Needles Powers Crosson Principles of Accounting 12e Supplement: Special-Purpose Journals 6 C H A P T E R © human/iStockphoto

NeedlesPowersCrosson

Principles of Accounting

12e

Supplement:Special-Purpose Journals6

C H A P T E R

© human/iStockphoto

Special-Purpose Journals(slide 1 of 2)

Special-purpose journals promote efficiency, economy, and control.– They greatly reduce the work involved in

entering and posting transactions in the general ledger, since only the total amounts of the transactions are posted.

– Each journal can be assigned to a different employee, which helps establish good internal control.

Most business transactions fall into one of four categories. Each kind of transaction can be recorded in a special-purpose journal.

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Special-Purpose Journals(slide 2 of 2)

The general journal is used to record transactions, like purchase returns, sales returns, and adjusting and closing entries, that do not fall into any of these special categories. – When transactions are posted from the

general journal to the ledger accounts, the posting abbreviation is J.


Sales Journal

The sales journal is designed to handle all credit sales. (Cash sales are recorded in the cash receipts journal.)

The sales journal saves time because:– Only one line is needed to record each

transaction. The credit to Sales is understood.

– No explanations are necessary because the sales journal records only credit sales.

– Only one amount—the total credit sales—has to be posted: once as a debit to Accounts Receivable and once as a credit to Sales.


Controlling Accounts and Subsidiary Ledgers

A controlling account (or control account) is an account in the general ledger that maintains the total of the individual account balances in a subsidiary ledger.

A subsidiary ledger is a ledger separate from the general ledger that contains a group of related accounts, such as a list of customers (accounts receivable subsidiary ledger).– The total of the balances in the group of related

accounts equals the balance in the corresponding controlling account, such as Accounts Receivable.


Summary of the Sales Journal Procedure(slide 1 of 2)

Using a sales journal involves the following steps:– Step 1: Enter each sales invoice in the sales

journal on a single line. Record the date, the customer’s name, the invoice number, and the amount.

– Step 2: At the end of each day, post each individual sale to the customer’s account in the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger. Place a check mark (or customer account number) in the Post. Ref. column of the sales journal. In the Post. Ref. column of each customer’s account, place an S and the sales journal page number to indicate the source of the entry.


Summary of the Sales Journal Procedure(slide 2 of 2)

– Step 3: At the end of the month, sum the Amount column in the sales journal to determine the total credit sales, and post the total to the general ledger accounts (Accounts Receivable and Sales). Place the numbers of the accounts debited and credited beneath the total in the sales journal to indicate that this step has been completed. In the general ledger, indicate the source of the entry in the Post. Ref. column of each account.

– Step 4: Verify the accuracy of the posting by adding the account balances of the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger and comparing the total with the balance of the Accounts Receivable controlling account in the general ledger.


Sales Taxes

Many cities and states require retailers to collect a sales tax from their customers and periodically remit the total collected to the city or state.– In this case, an additional column is needed

in the sales journal to record the credit to Sales Taxes Payable on credit sales.


Purchases Journal

The Purchases Journal is used to record purchases on credit.– It can take the form of either a single-column

journal or a multicolumn journal. In the single-column journal, only credit purchases of merchandise for resale to customers are recorded.

– This kind of transaction is recorded with a debit to Purchases and a credit to Accounts Payable.

– The Accounts Payable account is generally used as a controlling account.

– A separate account for each supplier is kept in an accounts payable subsidiary ledger.


Summary of the Purchases Journal Procedure(slide 1 of 2)

The procedure for using the purchases journal is much like that for using the sales journal:– Step 1: Enter each purchase invoice in the

purchases journal on a single line. Record the date, the supplier’s name, the invoice date, the terms (if given), and the amount.

– Step 2: At the end of each day, post each individual purchase to the supplier’s account in the accounts payable subsidiary ledger. Place a check mark in the Post. Ref. column of the purchases journal. Place a P and the page number of the purchases journal in the Post. Ref. column of each supplier’s account.


Summary of the Purchases Journal Procedure(slide 2 of 2)

– Step 3: At the end of the month, sum the Amount column in the purchases journal, and post the total to the general ledger as a debit to Purchases and a credit to Accounts Payable. Place the numbers of the accounts debited and credited beneath the totals in the purchases journal to show that this step has been carried out. In the general ledger, indicate the source of the entry in the Post. Ref. column of each account.

– Step 4: Check the accuracy of the posting by adding the account balances of the accounts payable subsidiary ledger and comparing the total with the balance of the Accounts Payable controlling account in the general ledger.


Multicolumn Purchases Journal

The single-column purchases journal can be expanded to record credit purchases of items other than merchandise by adding separate debit columns for other accounts that are used often.

The individual transactions in the Accounts Payable column are posted daily to the accounts payable subsidiary ledger, and the totals of each column in the purchases journal are posted monthly to the corresponding general ledger accounts. Entries in the Other Accounts column are posted individually to the named accounts.


Cash Receipts Journal

All transactions involving receipts of cash are recorded in the cash receipts journal. – Although all cash receipts require a debit to

Cash, they differ in that they require a variety of credit entries. Thus, the cash receipts journal must have several columns.

– The Other Accounts column is used to record credits to accounts not specifically represented by a column. The account numbers are entered in the Post. Ref. column, and the amounts are posted daily to the appropriate account in the general ledger. The Other Accounts column totals are not posted at the end of the month.


Cash Receipts Journal

The cash receipts journal has the following debit and credit columns:– Debit columns

Cash Sales Discounts Other Accounts—used for transactions that involve

debits both to Cash and to some account other than Sales Discounts

– Credit columns Accounts Receivable—used to record collections on

account from customers Sales—used to record all cash sales Other Accounts—used for any entry that is neither a

cash collection from accounts receivable nor a cash sale


Summary of the Cash Receipts Journal Procedure (slide 1 of 2)

The procedure for posting the cash receipts journal follows:– Step 1: Post the transactions in the Accounts

Receivable column daily to the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger. Place a check mark in the Post. Ref. column of the cash receipts journal and CR plus the page number in the Post. Ref. column of each subsidiary ledger account.

– Step 2: Post the debits/credits in the Other Accounts columns to the general ledger accounts. Write the account number in the Post. Ref. column of the cash receipts journal and CR plus the page number in the Post Ref. column of the general ledger account.


Summary of the Cash Receipts Journal Procedure (slide 2 of 2)

– Step 3: At the end of the month, total the columns in the cash receipts journal. The sum of the Debits column totals must equal the sum of the Credits column totals.

– Step 4: Post the Debits column totals to the corresponding accounts in the general ledger.

– Step 5: Post the Credits column totals to the corresponding accounts in the general ledger.

– Steps 6-7: Write the account numbers below each column in the cash receipts journal and CR plus the page number in the Post. Ref. column of each account in the general ledger. Place a check mark at the bottom of the Other Accounts column, which was already posted in Step 2.


Cash Payments Journal

All transactions involving payments of cash are recorded in the cash payments journal (or cash disbursements journal).

The cash payments journal includes the following credit and debit columns:– Credit columns: Cash, Purchases Discounts,

Other Accounts– Debit columns: Accounts Payable, specific

expense accounts (such as Salary Expense, Advertising Expense, and Rent Expense), Other Accounts


Summary of the Cash Payments Journal Procedure (slide 1 of 2)

The procedure for posting the cash payments journal follows:– Step 1: Post the transactions in the Accounts

Payable columns daily to the individual accounts in the accounts payable subsidiary ledger. Place a check mark in the Post. Ref. column of the cash payments journal.

– Step 2: Post the debits/credits in the Other Accounts debit/credit columns to the general ledger. Write the account number in the Post. Ref. column of the cash payments journal and CP plus the page number in the Post. Ref. column of each general ledger account.


Summary of the Cash Payments Journal Procedure (slide 2 of 2)

– Step 3: At the end of the month, the columns are footed and crossfooted. That is, the sum of the Credits column totals must equal the sum of the Debits column totals.

– Step 4: At the end of the month, post the column totals for Cash, Purchases Discounts, Accounts Payable, and the expense accounts to their respective accounts in the general ledger. Write the account number below each column in the cash payments journal and CP plus the page number in the Post. Ref. column of each general ledger account. Place a check mark under the total of each Other Accounts column in the cash payments journal to indicate that the postings in that column have been made.


General Journal

Adjusting and closing entries, as well as transactions that do not involve sales, purchases, cash receipts, or cash payments, are recorded in the general journal.

When a debit or credit is made to a controlling account, the entry must be posted twice, once to the controlling account and once to the individual account in the subsidiary ledger.


Documents

Needles Powers Crosson Principles of Accounting 12e Supplement: Special-Purpose Journals 6 C H A P T E R © human/iStockphoto