts of their payments through modified GL journals, which is ok in my opinion as long as you can ensure that there is a clear separation of duties to avoid e.g. that people who enter invoices also pay them.

    Hope this helps,

    Ludwig

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at
    RE: Difference of General journal vs Invoice Journal

    Hi Ludwig,

    Points taken and appreciate the details.

    I just noticed both modules has same feature in terms of ie account types, account number, financial dimension and offset account are common;  though fields positioning are different, some plus/minus columns/fields in form, bottom line it the function are same.

    While AP journal focus on vendor transaction type, GL journal on the other hand offer a wider flexibility to accept journal of X entity type.

    Somehow it leave me a doubt if  AP payment journal can be created in GL journal as well?

    Jonathan

  • Suggested answer
    Ludwig Reinhard Profile Picture
    Ludwig Reinhard Microsoft Employee on at
    RE: Difference of General journal vs Invoice Journal

    Hello Jonathan,

    You are right, basically both journals are the same.

    One difference is the module limitation, that is, invoice journals cannot be selected in the GL and general journals not in AP.

    Another difference is the way how the account and offset account are arranged. That is, the invoice journal typically has the vendor account on the left hand side and the expense (Offset) account is entered on the right Hand side.

    A third difference is the invoice number check, which applies for invoices recorded through the invoice journal in AP but not in the GL journals. So, while invoices can be recorded in GL journals, it might be smarter recording them in the AP module to ensure that invoices are not entered twice.

    A fourth difference I can think of is the standard AX Excel AIF service that easily allows importing ledger transactions into GL journals. While this is supported out of the box for GL journals (MS even ships basic templates for that purposes), some modifications/additional setups might be necessary to do the same Excel import for AP invoice journals.

    What is the underyling reason you look for those differences?

    Ludwig

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