> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dualentry.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Eliminate Intercompany Lines on a Journal Entry

> Turn on Enable Elimination on a single-company journal entry so DualEntry posts offsetting lines in the elimination company and consolidated reports net out.

Use **Enable Elimination** when one company books its own side of an intercompany balance on a standard journal entry, and you want that balance to drop out of consolidated reports without a manual elimination entry each period. When you save the entry, DualEntry posts offsetting lines in the company's [elimination company](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/platform-configuration/multi-entity-consolidation.md#configuring-eliminations), the company DualEntry creates under each parent to hold consolidation offsets. For how the offsets are calculated, see [journal entry eliminations](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/core-financials/general-ledger/journal-entries.md#journal-entry-eliminations) in the reference.

If one entry should book both companies' sides at once, use an [intercompany journal entry](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/core-financials/general-ledger/journal-entries.md#intercompany-entries) instead.

## Before you start

Eliminating lines on a journal entry needs a multi-entity setup and permission to edit journal entries. Check the following:

* **An elimination company above the entry's company**: DualEntry creates one automatically under a parent when you add its first subsidiary, so any company with a parent or with subsidiaries of its own already has one. A company with neither can't eliminate lines. See [How to Configure Multi-Entity and Consolidation](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/platform-configuration/multi-entity-consolidation.md).
* **Journal entry access**: Anyone who can create or edit journal entries can turn on elimination and change line flags. No extra role or permission is involved.
* **Lines in one currency**: With elimination on, every line must use the entry's transaction currency, and any bank or credit card account on the entry must be in that currency too.

## Flag lines for elimination on a journal entry

The **Enable Elimination** switch adds an **Elimination** column to the Lines grid, and each line's switch in that column decides whether DualEntry offsets it.

1. Go to **Accounting > Transactions > Journal Entries** and select **New journal entry**, or open an existing draft.
2. Fill in the header as usual: company, date, transaction currency, and memo.
3. In the **Lines** section, open **Options** and turn on **Enable Elimination**. It sits directly below **Show Exclude from Aging** and is off on every new entry. Turning it on sets every line's currency to the transaction currency and locks the line **Currency** cell.
4. Enter the lines. When you select an account on a line, its **Elimination** switch turns on automatically, except for Bank and Credit Card accounts, which stay off and can't be turned on.
5. Review the **Elimination** switch on each line and turn off any line you don't want offset. Turning a line off doesn't remove it from the elimination: DualEntry offsets its amount to the **Cumulative Translation Adjustment - Elimination** account instead of to its own account.
6. Check the **Eliminations** section below the Lines grid. It previews the lines DualEntry posts in the elimination company, with **Company**, **Account**, **Debit**, **Credit**, **Rate**, and **Classifications** columns and a totals row.
7. Save the entry as a draft, or post it.

After you save, the elimination lines appear on the entry's **GL Impact** tab next to the entry's own lines, and consolidated reports that include the elimination company show the flagged balances netted out. A draft gets draft elimination lines, which don't affect balances until you post.

The **Eliminations** preview only shows when **Enable Elimination** is on and there's at least one line with an account. Lines you flag don't have to net to zero: DualEntry balances the elimination with the **Cumulative Translation Adjustment - Elimination** account and shows no warning.

## Change, reverse, or recur an eliminated entry

To change what an entry eliminates, edit its lines or **Elimination** switches and save. Every time you save, DualEntry deletes the entry's elimination lines and rebuilds them from the current lines, flags, amounts, and exchange rate, so no stale lines remain after an edit.

To stop eliminating an entry, open **Options** and turn off **Enable Elimination**. This hides the **Elimination** column and turns off every line's switch. When you save, DualEntry removes the elimination lines. Turning **Enable Elimination** back on doesn't restore the earlier switches: each line stays off until you select its account again or turn its switch on by hand.

Changes to a line's **Elimination** switch are recorded on the entry's **Activity** tab, the same as other line changes.

A reversal and a recurring template both carry the elimination flags from the original entry, so you don't flag lines again.

* **Reversal**: when the entry has a reversal date, DualEntry posts a second set of elimination lines on that date with debits and credits swapped, at the original elimination's exchange rate. The reversal lines show each line's **Elimination** switch as read-only, and a second **Eliminations** preview shows the swapped lines.
* **Recurring journal entry**: select **New recurring journal entry** from the Journal Entries list and turn on **Enable Elimination** from **Options** the same way. The template saves each line's flag, and every journal entry it generates is eliminated the same way.

## Flag lines through the API, CLI, or MCP server

Outside the app, elimination is controlled entirely by the line-level `eliminated` field: there is no field that turns elimination on for the whole entry. Set `eliminated` to `true` on each line you want offset. The `enable_elimination` field in a journal entry response is read-only and is `true` when the entry has elimination lines.

The request body below creates a draft journal entry in a subsidiary that books a management fee owed to its parent, debiting an expense account and crediting **IC Due To** (account 2250), and offsets both lines. Send it to `POST /public/v2/journal-entries/`.

```json theme={null}
{
  "company_id": 2,
  "date": "2026-10-31",
  "currency_iso_4217_code": "USD",
  "memo": "October management fee payable to parent",
  "record_status": "draft",
  "items": [
    { "account_number": 6150, "debit": 12000.00, "eliminated": true },
    { "account_number": 2250, "credit": 12000.00, "eliminated": true }
  ]
}
```

The same rules as the app apply, with one difference: the API doesn't set any defaults, so a line is only eliminated when you send `"eliminated": true`.

* **CLI**: put the body in a file and run `dualentry journal-entries create --file entry.json`, or `dualentry journal-entries update <record-id> --file entry.json` to change an existing entry. The CLI sends the file as is. See the [CLI reference](https://docs.dualentry.com/developers/guides/cli/reference.md).
* **MCP server**: ask your AI assistant to create the journal entry with the `save_record` tool and include `eliminated` on each line. `save_record` rejects a top-level `enable_elimination` field as an unknown field. `update_record` can't change the lines of a posted entry, so change flags on a draft. See [MCP Integration](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/ai-automation/mcp/mcp-integration.md).

## Troubleshooting

The table below lists the messages and behavior you're most likely to see, with the cause and fix for each.

| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
| - | - | - |
| No **Elimination** column on the Lines grid | **Enable Elimination** is off | Open **Options** in the **Lines** section and turn it on. |
| A line's **Elimination** switch can't be turned on | The line uses a Bank or Credit Card account | These accounts can't be eliminated on a journal entry. Their amount offsets to **Cumulative Translation Adjustment - Elimination**. |
| A bank or credit card account is missing from the account list | Its currency differs from the transaction currency | Use an account in the transaction currency, or turn **Enable Elimination** off. |
| `When Enable Elimination is on, bank and credit card accounts must match the transaction currency.` | A bank or credit card line is in another currency | Same fix as above. Through the API, the message reads `When elimination is enabled, bank and credit card accounts must match the transaction currency`. |
| `Line currency must match the transaction currency when Enable Elimination is on.` | A line uses a different currency from the entry | Change the line to the transaction currency. Through the API, the message reads `When elimination is enabled, all line currencies must match the transaction currency`. |
| `Bank / credit card lines cannot be eliminated on JE` | An API, CLI, or MCP request set `eliminated` to `true` on a bank or credit card line | Set `eliminated` to `false` on that line. |
| `Failed to find elimination company` | The entry's company has no parent and no subsidiaries | Add the company to a hierarchy first, or don't eliminate this entry. |
| Saving fails because the exchange rate is unavailable | DualEntry has no rate from the transaction currency to the elimination company's currency for the entry date | Retry later. DualEntry never falls back to a rate of one. |
| A flagged balance doesn't net to zero in a consolidated report | The elimination company isn't in the report's company selection, or the matching line isn't flagged | Include the elimination company in the report, and check each line's switch on the entry. |
| The **Elimination** switches can't be changed | The entry is locked, for example by a locked period or an approved-edit policy | Reverse the entry and enter it again, following your edit policy. |

## Related pages

* [Journal Entries: Reference](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/core-financials/general-ledger/journal-entries.md#journal-entry-eliminations) for what DualEntry posts, which elimination company it uses, exchange rates, and limits.
* [How to Configure Multi-Entity and Consolidation](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/platform-configuration/multi-entity-consolidation.md#configuring-eliminations) for how the elimination company works and when to use this instead of an intercompany journal entry.
* [Your First Consolidated Report](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/first-consolidated-report.md) to see an elimination change a consolidated balance.


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