Setup Considerations: Journal Sequencing
You can use this topic to help make decisions when planning your configuration and use of
journal sequencing. It explains:
- Why to set it up.
- How it fits into the rest of Workday.
- Downstream impacts and cross-product interactions.
- Security requirements and business process configurations.
- Questions and limitations to consider before implementation.
Refer to detailed task instructions for full configuration details.
What It Is
Journal sequencing enables you to provide gapless, sequential identifiers to journals in 1 or
more ledger year or ledger period. Journal sequencing uses sequence generator rule
configurations to create sequence generators. Workday then generates and assigns
sequence numbers to accounting journals using those sequence generators.
Business Benefits
Journal sequencing helps you meet statutory reporting requirements for numbered, unique
identifiers on accounting journals. Countries with statutory reporting requirements,
such as SAF-T, require these journal line numbers to assist with auditing the
financial accounts of their organizations.
Use Cases
You might want to configure journal sequencing when you operate in countries that require
sequential line numbers for your journals. Journal sequencing enables you to assign
sequence numbers to your journals by accounting date or posting date.
When you set up your sequence generators, you can configure it to sequence journals across
these time frames:
- Ledger period
- Ledger year
- Continuously over many ledger periods and years.
You can also configure sequence generators to help you organize or differentiate your
journals by including details like transaction types or fiscal periods with the
sequence format string.
Questions to Consider
Questions | Considerations |
|---|---|
Do you operate in a country with statutory reporting requirements
that require regular audits? | Various countries have statutory requirements that mandate journal
numbering to assist with audit trails around financial accounting.
Workday helps you meet those requirements through journal
sequencing. |
Do you anticipate a need to reset your journal line number back to
the beginning? | Continuous sequence generators don't reset the sequence number to
the initial value. If you foresee a need to reset your journal line
number regularly, consider sequencing by ledger year or ledger
period. |
Do you need to unpost journals? | When you sequence by posting date, the journal retains its sequence
number even if you unpost and repost. Workday doesn't resequence this
journal under any circumstances. When you sequence by accounting date,
the journal retains its sequence number when you unpost the journal.
However, Workday sorts and resequences the period when you repost
the journal. Resequencing assigns a new journal number to reposted
journals if you cancel or add journals in the date range the
sequence generator covers. |
Do you need to sequence intercompany journals? | Workday assigns sequence numbers to intercompany journals if the
respective companies enable sequencing. Workday doesn't use the same
sequence generator for those companies. You can, however, create
sequence generators using the same sequence generator rule
configuration. Example: The header company on the journal enables
journal sequencing. The line company doesn't. Workday sequences the
journal for the header company, but not the line company. If the
header and line companies both enable journal sequencing, Workday
sequences the journal for both companies. However, because the
sequence generator differs for the line company, Workday sequences
journals of the line company using a different sequence format
string. |
Do you need to sequence consolidation elimination
journals? | Workday assigns sequence numbers to consolidation elimination
journals if the companies you're calculating noncontrolling interest
(NCI) for, enable sequencing. If you don't want journal
sequencing, you can create a separate sequence generator for
consolidation elimination journals by creating a sequence generator
condition rule for the Noncontrolling Interest
Transaction Type . |
Do you need a sequence generator that only sequences specific
books? | The Book prompt on your sequence generator
rule configuration determines the journals Workday sequences. Workday
sequences journals that share a book code with the book you select. If
you don't specify a book, Workday sequences all journals in the
company. |
Do you need to change or alter the lifespan or rule configuration
of your sequence generator after use? | If you want to alter the lifespan or rule configuration of your
sequence generator, you must create and configure a new sequence
generator for the next fiscal year. Changes you make to the rule
configuration only apply to new generators. You can't have posted
journals for that year and all ledger periods can't be open. |
Do you need to implement journal sequencing in the middle of a
fiscal year? | You can implement journal sequencing for a company after the start
of a fiscal year under these circumstances:
You can also configure your sequence generator to begin from a
specific sequence start number. If you use the rule configuration
for another generator, that generator also begins at that start
number. Workday therefore doesn't recommend that you specify a start
number if you want to use the rule configuration on a ledger year or
period basis. |
How do I create sequence numbers for consolidation
journals? | Workday automatically assigns sequence numbers to consolidation
elimination journals if the companies you're calculating NCI for support
sequencing. You can create a separate sequence generator for
consolidation journals by adding a sequence generator condition rule
for the Noncontrolling Interest transaction
type. |
Recommendations
Functionality | Considerations |
|---|---|
Sequencing by accounting date or posting date | The sequencing method you select determines when and how Workday
assigns sequence numbers to your journal. You can't change the
sequencing method of a sequence generator after creation. Workday
recommends that you consider which sequencing method best applies to
your statutory requirements and audit structure. If you want to
sequence by accounting date, consider that Workday:
If you want to sequence by posting date, consider that
Workday:
|
Disabling journal sequencing | Workday recommends that you don't enable journal sequencing if you don't anticipate
using it in later years. You can only disable journal sequencing for a
company if:
|
Replacing or deleting sequence generators | Carefully review your sequence generator rule configurations before you submit. You
can only replace sequence generators that aren't currently in use. You
can only delete sequence generators that are completely unused. If you
want to replace or delete a generator, the associated ledger years or
periods must also have 1 of these statuses:
|
Sequence format strings | The sequence number Workday assigns to a sequenced journal can
include any additional information you want to convey, such as the:
Workday recommends that you avoid duplicate sequence numbers by
providing additional details on the sequence format, such as the
fiscal year or period. |
Requirements
Enable the Common Financial Management functional area.
Ensure that the ledger periods you want to sequence are in these statuses:
- Closed
- Created
- Not Available
Opt in to journal sequencing by selecting the
Enable Journal Sequencing
check box on the Edit Company ID Definitions
task.Limitations
No impact.
Tenant Setup
No impact.
Security
Configure these domains for journal sequencing:
Domains | Considerations |
|---|---|
Set Up: Company General
| Users secured to this domain can configure sequence generator rules and create
sequencing groups that apply a code to sequenced journals. You also need
this domain to opt in to journal sequencing and create or delete the
journal sequence generators. |
Set Up: Ledger and Book
| Users secured to this domain can create ledger years and periods.
You can only apply a sequence generator after you create and then open
ledger years or ledger periods. |
Process: Period End
| Users secured to this domain can open and close ledger periods. You
can only apply a sequence generator to ledger years or periods with an
open status. |
Business Processes
No impact.
Reporting
Workday doesn't deliver standard reports that display the journal sequence number. If you want
to display the journal sequence number, add
Journal Sequence
Number
to a report from the Journal Entry
business object.Integrations
You can use these Workday Web Services for journal sequencing:
Web Services | Considerations |
|---|---|
Get Accounting Journal
| Retrieves all information associated with your accounting journals,
including assigned sequence numbers. |
Get Sequence Generator Rule Configuration
| Retrieves all information associated with your sequence generator
rules. Enables you to view the configurations on your sequence
generators, such as format strings and sequencing method. |
Put Company
| You can update company details and enable journal sequencing using
this web service. |
Put Sequence Generator Rule Configuration
| Creates sequence generator rule configurations. Enables you to
create many configurations at once. |
Connections and Touchpoints
Workday offers a Touchpoints Kit with resources to help you understand configuration
relationships in your tenant. Learn more about the Workday Touchpoints
Kit on Workday Community.
Other Impacts
No impact.