Production journal: record production and approve it

Q: We saved the journal but the finished goods are not in stock.

The journal is not approved yet. Approve it ( What production changes in stock and in the books ).

Q: Raw materials are out but nothing came in.

The Approved QTY was 0, or the journal was edited after approval and not approved again.

Q: Zero cost raw material is refused.

Your company switched off Allow production with zero rate raw material in Configuration . Give the raw material a cost, or ask your administrator ( Set up production ).

A production journal records what was made from an approved production order. Saving it moves no stock. Stock moves when you approve it at the quality check: the raw materials leave, the approved finished goods come in, and the rejected quantity is lost.

Accounting Production
7 min read
Updated October 20, 2026

For Production staff Store keeper Owner or manager

On this page

Two steps: save, then approve
Record a journal
What the screen checks
Approve: the quality check
Edit and delete
Common questions

Two steps: save, then approve

Step	What happens to stock
Save the journal	Nothing. The journal exists and is Unapproved
Approve the journal (the quality check)	The raw materials go out, the approved finished goods and the by-products come in

This differs from a sale or a purchase, which move stock when saved. A journal that is not approved has not changed your stock, and the Stock summary does not show its goods.

Record a journal

Open Production Journal (menu Production Entries › Production Journal, usual label).

Choose Add
Who
Production staff
Where
Production Journal > Add
What changes
Voucher No shows NEW. With more than one series, choose one first.
Choose the production order
What changes
Find the Order no in the list of approved orders still to be made. The BOM, product, warehouse and cost centre come in, and the raw materials appear with their quantities and current cost. The order's quantity is shown for information.
Enter the quantities
What changes
Formulation QTY (the quantity the raw material ratios are for), Production QTY (what was actually produced) and the Machine / Plant (required). Changing Formulation QTY rescales the raw materials, the fixed costs and the by-products.
Check the raw materials
What changes
Each Raw material line shows the Warehouse, the Balance QTY, the QTY to use, the Unit and the Rate (the average cost in that warehouse). Products that are serial-number or batch tracked ask for their numbers or batches (Batch, expiry date and serial number tracking).
Check fixed costs and by-products
What changes
The Fixed cost tab lists the amounts; the By-product / Scrap tab lists the by-products with their quantity and costing.
Save
What changes
"Production journal (number) saved successfully." Nothing has moved in stock yet.

What the screen checks

Message	Cause
Please provide valid production quantity of goods going to produce.	Production QTY is 0 or less
Please select machine/plant to proceed production process.	No Machine / Plant
Raw material stock is not sufficient	A raw material line takes more than the warehouse holds
Raw material stock with zero cost value not allowed	A raw material has no cost, and your company does not allow zero-cost raw material
Raw material stock with negative cost not allowed	A raw material has a negative cost
Enter serial number details of product to proceed. / Please enter batch details for batch wise raw material / Please enter batch info for batch wise finished goods	Tracked products need their numbers or batches
Raw material stock is not available to proceed production journal.	The BOM has no raw materials
The financial year for this transaction date has already been closed…	The date is before the fiscal year starts

Approve: the quality check

Open the journal and choose Approve. The box is titled Production quality check and approval and says that after this step the inventory and financial effects cannot be reverted. In this release approval changes stock only: no ledger entry is made (see below), and the stock can still change afterwards.

Field	Meaning
Approved QTY	The quantity that meets your sales quality standard. It starts as the Production QTY
Rejected QTY	Production QTY less Approved QTY; worked out for you
Damaged serial no	For serial-number products, the numbers of the rejected units: as many as the rejected quantity
Notes	Optional

Type Approve to proceed. "Production journal approved successfully." Now:

the raw materials leave their warehouses;
the Approved QTY of the finished product comes into the journal's warehouse, valued at the total cost shared over the Production QTY;
the by-products come in.

If the Approved QTY is more than the Production QTY: "You entered quantity more than produced quantity."

What happens when you approve a journal

Area	Change
Raw materials	Each raw-material line's quantity leaves its warehouse on the journal date; it is valued at first-in-first-out cost when values are next worked out
Finished goods	The Approved QTY comes into the journal's warehouse at the journal's cost per unit (raw materials plus fixed costs, less by-products, over the Production QTY)
Rejected quantity	Never enters stock: its share of the cost is lost, which lowers the stock value
By-products	Come in at their quantity and costing
Fixed costs	Used in the cost per unit only; no expense or ledger entry is posted
Ledgers	Nothing. Profit changes through closing stock (Closing stock in the profit and loss, the balance sheet and the year end)
Production order	Nothing more: the journal's Production QTY already counted against the order when the journal was saved. The order's status stays Approved

Worked example: a journal of 250 cartons, saved and then approved

The order for 250 biscuit cartons uses the recipe in Bill of material. Production staff choose the order and type Production QTY 250; Formulation QTY takes the same value and the lines rescale. The raw-material lines show the average cost in the Raw material store:

Line	QTY	Rate	Amount
Flour	125 kg	60	7,500
Sugar	25 kg	100	2,500
Packing box	250	20	5,000
Fixed cost: Labour			5,000
Fixed cost: Electricity			2,500
Total cost			22,500

Cost per carton: 22,500 ÷ 250 = 90. Saving changes no stock.

At the quality check 10 cartons fail. In Production quality check and approval the manager sets Approved QTY 240; Rejected QTY shows 10. After Approve:

the flour, sugar and boxes leave the Raw material store;
240 cartons come into the Finished goods store at 90 each, 21,600;
the 10 rejected cartons never enter stock: their 900 of cost is gone from the stock value.

If the rejected cartons are sold off as seconds, bring them in with a Stock adjustment (Adjust stock: counts, damage, expiry and write-offs).

Edit and delete

Edit is always offered, even after approval, and so is Delete unless your company has IRD switched on. Deleting a journal takes its stock entries out. Pressing Approve again writes the stock again from the journal as it is now (the old entries are replaced, not doubled).

Common questions

We saved the journal but the finished goods are not in stock.

The journal is not approved yet. Approve it (What production changes in stock and in the books).

Raw materials are out but nothing came in.

The Approved QTY was 0, or the journal was edited after approval and not approved again.

Zero cost raw material is refused.

Your company switched off Allow production with zero rate raw material in Configuration. Give the raw material a cost, or ask your administrator (Set up production).

Can I produce more than the order?

Penahak does not stop you on the journal. The order list offers an order only while it has quantity left (the order's quantity less the journals already made from it), but the journal accepts any quantity. Filter the Production journal list by the order number to see what was already made, then save.