New Manual Journals - Compact view
I’m honestly quite dismayed by the recent update to the Manual Journal interface for NZ clients in Xero.
I’m finding the new layout a little difficult to work with. In particular, there seems to be quite a lot of space allocated to the amounts section, while the Account Title and Description columns have less space. I think the interface would be more practical and easier to read if the layout could be made more compact, with more space allocated to the Account Title and Description fields.
Additionally, the date format appears to follow the US/American standard rather than the New Zealand date format. As this is an interface for NZ clients, it would be much more appropriate and intuitive for the date format to follow the NZ standard (DD/MM/YYYY). This is particularly important in accounting, where date clarity and consistency are essential.
Overall, I feel this update has made the Manual Journal screen less efficient, less compact, and visually less appealing. To be honest, it feels like a step backwards rather than an improvement.
Please consider reviewing the layout and functionality, particularly the column spacing and date entry. Ideally, I would strongly prefer if the previous version could be brought back, as the previous interface was much cleaner, more compact, and more practical for everyday accounting work.
I understand that updates are made to improve the user experience, and I appreciate the work that goes into these changes. I just wanted to provide feedback from the perspective of someone who uses Manual Journals regularly, as I found the previous interface easier and more efficient to use.
Elma Alfonso
shared this idea
Hi team, thanks for continuing to show your support and share feedback here.
We understand your concerns around the amount of space used and the need to scroll to view all columns, particularly when entering and reviewing journals.
We recently released a few enhancements to help with feedback we've received including;
- Improving column sizing, spacing and typography meaning you can see more detail without as much need to scroll.
- Added more space for the Description field and ability to scroll this field
- Optimised widescreen displays
- Increased the amount of time the "Journal posted" confirmation stays visible
- Ability to open journals in separate tabs
- Auto-removal of currency symbols when importing to reduce validation errors
We’ve also started working on a more compact view, which we’re aiming to release soon. 🙂
We appreciate the detailed feedback and examples you've shared here.
I'll come back to share as soon as the compact view is rolled out.
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Murray Thompson
commented
On a computer screen that is 1920 x 1600 pixels, I still can't see the Credit Column. I have to vertically scroll down to the very bottom to find the Horizontal Scroll bar (quite annoying trying to see everything when I have a 50 Line Journal). This is just for viewing a Journal Entry as well - didn't even want to try to do editing / copying in this new mode - back to the old mode!
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Jessica Caddy
commented
Hi agree with all these comments on the interface - All the font/fields & columns are way to big, you shouldnt have to scroll across the page to be able to see all Columns please - that is not an improvement. Please rethink!
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Advanced Accounts
commented
I agree new layout is no good. The old layout you could view the whole row. This one turns it into a scrolling marathon.
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Jo Oakley
commented
I have only read a few comments but agree that the new layout is awful. Needing to scroll to see the entire row is very time consuming for both entering and checking journals. I have reverted to the old format for now.
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Steph Rugg
commented
I agree with these comments, scrolling to see the entire row is particularly annoying.
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Esther Hutchings
commented
I completely agree with all the comments about the new format for the manual journals. It is not well designed at all for accountants. It is cumbersome and inefficient. The overwhelming response is that the old format was great and met our needs. Why on earth does the Manual Journal entry screen need to match the rest of Xero? Most journal entries are completed by accountants whereas invoicing and bills are entered by people who aren't accountants. Rather match the product to the user than expect an important cohort of your customers to now "make-do" with an inferior product.
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Yvette Anelli
commented
The scrolling to view the entire row is ABSURD. Using a trackpad means you'll always accidentally scroll back an browser page and lose all your work.
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Grace Morris
commented
Agree with these comments. The old version is much easier to navigate and view. There is alot of white space and extra gaps which makes this particularly difficult. Using a portrait screen you have to scroll to see all the data. Some journals that we do can be 50+ lines long and these would get extremely hard to view with this new format. The post button being at the bottom of the screen seems pointless, it was much better directly under the journal.
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Samantha Billings
commented
The format is awful, can not see the whole line on screen and for a large journal have to go to bottom of screen move toggle to right and then head back up, and now can not see the account and value on screen. So clunky. We need the ability, if this is a permanent thing, to narrow the columns, lines.
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Claire Hunt
commented
A new and frustrating thing discovered about manual journals today. We create daily journals in advance, save as draft and enter the details as each day happens. This works efficiently for what we do. Draft journals now need to have amounts in the lines before they can be saved as draft. Just down to this change the job now takes twice as long.
Only positive change is being able to work on a journal for a longer period of time without it crashing and not saving anything. -
Janine Mackay
commented
It is VERY hard to see from a quick glance which journals are posted as cash or non cash with this new layout. PLEASE MAKE THIS EASIER TO SEE!!! Much less user friendly than the old journals - sometimes you don't need to fix what isn't broken.
ALSO when can we default toggle off journals being posted as cash journals, the default should be per organisation and the a non cash journal is surely more sensible than the default being CASH BASIS -
Erica - Omokoroa Accounting
commented
Awful new layout of manual journals making accountant's job slower and more awkward/clunky with info spread over the entire width of the screen. Too much white space, and not practical, nor easy on eye, nor quick to use. Very frustrating - please let us keep old layout, was perfectly functional to us accountants, and the main end users.
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Anne-Marie Bolton
commented
I have to agree with all the negative comments on this change. Show me an accountant that does all their work on a phone or tablet and needs all this white space for fat fingers and I am sure there are 1000 others who use a widescreen laptop/PC who don't need it. The existing journal layout was fine the way it was. Focus should be spent on things that are required and Xero simply does not provide. For eg a foreign currency debtors/creditors ledger.
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Fraser Hannon
commented
Really not sure if there is any Xero change in layouts/formatting that has genuinely improved the "user experience". If you aren't having people complain about something so basic that mostly only accountants use (manual journals) why update it completely to be totally different. Or maybe ask for some input on what we would like it to remain like/bits not to change. Just a thought Xero, but I don't think there is much that is taken on board anymore. Eg bulk fixed assets disposals, this has been requested for YEARS and nothing has been done about it.
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Gay Breeuwer
commented
Please pass on to Xero developers that the recent change to the layout of manual journals has made our job as accountants slower and not as accurate. They have spread the information over the entire width of the screen. Why? Why have lots of white blank space with no information that our eyes just have to travel across from one side to the other of a wide screen to check all the data. Not practical at all. GRRRRR.
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Dean Welbourne
commented
Regarding the Date Format issue - I am a Windows user, the fix was not in Browser Settings, but in Windows Settings -> Time & language > Language & region, you can change the Regional format to something other than English(US). You can also click on the Windows icon and search for 'Region Settings'
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Claire Hunt
commented
The new manual journals also don't let you manually add a date anymore. You have to refresh even a saved draft journal when you go back into it after adding a new COA code otherwise it won't display.
The cash tick is now in a completely different place to the other tick box, have to re train the brain to look out for it. Fix this please, the new journal format is awful! -
Duncan Holmden
commented
Hi Kelly,
Can you please further explain the date fromatting solution? because we are NZ based and all the dates in xero, including reverting back to old manual journals, have the correct (NZ) date format. Only the New Manual Journals page seems to have the default of the US Format. This can be incredibly problematic, for example a journal for 1 April, keeps defaulting to 4th of January.
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Rochelle Gamman
commented
I agree - I dont like the new layout at ALL and always switch back to the old view.
Can we not have the option to have one view or the other, to accomodate all users preference?
