# Create a journal

Add a journal from the journals list, name it and pick its type, then find it in the list with its sequence prefix and default account.

A journal is a book for entries of one kind: customer invoices in a sales journal, vendor bills in a purchase journal, one journal per bank account or cash box. The package creates the usual ones; add a journal when a new bank account or a cash box appears.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- You need the **Administrator** access right on **Accounting**.

## Create the journal {#create}

1. Open **Accounting/Configuration/Accounting/Journals** and click **New**.

![The journals of the package; New adds a journal.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9443-91a4c443/accounting-start-here-journal-journals_list-en.png)

2. Give the journal a **Journal Name** people recognise, such as the bank's name or the place of the cash box.

![The new journal takes a name people recognise.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9447-f2a31319/accounting-start-here-journal-journal_name-en.png)

3. Choose a **Type**: **Bank** for a bank account, **Cash** for a cash box, **Sales** for customer invoices, **Purchase** for vendor bills, **Miscellaneous** for everything else. The fields of the form follow the type: a bank journal asks for the bank account, a cash journal for its account.

![The type says which entries the journal records; Cash for a cash box.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9451-31aa2497/accounting-start-here-journal-journal_type-en.png)

4. Click the cloud icon **Save manually**. The **Sequence Prefix** (the letters that start the numbers of its entries) is filled from the type as soon as you choose it: **CSH1** for a cash journal, **BNK1** for a bank journal, **INV**, **BILL** and **MISC** for sales, purchase and miscellaneous; change it now if you want another one, before the first entry is posted.

![The saved journal, with the sequence prefix filled from its type.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9455-591f3fff/accounting-start-here-journal-journal_form-en.png)

## Find it in the list {#list}

Open **Accounting/Configuration/Accounting/Journals**. The new journal, **Main Cash** in the example, is there with its **Type**, its **Sequence Prefix** and its **Default Account**. Drag the handle at the left of a line to change the order of the cards on the dashboard.

![The journals list with the new journal, its type and its prefix.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9459-9394a317/accounting-start-here-journal-journals_list_new-en.png)

## FAQ {#faq}

### Can I rename a journal or change its prefix? {#rename}

Open it from the journals list. The **Journal Name** can change at any time; change the **Sequence Prefix** before the first entry is posted, so that the numbering stays continuous.

### Can I delete a journal? {#delete}

Only while it has no entries. A journal that was used is archived instead and keeps its history.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/accounting-start-here/create-a-journal
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- Version: Accounting: start here 19.0.1.4.2
- Verified: 2026-10-22