Overview
Historical journal entries are used to record transactions that occurred before your migration cutoff date in Puzzle. This option is only available if you have completed a migration, and entries must fall within the historical period.
Understanding Your Ledger Start Date
Your ledger start date determines when integrations (like Chase and Mercury) begin automatically pulling in transactions. For example, if the start date is set to October 1, 2025, Puzzle will pull in all transactions from that date to the present.
A good rule of thumb: set the ledger start date to the day after your books were last finalized. For many clients, this ends up being something like January 1, 2026 or April 1, 2026.
Historical journal entries then cover everything before that start date. So if your ledger start date is January 1, 2026, you'd upload journal entries covering activity through December 31, 2025.
Steps to Record a Historical Journal Entry
Go to Accounting → Manual Journal Entries
Click Add Journal Entry
Fill in the Entry Memo Name
Check the Historical Entry box
Set the Reporting Basis to Both Cash and Accrual for consistency
Select the appropriate bank account(s) to move funds to/from
Enter your journal entry details
Click Post
Important Notes
📅 Cutoff Date: Historical journal entries can only be posted to dates before your migration cutoff date. For regular manual journal entries dated after the cutoff, simply leave the Historical Entry box unchecked.