Recurring Journal entries & the General Journal Experience

[AlisonB]

I have journals that recur either every month, quarter or every year.  It is so inconvenient and time wasting having to enter the journal from scratch each time.  It would be fantastic to be able to set up a repeating journal or at the very least to be able to copy an existing journal.  Other competing cloud based accounting software packages have this features and it is available in AccountRight - please make it possible in Essentials ASAP.   I note from other comments that the idea has been under consideration for many years.  As an accountant I certainly will not be promoting this software if such a basic, fundamental request takes years to be implemented.

It would also be so much better if you could tab across when entering fields in a journal rather than having to click in each field and also being able to choose either account number or account name.  Basically please give a lot of consideration to improving the whole 'general journal' experience because accountants use it and it is AWFUL at the moment.  Certainly not a selling point for Essentials and it is one of the reasons why I do not and will not currently promote Essentials to any client who wants to move into the cloud.  

[DuncanS]

@AlisonB

I agree with you that the "journal experience" within Essentials is very poor.

Unlike many Accountants, I do monthly journals for interest and depreciation.

There might be many reasons, why recurring journal is useful.

My post for Headers in Essentials is nearly three years old and still being read.

I have two clients on Essentials and they do their own data entry - like you I would not recommend Essentials to a business owner..

Duncan

[IanChait]

Hi @AlisonB  and @DuncanS

Essentials is a simple program that works exceptionally well for the small business/sole trader/tradesman. As an Accountant, I too was not a fan until I realised the simplicity of it. It is simple to use, but actually cumbersome to fix. 

However, I don't think the sole trader/ tradesman will have much need for General Journal Entries. Recurring payments can be recorded from the Bank Feeds. 

I agree, the actual entry process of a GJ can be better.

[AlisonB]

The business owner/sole trader may not use the general journal function but their accountant will most likely always need to.  Some general journal entries required are annual and others in my case are required monthly.  Being able to set up recurring journals or being able to copy an existing journal and edit would save a lot of time.  Other functionality like being able to enter account number or being able to tab through the fields would also immensely improve the user experience. 

An accountant is normally the person that promotes a particular cloud based solution to their clients.  Of all the cloud based solutions on the market I find Essentials the most time consuming and annoying to use.  The general journal functionality is a main reason for this.  Until I see some improvement it will be on the bottom of my list when referring a cloud based solution.  Surely MYOB should be looking at improving the product functionality for all including those that they depend on to recommend thier product.  

[Steven_M]

Hi @AlisonB

Welcome to the MYOB Community Forum, I hope you find it a wealth of knowledge

Currently, MYOB Essentials doesn't allow for the creation and set up of recurring transactions. If you would like to see that as a potential feature for the future I would encourage you to show your support for the popular MYOB Essentials Idea: recurring transactions in MYOB Essentials

In terms of tabbing across the Create Journals window the best idea to show your support for you would be Tab Through General Journal & Copy Journals