How to reverse a journal in MYOB

Decide whether a reversal is what you want. Changing or deleting a journal alters or removes the original entry, while a reversal leaves it in place and adds a mirror image beside it. MYOB suggests reversing when your accountant wants every entry kept on record. The account balances then look as though the original was never posted, but both transactions stay visible.

Check the security setting. AccountRight can only reverse an unchangeable transaction, shown by a grey zoom arrow beside it. To make transactions unchangeable, go to Setup, then Preferences, open the Security tab and select Transactions CAN'T be Changed; They Must be Reversed. You can only change this if your user role allows changes to preferences.

Think about the date. Dating the reversal today leaves an earlier month's figures as they were, while using the original date changes that month, so any reports you printed for it would need printing again. If the original falls in a financial year you've closed, the reversal has to be dated in the current one.

Look for reconciled lines too. Reversing a reconciled transaction puts the bank reconciliation out of balance, so MYOB's order is to undo the reconciliation first, then reverse, then reconcile the account again.

1. In AccountRight on the desktop, find the recorded journal and open it.
2. Go to the Edit menu and choose the Reverse command for the transaction. MYOB's own example is a sale, where the command is Reverse Sale.
3. A new transaction opens with the original's amounts turned around. Its accounts and amounts are fixed and can't be edited.
4. Change the date and the memo if you need to.
5. To see the entries the reversal will post before you commit, choose Recap Transaction from the Edit menu.
6. Click Record to save the reversal.

Your file now holds two transactions: the original journal and its reversal. The reversal posts automatically to the same accounts for the same amounts, on the opposite sides, so the balances return to where they stood before the original was recorded.

If the original was wrong rather than unwanted, the next job is to record the right entry. MYOB's desktop notes say the simplest fix for a transaction recorded with the wrong details is to reverse or delete it and enter it again correctly. Which accounts the new journal uses is a question for your accountant.

A reversal can itself be deleted later in AccountRight on the desktop, but only after clearing the Transactions CAN'T be Changed; They Must be Reversed option. Then open the reversed transaction and choose Delete from the Edit menu.

If there's no reverse option at all, the journal is probably still changeable, and a changeable transaction can't be reversed. Select Transactions CAN'T be Changed; They Must be Reversed on the Security tab of Preferences, then open the journal again.

Working in a browser? The browser only deletes journals. Go to the Accounting menu and choose General journals, filter the Find transactions list by date range, category, or part of the description or amount, click the journal's Reference no., then click Delete and Delete again to confirm. To keep the reversal on record instead, open the file in AccountRight on the desktop.