Table of Contents
Introduction
Indigo Business is designed to alert you if something’s wrong with your journals. However, if you’re fond 😍 of spotless postings—without shaking up your accounting routine too much—this article is for you. Here’s what we’ll cover:
The common causes that trigger errors when posting a journal
What can prevent errors automatically
Spoiler: the Journal Auto-Balancing setting
Useful examples based on a widespread practice in accounting
So, without further ado, let’s dig into this article. Shall we? 😉
What does Trigger an Error Message when Posting?
What does Trigger an Error Message when Posting?
There are two general causes:
The Total Batch Amount is not equal to zero, thus an error will pop up to alert you.
Credits and debits are not offsetting each other on every single date entered. In other words, there isn't a contra entry for each credit or debit on the same date. Your accounts are not balanced, hence another error message is shown.
Why do credits and debits on the same date are a must? 👀
Why do credits and debits on the same date are a must? 👀
To keep the accounts balanced on any given date to reflect the true financial position.
To maintain a clear audit trail making it easier to trace and verify transactions.
To prevent confusion as splitting entries across dates makes it look like two unrelated transactions.
To avoid showing cash in or out without a matching reason.
Below how to avoid errors using our super handy Journal Auto-Balance Setting. 👇
The Journal Auto-Balancing Setting
The Journal Auto-Balancing setting is there to ensure that there's always a debit and a credit on each date, when contra entries are missing. The missing contra entries, whether they're debits or credits, are posted against a special auto-balancing account.
Prerequisites
Prerequisites
Ensure user rights are assigned to be able to post auto balanced journals.
Ensure you've created an account with special type Journal Auto Balance in Nominal > General > Accounts List. 👇
Enable the Journal Auto-Balance company setting by going to Settings & Pref > General > Company Settings.
How it Works
How it Works
When posting a journal, the system will inform you that the Auto Balancing setting is enabled, and ask if you're sure to proceed.
Once you click on Post, the system will automatically create contra entries for each unbalanced line item within the journal.
The automatic contra entries will be posted against the Auto-Balancing Account you've previously created. They'll be displayed in the Journal Posting Result modal.
🎉Thanks to the Journal Auto-Balancing setting the journal meets both the conditions:
The Total Batch Amount is zero.
There's a debit and a credit offsetting each other for each recorded date.
The journal is balanced ⚖️ and follows the double-entry principles.
📋 Note: If the journal is already balanced, no additional entries will be generated against the Journal Auto-Balancing account. Only the recorded debits and credits will be posted against the specified accounts.
If an entry falls into a separate accounting period (e.g. 01/06 instead of 31/05 ) the system would impede the auto-balance process.
Example
Example
You need to record gas, food and printing paper expenses for the month of May in a journal and post it against your Nominal Ledger. Find out how it should be posted in the collapsible section below.
Proper Posting
Proper Posting
SAMPLE JOURNAL:
Transaction Date | Debit | Credit | Accounts | Offset to Date? |
04/05/2025 | 50€ (VAT incl.) |
50€ | Fuel
*Cash Account |
✅ |
17/05/2025 | 100€ (VAT incl.) |
100€ | Groceries
*Cash Account |
✅ |
27/05/2025 | 20€ (VAT incl.) |
20€ | Stationary
*Cash Account |
✅ |
Credits and debits are offsetting each other on every transaction date, as they should. 🎉 No error will be triggered.
Some accountants, though, decide to speed up the above process by creating a single credit line totalling all the recorded debits (or vice versa), if the account involved is always the same. (e.g. *Cash Account). 👇
Transaction Date | Debit | Credit | Accounts | Offset to Date? |
04/05/2025 | 50€ (VAT incl.) |
| Fuel
|
❌ |
17/05/2025 | 100€ (VAT incl.) | Groceries
|
❌ | |
27/05/2025 | 20€ (VAT incl.) |
| Stationary |
❌ |
31/05/2025 | 170 (VAT incl.) | *Cash Account | ❌ |
While the Total Batch Amount would still be zero (170€ debits (VAT. incl.) = 170€ credits), there isn't a credit and a debit offsetting each other for each transaction's date, which is against the double-entry principle.
Therefore, the system will throw an error message as the journal is not balanced on each date. ⬆️
🪄 The solution? Enable the Auto-Balancing setting, repost your journal as you would normally do, and you're good to go. No error messages will be shown.
❗ Please note that the data specified above are purely to make this example as clear as possible. In most of the cases, those expenses are accounted for via purchase invoices. More on them 👉 here.
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