Your Record to Report - Journal Entry Data Template

BlackLine
Your Record to Report - Journal Entry Data Template

Your Record to Report - Journal Entry Data Template

This template provides a comprehensive guide to collecting the right data for analyzing your Record to Report - Journal Entry process. It outlines essential attributes to gather, key activities to track, and practical guidance on extracting this information from BlackLine. Use this resource to ensure you capture all necessary data for effective process mining.
  • Recommended attributes to collect
  • Key activities to track
  • Extraction guidance
New to event logs? Learn how to create a process mining event log.

Record to Report - Journal Entry Attributes

These are the recommended data fields to include in your event log for comprehensive analysis of your Record to Report - Journal Entry process.
5 Required 6 Recommended 9 Optional
Name Description
Activity
ActivityName
The name of the specific business event that occurred at a point in time in the journal entry process.
Description

This attribute describes a single step or task performed within the journal entry lifecycle, such as 'Journal Entry Created', 'Journal Entry Approved', or 'Journal Entry Posted'. Each activity represents a distinct event in the process.

Analyzing the sequence of these activities allows for the visualization and understanding of the process flow. It is fundamental for discovering process variations, measuring transition times between steps, and identifying rework loops, such as when a journal entry is rejected and resubmitted.

Why it matters

It defines the steps in the process, which is essential for visualizing the process map, analyzing flow, and identifying deviations or bottlenecks.

Where to get

This is typically derived from event logs, status change records, or audit trails within BlackLine. It may require mapping system status codes to user-friendly activity names.

Examples
Journal Entry CreatedJournal Entry SubmittedJournal Entry ApprovedJournal Entry Posted
Journal Entry ID
JournalEntryId
The unique identifier for a single journal entry, serving as the primary case identifier for tracking its lifecycle.
Description

The Journal Entry ID uniquely identifies each set of financial transactions recorded in the general ledger. It acts as the central key linking all related activities, such as creation, review, approval, and posting.

In process mining, this ID is essential for correlating all events belonging to a single journal entry case. Analyzing the process flow based on this identifier allows for the reconstruction of the end-to-end journey, from initiation to final reconciliation, enabling detailed analysis of cycle times, bottlenecks, and process variations.

Why it matters

This is the fundamental case identifier, making it possible to trace the complete lifecycle of a single journal entry and analyze its performance.

Where to get

This is a primary key in BlackLine's journal entry tables or data exports. Consult BlackLine documentation for the specific field name.

Examples
JE2024-001234JE2024-001235JE2024-001236
Start Time
EventTime
The precise timestamp indicating when a specific activity or event occurred.
Description

The Event Time records the date and time that a business event happened. It is the chronological backbone of the process, establishing the sequence and duration of all activities.

This timestamp is critical for all time-based process mining analyses. It is used to calculate cycle times, wait times, and durations between activities. It enables the identification of bottlenecks, the analysis of performance over time, and the assessment of adherence to service level agreements.

Why it matters

This timestamp is the foundation for all performance metrics, including cycle time and bottleneck analysis, enabling a chronological reconstruction of the process.

Where to get

This information is captured in the timestamp fields of event logs or transaction records in BlackLine.

Examples
2023-10-26T10:00:00Z2023-10-26T11:30:00Z2023-10-27T14:05:00Z
Last Data Update
LastDataUpdate
The timestamp indicating the last time the data was refreshed or extracted from the source system.
Description

This attribute marks the date and time of the most recent data pull. It provides a reference point for the freshness of the data being analyzed, ensuring that users are aware of the data's currency.

This is a critical piece of metadata for any process mining dashboard or analysis. It informs users about the timeliness of the insights and helps manage expectations about whether the very latest transactions are included in the view.

Why it matters

It ensures transparency about data freshness, allowing users to understand how current the process analysis is.

Where to get

This timestamp is generated and added to the dataset by the data extraction tool or ETL process at the time of execution.

Examples
2023-11-01T02:00:00Z2023-11-02T02:00:00Z
Source System
SourceSystem
The system of record from which the journal entry data was extracted.
Description

This attribute identifies the originating system for the event data. In this context, it will typically be 'BlackLine', but it could also include data from an upstream ERP system if the process starts there.

Identifying the source system is important for data governance and for understanding the context of the process, especially in environments where data from multiple systems is combined. It helps in troubleshooting data ingestion issues and verifying data lineage.

Why it matters

It provides crucial context for data origin, ensuring traceability and helping to manage data integration from different platforms.

Where to get

This is typically a static value added during the data extraction and transformation process to label the origin of the dataset.

Examples
BlackLineSAP S/4HANAOracle NetSuite
Company Code
CompanyCode
The unique identifier for the legal entity or company for which the journal entry is being made.
Description

The Company Code represents a specific legal entity within a corporate group. It is a fundamental organizational unit in financial accounting, ensuring that transactions are booked to the correct entity.

In process mining, Company Code is a powerful dimension for filtering and comparison. It enables analysis of process performance across different entities, helping to identify regional or entity-specific bottlenecks, variations in compliance, and opportunities to standardize processes globally. It directly supports the 'Approval To Posting Delay Analysis' dashboard.

Why it matters

It enables performance comparison and process standardization efforts across different legal entities or business units.

Where to get

This is a key field on the journal entry header in BlackLine, often synchronized from the underlying ERP system.

Examples
1000US01DE012500
Journal Entry Amount
JournalEntryAmount
The total monetary value of the journal entry, typically the sum of the debits.
Description

This attribute represents the financial value of the journal entry. It can be used to understand the financial impact of process inefficiencies, such as delays in posting high-value entries.

Analyzing the process based on the entry's value allows for materiality-based analysis. For example, you can prioritize process improvements for high-value entries, investigate if they follow a different approval path, or determine if their cycle times are longer. This adds a crucial business context to the process flow.

Why it matters

It provides financial context, enabling analysis based on materiality, such as prioritizing high-value entries or identifying value-based process deviations.

Where to get

This is a calculated or standard field on the journal entry header in BlackLine, representing the total debit or credit amount.

Examples
15000.00250.75125000.50500.00
Journal Entry Status
JournalEntryStatus
The current status of the journal entry in its lifecycle, such as 'In Progress', 'Approved', or 'Posted'.
Description

This attribute indicates the current state of a journal entry case at the time of data extraction. It provides a snapshot of where the entry is in the overall process.

While process mining reconstructs the flow from activities, having the final status is useful for filtering and creating high-level summary dashboards. It helps in quickly identifying all entries that are currently pending approval or are stuck in a particular state, which is valuable for backlog analysis.

Why it matters

It provides a snapshot of the current state of entries, which is useful for backlog analysis and understanding work-in-progress.

Where to get

This is a standard status field on the journal entry in BlackLine.

Examples
In ProgressPending ApprovalApprovedPostedRejected
Journal Entry Type
JournalEntryType
The classification of the journal entry, such as standard, recurring, or reversing.
Description

Journal Entry Type categorizes entries based on their nature or purpose. Common types include standard manual entries, automated system-generated entries, recurring entries for month-end accruals, or reversing entries that automatically reverse in the next period.

This attribute is critical for segmentation and comparative analysis. It allows you to compare process performance, such as cycle times or rejection rates, across different types of entries. This helps identify if certain types of entries are more problematic or inefficient than others, leading to targeted process improvements.

Why it matters

It allows for segmented analysis to understand if different types of journal entries follow different paths or have different performance characteristics.

Where to get

This is a standard field on the journal entry header in BlackLine. Consult BlackLine documentation for the exact field name.

Examples
StandardRecurringReversingAccrual
Rejection Reason
RejectionReason
The reason provided by a reviewer when a journal entry is rejected.
Description

When a journal entry is sent back for corrections, the approver typically provides a reason for the rejection. This attribute captures that reason, which could be a predefined code or free-form text.

This is a critical attribute for root cause analysis of rework. By analyzing the most common rejection reasons, a company can identify systemic issues, such as inadequate training, unclear policies, or problems with supporting documentation. This directly supports the 'Journal Entry Rejection & Rework Analysis' dashboard and helps reduce the overall rejection rate.

Why it matters

It is essential for root cause analysis of process rework, helping to identify why journal entries are rejected and enabling targeted improvements.

Where to get

This data is typically captured in a comment or reason code field when a user performs the 'Reject' action in BlackLine.

Examples
Incorrect Account CodeMissing Supporting DocumentationExceeds ThresholdDuplicate Entry
User
UserName
The name or ID of the user who performed the activity.
Description

This attribute identifies the individual responsible for executing a specific process step, such as the person who submitted, reviewed, or approved a journal entry. It can be a name or a unique user ID.

Analyzing activities by user is essential for understanding workload distribution, individual performance, and identifying training opportunities. It helps answer questions like 'Is work distributed evenly across the team?' or 'Which users have the longest approval times?'. It is also crucial for compliance and audit trail analysis.

Why it matters

It enables workload analysis, performance comparison across team members, and helps identify resource-related bottlenecks or training needs.

Where to get

This information is available in BlackLine's audit logs, often stored as 'User ID' or 'Changed By' fields associated with each event.

Examples
j.doea.smithr.joness.patel
Account Reconciled
AccountReconciled
The general ledger account number that is being reconciled by the journal entry.
Description

This attribute identifies the specific account in the chart of accounts that is affected or being reconciled. Journal entries are often part of the account reconciliation process, and this links the entry to that specific account.

This attribute directly supports the 'Journal Entry Reconciliation Cycle Time' dashboard. By analyzing the process per account, it is possible to identify if reconciliations for certain accounts consistently take longer, indicating complexity or data issues related to those specific accounts.

Why it matters

It links the journal entry process to the specific accounts being reconciled, allowing for targeted analysis of reconciliation bottlenecks.

Where to get

This information is part of the journal entry line item details in BlackLine. It may need to be aggregated to the case level if an entry affects multiple accounts.

Examples
101000210500400100550200
Approval To Posting Lag
ApprovalToPostingLag
The calculated duration between the final approval and the actual posting of the journal entry.
Description

This metric measures the delay that occurs after a journal entry has been fully approved but before it is posted to the general ledger. It is calculated as the time difference between the 'Journal Entry Approved' activity and the 'Journal Entry Posted' activity.

This is a critical KPI for identifying post-approval bottlenecks, which can significantly delay the financial close process. The 'Approval To Posting Delay Analysis' dashboard uses this metric to investigate why approved entries are not being posted promptly, helping to streamline the final steps of the process.

Why it matters

It specifically measures post-approval efficiency, helping to identify and eliminate delays that impact the speed of the financial close.

Where to get

This metric is calculated within the process mining tool by finding the duration between the 'Journal Entry Approved' and 'Journal Entry Posted' events for each case.

Examples
P0DT1H10MP1DT2H0MP0DT0H5M
Case Cycle Time
CaseCycleTime
The total duration of the journal entry case from creation to final posting verification.
Description

This attribute is a calculated metric that represents the total elapsed time for a journal entry to move through its entire lifecycle. It is calculated as the difference between the timestamp of the first activity (e.g., 'Journal Entry Created') and the last activity (e.g., 'Posting Verified' or 'Journal Entry Reconciled').

This is a primary KPI for measuring overall process efficiency. It is used in almost every dashboard to provide a high-level view of performance, identify long-running cases, and track efficiency improvements over time. It directly supports the 'Average Journal Entry Cycle Time' KPI.

Why it matters

This is a fundamental KPI for measuring end-to-end process efficiency and tracking performance against targets.

Where to get

This metric is calculated within the process mining tool by subtracting the minimum StartTime from the maximum StartTime for each JournalEntryId.

Examples
P2DT4H30MP0DT8H15MP5DT12H0M
Currency
Currency
The currency code for the amount specified in the journal entry.
Description

This attribute specifies the currency of the Journal Entry Amount, such as USD, EUR, or GBP. It is essential for correctly interpreting the financial value of the transactions.

For multinational organizations, analyzing by currency can provide useful context. It allows for filtering the process analysis to specific currencies and is a necessary field for any dashboard that aggregates financial amounts.

Why it matters

It provides necessary context for the financial amounts, ensuring accurate interpretation and enabling currency-specific analysis.

Where to get

This is a standard field on the journal entry header in BlackLine, usually named 'Document Currency' or similar.

Examples
USDEURGBPJPY
Department
Department
The business department or cost center associated with the journal entry.
Description

This attribute specifies the department, cost center, or functional area that initiated the journal entry or to which the costs are being allocated. It provides an additional layer of organizational context.

Analyzing the process by department helps to understand how different parts of the business utilize the journal entry process. It can reveal variations in efficiency, compliance, or rework rates between departments, highlighting areas that may need additional support or process standardization.

Why it matters

This enables process performance to be compared across different business departments, revealing variations and opportunities for standardization.

Where to get

This information is usually part of the journal entry line item data or header data in BlackLine, often linked to the GL account.

Examples
FinanceMarketingSalesOperations
Document Attached
IsDocumentAttached
A flag indicating whether supporting documentation was attached to the journal entry.
Description

This boolean attribute indicates if one or more supporting documents, such as invoices or calculations, have been attached to the journal entry. This is often a prerequisite for approval.

This flag is crucial for the 'Journal Entry Documentation Compliance' dashboard and the 'Documentation Attachment Rate' KPI. It helps analyze whether missing documentation is a common cause for rejections or delays and helps enforce policies requiring attachments before submission for review.

Why it matters

It directly measures compliance with documentation policies and helps diagnose a common root cause for approval delays and rejections.

Where to get

This would likely be a derived field, calculated by checking for the existence of an attachment record associated with the JournalEntryId before the submission activity occurs.

Examples
truefalse
Is Automated
IsAutomated
A flag indicating if the journal entry was created or posted by an automated process.
Description

This boolean attribute distinguishes between journal entries that are created and processed manually by users and those generated automatically by the system, such as recurring entries or system integrations.

Analyzing this attribute helps in evaluating the effectiveness of automation. It allows for a direct comparison of cycle times, error rates, and costs between automated and manual processes. This is key to building a business case for further automation and measuring the ROI of existing initiatives.

Why it matters

It enables a direct comparison between manual and automated processes, which is crucial for measuring the impact and ROI of automation initiatives.

Where to get

This can be derived from the 'Journal Entry Type' (e.g., 'Recurring') or from the 'User' field if system users (e.g., 'SYSTEM' or 'BATCH') are used for automated postings.

Examples
truefalse
Is Rework
IsRework
A calculated flag that is true if the journal entry has been rejected at least once.
Description

This boolean flag is calculated to identify journal entries that have undergone rework. It is typically set to true if a case contains a 'Journal Entry Rejected' activity followed by a 'Corrected and Resubmitted' activity.

This attribute simplifies the analysis of rework by allowing users to easily filter for all cases that have experienced rejection. It is fundamental for calculating the 'Journal Entry Rejection Rate' KPI and for deep dives in the 'Journal Entry Rejection & Rework Analysis' dashboard to understand the cost and time impact of quality issues.

Why it matters

It easily identifies cases with rework, simplifying the calculation of rejection rates and the analysis of the impact of quality issues.

Where to get

This flag is calculated in the process mining tool by checking the sequence of activities for each case.

Examples
truefalse
Posting Date
PostingDate
The date on which the journal entry is officially posted to the General Ledger.
Description

The Posting Date is the effective date of the transaction in the financial records. It is a critical date for accounting, as it determines the fiscal period in which the transaction is recognized.

While the event timestamp tracks when the posting activity occurred, the Posting Date itself is a key data attribute. It is used in financial analysis to ensure entries are posted in the correct period and can be used to analyze delays between transaction date, approval date, and posting date.

Why it matters

This date is critical for financial reporting accuracy and helps analyze whether entries are being posted in the correct accounting period.

Where to get

This is a standard date field on the journal entry header in BlackLine.

Examples
2023-10-312023-11-012023-10-30
Required Recommended Optional

Record to Report - Journal Entry Activities

These are the key process steps and milestones to capture in your event log for accurate discovery and analysis of your journal entry process.
6 Recommended 6 Optional
Activity Description
Journal Entry Approved
This activity signifies that the journal entry has passed all required review and approval steps. It is captured when the final authorized user approves the entry, triggering a status change to 'Approved'.
Why it matters

This is a major milestone that concludes the approval process. The time from 'Journal Entry Submitted' to this event is the 'Approval Cycle Time', a critical KPI for measuring workflow efficiency.

Where to get

This event is inferred from a status change to 'Approved' in the journal entry record. The final approver's user ID and the approval timestamp are typically logged in BlackLine's audit history.

Capture

Inferred from the timestamp when the journal entry status is updated to 'Approved'.

Event type inferred
Journal Entry Created
This activity marks the initiation of a journal entry case. It is captured when a user creates a new journal entry record in BlackLine, which generates a unique Journal Entry ID and logs the creation timestamp and user.
Why it matters

This is the primary start event for the process. Analyzing the time from this activity to others reveals the total process cycle time and helps identify delays at the very beginning of the workflow.

Where to get

This event is explicitly logged in BlackLine's journal entry module. It is captured from the creation timestamp and user details associated with each Journal Entry ID in the main journal entry table or its audit history.

Capture

Captured from the 'Create Date' timestamp associated with the journal entry record.

Event type explicit
Journal Entry Posted
Represents the point at which the approved journal entry is officially recorded in the general ledger. This is often an explicit action in BlackLine, which then updates the entry's status to 'Posted'.
Why it matters

This is a critical milestone, often considered the operational conclusion of the process. The lag time from 'Journal Entry Approved' to this activity is a key indicator of post-approval efficiency.

Where to get

This is typically inferred from a status change to 'Posted'. The event may also be explicitly logged in a posting history table or audit trail with a specific posting date and timestamp.

Capture

Inferred from the timestamp when the journal entry status is updated to 'Posted'. The posting date field is also relevant.

Event type inferred
Journal Entry Reconciled
Marks the completion of the lifecycle where the journal entry is included in a finalized and certified account reconciliation. In BlackLine, this corresponds to the certification of the reconciliation that contains this journal.
Why it matters

This activity serves as the final endpoint for the end-to-end process. The time from 'Journal Entry Posted' to 'Reconciled' measures the efficiency of the account reconciliation part of the financial close.

Where to get

This is an inferred event. It is derived by identifying when the account reconciliation containing the specific journal entry has its status changed to 'Certified' within BlackLine's Account Reconciliation module.

Capture

Inferred by linking the journal entry to its corresponding account reconciliation and capturing the certification date of that reconciliation.

Event type inferred
Journal Entry Rejected
This activity marks the rejection of a journal entry by a reviewer or approver. It is captured when a user takes the 'Reject' action, which updates the entry's status to 'Rejected' and is recorded in the audit log.
Why it matters

This is a critical activity for identifying rework, quality issues, and training needs. Analyzing rejection frequency, reasons, and the subsequent rework loop is key to process improvement and reducing cycle times.

Where to get

This is typically inferred from a status change to 'Rejected' or 'Needs Correction' in the journal entry data. The timestamp and user who performed the rejection are logged in BlackLine's history.

Capture

Inferred from the timestamp when the status of the journal entry is updated to 'Rejected'.

Event type inferred
Journal Entry Submitted
This activity occurs when the preparer formally submits the journal entry for the review and approval workflow. This is typically captured as a status change, for example from 'In Preparation' to 'Submitted', along with a timestamp.
Why it matters

This marks the end of the preparation phase and the beginning of the approval cycle. It is a key milestone for measuring the duration of both the preparation and approval stages.

Where to get

This is likely inferred from a status change in the journal entry record in BlackLine. The timestamp of the status changing to 'Submitted for Approval' or a similar value marks the event time.

Capture

Inferred from the timestamp when the journal entry status field is updated to 'Submitted' or 'Pending Approval'.

Event type inferred
Approval Rescinded
This activity represents an approver revoking a previously granted approval, returning the journal entry to a prior state. This is captured by a status change from 'Approved' back to an earlier status like 'In Preparation'.
Why it matters

This rare but important activity highlights process exceptions and potential issues that are discovered post-approval but pre-posting. It can indicate data errors or policy changes affecting the entry.

Where to get

This would be an inferred event, identified by a status change from 'Approved' to a non-posted, editable status. This action would be recorded in BlackLine's detailed audit logs.

Capture

Identified by a status change from 'Approved' back to a preceding status like 'In Preparation' or 'Submitted'.

Event type inferred
Entry Corrected and Resubmitted
Occurs after a journal entry has been rejected and the preparer has made the necessary corrections and submitted it again. This is captured by a status change from 'Rejected' back to 'Submitted for Approval'.
Why it matters

This activity helps quantify the time and effort spent on rework. The duration between 'Journal Entry Rejected' and this event represents the rework time, a key metric for efficiency analysis.

Where to get

This is inferred by observing a sequence of status changes in the BlackLine data, specifically a transition from a 'Rejected' status back to a 'Submitted' or 'Pending Approval' status for the same Journal Entry ID.

Capture

Derived from a status change from 'Rejected' to 'Submitted' or 'Pending Approval'.

Event type inferred
Journal Entry Reversal Processed
This activity captures the creation and posting of a new journal entry that reverses a previously posted one. This is typically initiated in response to an error discovered after the original entry was posted.
Why it matters

This event is a strong indicator of upstream data quality problems. Tracking the rate of reversals helps measure the 'Post-Posting Adjustment Rate' and identifies areas needing improved accuracy.

Where to get

This is often an explicit event where a user initiates a 'Reverse' action in BlackLine on a posted journal. The system creates a new reversing entry, often linked to the original Journal Entry ID.

Capture

Captured when a 'Reverse' action is logged, or when a new journal is created with a reversal flag and a link to the original journal ID.

Event type explicit
Journal Entry Reviewed
Represents a formal review step in a multi-level approval process, completed by a designated reviewer. It is typically captured as a status change or a specific log entry indicating the reviewer's action.
Why it matters

For organizations with distinct review and approval steps, this activity helps isolate bottlenecks within the approval chain. It shows how long entries wait for initial review versus final approval.

Where to get

In BlackLine workflows, this can be an explicit event in the approval history log or inferred from a status change to 'Reviewed' or 'Pending Final Approval'. The user and timestamp are recorded.

Capture

Inferred from the timestamp when the journal entry status changes to reflect completion of the review stage.

Event type inferred
Posting Verified
Represents the confirmation that a posted journal entry has been successfully received and recorded in the target ERP system. This might be an automated system handshake or a manual confirmation step.
Why it matters

This activity provides finality to the posting step, ensuring data integrity between systems. The duration from 'Posted' to 'Verified' can highlight integration issues or delays in system synchronization.

Where to get

This may be an explicit event from a system integration log or inferred from a status change to a value like 'Posted and Verified'. If manual, it would be a user-driven status update.

Capture

Inferred from a status update to 'Verified' or from a confirmation flag received from the target ERP system.

Event type inferred
Supporting Documentation Attached
Represents the action of a user attaching one or more supporting documents to the journal entry. This event is typically captured in an audit log or a related attachments table linked to the Journal Entry ID.
Why it matters

Tracking this activity is crucial for monitoring compliance and efficiency. It helps analyze if delays in the approval process are caused by missing documentation and supports the 'Documentation Attachment Rate' KPI.

Where to get

This is usually an explicit event in BlackLine, recorded in an audit trail or attachments log. The data would include the Journal Entry ID, the user who attached the file, and a timestamp.

Capture

Event is logged in the system's audit trail or a dedicated attachment history table whenever a file is uploaded against a journal entry.

Event type explicit
Recommended Optional

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