# Manual journal entries

> The direct route to the ledger, for what no document covers — with the guardrails that keep it honest.

Section: Accounting and the general ledger · Canonical: https://intubu.intuitivecapital-dai.com/docs/journal-entries

Accounting → Journal.

Most of the ledger should come from documents, because a document carries context a bare journal does not. A manual entry is for what no document covers: an accrual, a correction, an opening balance, an accountant's adjustment.

**The rules, enforced:**
- Debits must equal credits. An unbalanced entry cannot be saved.
- It cannot post into a closed period without permission *and* a reason. See [Closing a period](https://intubu.intuitivecapital-dai.com/docs/period-close).
- Some accounts are off limits by hand — you cannot journal directly to Accounts Receivable without naming a customer, because doing so breaks the aging.

**Correcting one:** entries are not edited in place once posted. Reverse it (which posts an equal and opposite entry, both visible) and enter the correct one. The history stays intact.

**Repeating entries** belong in [Recurring journal entries](https://intubu.intuitivecapital-dai.com/docs/recurring-journals); entries that should unwind next period belong in [Reversing entries](https://intubu.intuitivecapital-dai.com/docs/reversing-entries).