Managing General Ledger Codes on the Journal Entry Report

The article provides a comprehensive guide on adding General Ledger (GL) codes to Journal Entry reports in BambooHR. It is intended for Account Owners, Full Admins, Payroll Admins, and custom payroll users. The guide differentiates between Journal Entry reports and custom GL reports. Users can manage GL codes through the Payroll Settings section, allowing for efficient data entry and increased accuracy. The article outlines initial setup steps, including selecting the appropriate EIN and report type. It also discusses how to add GL codes, utilizing features like smart filtering and bulk mapping. Finally, it covers how to manage GL codes, including editing, downloading reports, and ensuring all necessary codes are assigned for accurate payroll reporting.

  • Jul 9, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Managing General Ledger Codes on the Journal Entry Report
Article Text
General Ledger Codes on the Journal Entry report is part of Payroll that is an add-on feature.

How do I add General Ledger codes to my Journal Entry reports in BambooHR?

Purpose: This guide will walk Account Owners, Full Admins, Payroll Admins, and custom payroll users with access through the process of adding General Ledger codes to Journal Entry reports within the Journal Entry section of Settings.

Please keep in mind that this report is separate from creating a custom General Ledger report, and this guide is specific to creating and mapping codes for the Journal Entry reports in BambooHR. If you want to request a custom General Ledger report, click here.

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Did you know we integrate with QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, and Sage Intacct to streamline your process of sending payroll data to your accounting software? If you use one of these accounting software, check out this guide for more information on how to set up and manage your Journal Entry reports with the integration enabled. 

Journal Entry in Payroll Settings

The Journal Entry feature in Settings allows your company to save and store your unique General Ledger (GL) Codes directly in BambooHR, which will then populate into your Journal Entry reports automatically. The ability to manage your codes independently will save you time with data entry, increase accuracy in payroll recording, and allow flexibility in storing multiple sets of GL codes...a lifesaver when it comes to company restructures or changing accounting software. If you want to learn more about Journal Entry reports, make sure you take a look at this help guide. Let's get started! 

Permissions

By default, the Account Owner, Full Admin(s), and Payroll Admin(s) can view and manage the Journal Entry section of Payroll Settings for the EINs they are assigned. 

Customers can allow custom payroll users access to the Journal Entry section by checking the box next to Payroll in the Settings section of Custom Access Level settings. Please note they must still also assign that user an EIN to manage the GL Codes.

Initial Setup 

Users with access can add and manage GL Codes by navigating to Settings > Payroll > Journal Entry. 

Upon initial setup, you will see the screen above. If you have multiple payroll EINs, select which EIN you would like to add codes for from the dropdown menu. A list of all available EINs will show, but you will only be able to select those to which you have access. If your company does not have multiple EINs, you will not see the dropdown menu option. 

Set Up Your Journal Entry Report

The next step is to select which Journal Entry report they are using to create codes. The following three report options in Settings will match exactly to the report download options on the Reports Tab: 

  • Summary (No Segmentation)
  • Segmented by Division
  • Segmented by Department

This ensures you know which report you are adding the GL Codes to and where they will show up after they are set up. 

Note that you also have an option to set up a custom journal entry report. Click here for more information on how to set up this type of report. 

Once the report is selected, you can click the blue Preview Report link to double-check that you are working with the correct data. Once in the preview, you can sort the data by category and division or department. The data shown will populate from the last two years and one month into the future to capture as many permutations from your payrolls as possible. You can then download the file to gather the necessary GL Codes more efficiently. You can also send this file to your accountant to fill out and return, or use Excel to do Vlookups, sort, copy/paste, etc.

The Preview Report option will not generate an actual Journal Entry report with populated debits/credits since a Pay Date or Date Range is not selected. It will only provide the customer with their specific payroll information and all the permutations/plausible rows that could require a GL Code.

Add General Ledger Codes

After you have selected the correct report, you can then begin assigning GL Codes to the report. The maximum number of GL Codes applicable to the report will display above the the Add General Ledger Codes button. When you are ready, click that button to land on the Add General Ledger Codes page.

In this section, you can view all potential combinations in the Journal Entry report, derived from pay types, deductions, and taxes used in your payroll account settings over the past two years and projected one month into future payrolls. This page allows you to input all necessary GL Codes at once, ensuring all required GL Codes are stored for future use. Consequently, all future Journal Entry reports can be generated with complete information from the get-go. 

From here, click into the General Ledger Code field to assign a code to each memo captured. The General Ledger Code field can accommodate up to 100 characters including numbers, letters (upper and lower), symbols, and special characters. Click Add General Ledger Codes to complete the setup or click Cancel to return to the Journal Entry settings page. 

Smart Filtering

We understand there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of code names to choose from when mapping your accounts. To help narrow your search to recently used codes, you can sort code lines by a specific timeframe by clicking the dropdown menu next to the "Show Memo Lines Used In" field. Your options include: 

  • Last Three Months
  • Last Six Months
  • Last 12 Months (default)
  • All Time 
Bulk Mapping

Have multiple memo lines that need to be mapped to a single account? Let us save you time with bulk mapping. You can check the box next to each memo line or select all at the top of the table and then click on the global drop-down to assign each memo chosen to a specific code. 

Click Add General Ledger Codes to complete the setup, or click Cancel to return to the Journal Entry settings page. 

It is not required that all General Ledger Codes be filled out, but if you click the Add General Ledger Codes button, an alert will tell you that not all codes have been entered. You will have the option to save what you've entered by clicking Yes, Add General Ledger Codes, or you can click Cancel to return to the General Ledger Code page. Anything entered will not be saved if you click Cancel.

Managing GL Codes 

If you want to learn more about GL codes and using them in BambooHR, click here!

Once you have successfully added/saved your GL Codes to the first report, you will return to the Journal Entry page in Settings. Here you will now see the report they added the GL Codes to in a table. You can perform the following actions on this page: 

  1. Add GL Codes to another report: To add another report, click the gear dropdown and select Add Another Report Configuration. Repeat the steps outlined above to create the new report and codes. Once you are done, the new report will appear in this table.
  2. Download file: Hover over the report and click the download icon to download the GL Code file. This file will include all the plausible rows within the report and any GL Codes that were entered and saved. This is a great tool for you to double-check that each memo is filled out and entered correctly. 
  3. Edit: Click the pen icon to edit the GL Codes within the report. The Add General Ledger Code page will appear. The rows that don’t have a GL Code will populate in a sub-table called “Needs Attention” at the top to help you easily identify the new memos. Search and filter will also be available while editing.
  4. Delete: If you create a report by accident or simply want to clean up your journal entries, you can delete the report by clicking the trash icon. Once you delete a report it can't be recovered, so be sure of your actions.

If new pay types, deductions, taxes, etc., are added after the codes were assigned and the report was initially created, you will need to return to the correct report and add the respective GL Codes.  

5. Caution sign: If there are missing GL Codes within a report, there will be a caution icon next to the Ledger Codes count in the main table.

Once the GL Codes have been assigned, you can run your Journal Entry reports with Payroll Reports and the GL Code field will now populate.

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