Introduction: 

In any business, accurate bookkeeping is the foundation of financial stability, and in Odoo 18, this begins with journal entries. Journal entries record every financial transaction that affects your company’s accounts, ensuring your books remain balanced and transparent.

Purpose

• Record every financial transaction accurately.

• Maintain balanced and updated company accounts.

• Ensure transparency and easy auditing.

• Simplify reconciliation and error correction.

• Support reliable financial reporting and decision-making.

Journal Entries

A journal entry (sometimes called an “account move”) is a specific transaction that records the debit(s) and credit(s) to one or more accounts, along with a journal, date, reference, etc.
Example: A manual adjustment you make at year-end, or a bank statement import, will create a journal entry in a chosen journal.

Step 1: Configure Journals

• Navigate to Accounting → Configuration → Journals (or a similar menu) to set up journals. 

• When creating a journal, you specify things like type (Sales, Bank, Miscellaneous), default account, sequences, etc.

•  For example, if a journal is “Bank,” you’ll link it to a bank account and set how statement imports are handled.

Step 2:  Creating a Journal Entry

Here’s how you can manually create a journal entry in Odoo 18:

1. Go to Accounting → Journal Entries (or “Accounting → Accounting → Journal Entries” depending on your setup) > Click new
   

2. Click Create. Fill in:

• Date

• Journal (choose the journal where it belongs)

• Reference / Memo (optional)

• Then add one or more Journal Items: for each item you enter an account, partner (optional), label/description, debit or credit amount, analytic account (if used)

1. Save the entry: at this point it is typically in draft state.

2. When ready, click Post (or Validate) to convert it into a posted move—after posting, it becomes part of the ledger and cannot be freely edited unless you reverse it.

Step 3: When you click Customer → Invoices → Create a new invoice, select the customer, add the product, and register the payment the journal entry you created will automatically appear in all related journal entry fields.

Step 4: Click create payment button 

• Once confirmed, Odoo automatically creates the corresponding journal entry under the selected journal.

• The payment details will be linked to the invoice, and the invoice status changes to Paid.

• You can view the created journal entry by clicking the Journal Entry smart button on the invoice form.

 Common Use Cases

• Manual adjustments: For example, for accruals or corrections at month end, you create a journal entry manually.

• Opening balances/initial entries: When migrating to Odoo or starting a new year, you may import opening balances via journal entries.

• Bank statement imports: Statement lines often trigger entries in the bank journal; then you reconcile.

• Intercompany transactions: If you have multiple companies in one database, entries may need to be created in appropriate journals. Odoo supports multi-company.

Conclusion

Managing journal entries in Odoo 18 Accounting ensures accurate financial tracking and smooth business operations. From creating invoices and payments to automatically generating journal entries, Odoo keeps every transaction organized and transparent. By properly configuring journals and reviewing entries regularly, businesses can maintain clean books, simplify reconciliation, and ensure full compliance with accounting standards.