Use the transaction journal report in QuickBooks Desktop

Learn how to use the transaction journal report.

Understand, view, and use the transaction journal report for calculations, insights, and auditing. Use it as a tool to identify transactions that are out of balance and identify incorrect entries on other reports. Here’s how. 

View the transaction journal report

1. Select Reports.
2. Select Accountant & Taxes.
3. Select Transaction List by Date.
4. Select a transaction from the list.
5. Select Reports, then select Transaction Journal.

Tip: While a transaction is selected, you can press CRTL+Y (Windows) or CMD+T (Mac) to open the transaction journal.

Understand the transaction journal report

The transaction journal is:

• Accrual only. It shows the total value of each post to the accounts.
• Current. It only displays information for the selected transaction.
• Customizable. You can add or remove columns and filters.
• Automatically sorted. It can’t be manually sorted. It displays by order of entry to the transaction.
• Structured to show the source and target. The source comes first, followed by the targets.
• Non-posting. Non-posting transactions (sales orders, estimates, and purchase orders) display debits and credits relative to each account like posting entries.