Help Center

Investment Journal Input

Use the investment journal input to record investment principal, interest, or account keeping fees and adjust the investment account balance. Investment journals are audited at the end of the day.

Enter an Investment Journal Transaction:

  1. In the transactions menu, click Investment journal input.
  2. The journal input form displays with some fields automatically populated. For help completing the fields, see Table 4: investment journal input field explained.
  3. When you have completed the fields, do one of the following to save the form entries:
    1. Click add transaction to validate the entries on the form. If there are no invalid entries, the transaction is added to the grid as a line item for review but is not yet finalised. LawMaster resets the form ready to accept a new form entry. You must still click OK or apply to commit your transactions.
      Note: You can still delete any line items in the transactions grid, individually or in bulk, from the delete option in the context menu. 
      Note: LawMaster highlights any invalid form entries with a red exclamation mark. Place your mouse over the exclamation mark to see an explanation. Correct any invalid entries and retry.

    2. Click apply to finalise and clear the grid. The form remains open so you can add more transactions if required.
    3. Click OK to finalise and close the form.
      Note: The apply and OK buttons only enable if there is at least one transaction in the transactions grid. You must click OK or apply to save your transactions.
    4. Click cancel to discard transactions that are not finalised (where you have not clicked OK or apply). If you have any unfinalised items, LawMaster displays a warning advising you will lose the unfinalised entries. Click Yes to continue and No to keep the items.
      Note: To avoid missing transaction numbers, LawMaster allocates the journal number only after saving the transactions.

  4. When you click OK or apply, LawMaster assigns a journal number to each journal input.
Field Description
Date Enter the date of the transaction. This field is automatically populated with the current date. To change the date, click the arrow and select from the date picker or enter the date in dd/mm/yyyy format.
Matter Click the ellipsis and select the matter number for this transaction.

Note: If you access the investment journal input form from the matter menu >trust >investments >investments transactions tab >context menu >input investment journal, the matter number is automatically completed.
Investment No. Click the ellipsis and select the investment number to which the transaction is associated.

Notes: If you access the investment journal input form from the matter menu >trust >investments >investments transactions tab >context menu >input investment journal, investment number is automatically completed.
Balance Read-only field, automatically populated.
Account Name Automatically completed from the investment number details.
Tran. Type

Click the arrow and select the transaction type:

  • Withdrawal (W)
  • Deposit: deposit of principal (D)
  • Interest: reinvestment of interest received (IR). This transaction type increases the amount of the investment and updates the total interest received.
  • Charges: bank charges etc. (A)
Amount

Enter the transaction amount.

  • A positive amount if you are entering principal or interest.
  • A negative amount if you are entering bank charges.


Notes:

  • The amount is always a positive number; the transaction type determines if the investment balance is increased or decreased.
  • If the transaction is a reversal or adjustment, enter a negative amount.
  • In trust related accounts payable payment vouchers and cash receipts, deposits and withdrawals are usually handled with reference to the investment number.
Balance Plus Amount Read-only field, automatically populated that represents the investment balance plus the amount entered in the investment journal.
Authorised By If the transaction type is withdrawal, click the ellipsis and select the person authorising the withdrawal.

Note: You can enter their ID directly in the field if you know it.
EFT Account No. If the transaction type is withdrawal, enter the account name for the electronic funds transfer (EFT).
EFT Account Name If the transaction type is withdrawal, enter the account name for the electronic funds transfer (EFT).
Received From If the transaction type is withdrawal or deposit, enter who the funds were received from.
Reference No. Enter your reference number for the transaction.
Narrative Enter a description for the transaction, e.g. principal investment amount, interest on investment, or account fees.

Note: Pressing F3 on your keyboard updates this field with the previous transaction’s narrative.
Print Receipt

Click the arrow and select one of the following:

  • Yes: to print a receipt.
  • No: not to print a receipt.
  • Printed: if a receipt is already printed.

For more advanced information about this topic: In LawMaster see Help > System Overview or Context Help.

You can also: Enter an Investment Journal Transaction from:

  1. Main Menu > Accounting > Trust Accounting > Investments > Input Investment Journals
  2. Matter Menu > Trust > Investments > Investments Transactions Tab > Context Help > Input Investment Journal.

Note: Using the Matter Menu option automatically completes the matter and investment numbers in the form.

Instead of clicking the ellipses, you can also:

  • On your keyboard, tab to the field and press F5 to access the search form
  • Type the code or number directly into the field, if you know it
  • Press tab on your keyboard to move your cursor to the next field on the form

Instead of clicking OK or Save

  • Press F2 on your keyboard

Close forms without saving:

  • On your keyboard, press esc 
  • On the form, click cancel 

Updated