Chapter 7 6q692f

POSTING JOURNAL ENTRIES TO GENERAL LEDGER S

Chapter 7

POSTING JOURNAL ENTRIES TO GENERAL LEDGER S What You’ll Learn:  Describe the steps in the posting process.  Post general journal entries.  The steps involved in the preparation of a trial balance.  How to find and correct errors in a trial balance.  Record correcting entries in the general journal.  Define the ing introduced in this chapter.

THE GENERAL LEDGER What Do You Think? Why do you think an ing system uses a general ledger? It is a permanent record of business information organized by number. What is the benefit of organizing the general ledger by classification and number, not alphabetically?

It helps to find the s easily

THE GENERAL LEDGER Main Idea The general ledger is a permanent record organized by number.

You Will Learn  how to set up the general ledger.  how managers use journals and ledgers.

THE GENERAL LEDGER Key  posting  general ledger  ledger forms

THE GENERAL LEDGER Setting Up the General Ledger  s used by a business are kept on separate pages or cards in a book or file called a ledger.  It is important for a number of reasons:  This creates a record of the impact of business transactions on each used by a business.  Helps managers easily find the current balance of a specific .

THE GENERAL LEDGER Step 4: Posting Information in a journal entry is posted to the general ledger to provide a clear picture of how a business transaction changes an ’s balance.

THE GENERAL LEDGER Setting Up the General Ledger Posting is the process of transferring information from the journal to individual ledger s. It is the process by which random transactions become organized in a manner according to s.

THE GENERAL LEDGER Setting Up the General Ledger All transactions must be moved to a permanent record organized by number called a general ledger. This information is continually used by managers. It provides up-to-date balances for each , including s payable and receivable:  In a computerized system, electronic files are still referred to as a ledger, or the ledger s.  Managers use ledgers to obtain summarized information.

THE GENERAL LEDGER The Four-Column Ledger Form In a manual ing system, information about specific s is recorded in ledger forms:  The forms are defined by the number of columns into which a dollar amount goes.  Debit and credit amounts are posted from journal entries to the first two amount columns.  The new balance is entered in one of the last two amount columns.  The type of determines which balance column to use.

THE GENERAL LEDGER The Four-Column Ledger Form The four-column ledger form has spaces to enter the name, the number, the date, a description of the entry, and the posting reference.

Why is the Posting Reference column helpful? It helps trace the transactions back to a particular journal for reference

THE GENERAL LEDGER s in the Ledger Before journal entries can be posted, a general ledger is opened for each listed on the chart of s Opening a General Ledger Two steps are required 1. Write the name at the top of the ledger form 2. Write the number on the ledger form These two steps are performed each time a ledger page is needed for a new



Date

Cash in Bank Description



Date

No. Post Ref.

Debit

Balance

Credit

Debit

Post Ref.

Debit

2

Credit

s Receivable – City News Description

101

No.

105

____________

Balance Debit Credit

Credit

1 s Receivable – Green Company

Date

Description

Post Ref.

Debit

Credit

No.

110

Balance Debit

Credit

These three General Ledger s are the first three asset s on Roadrunner’s chart of s (pg. 79)

THE GENERAL LEDGER Starting a new page for an existing When a ledger page is filled, continue posting on the next page Six 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

steps are required to “open” a new page: Write the name at the top of the ledger form Write the number on the ledger form Enter the complete date (year, month, day) in the date column Write the word “Balance” in the description column Place a check mark in the posting reference column to show the amount entered on this line is not being posted from a journal 6. Enter the balance in the appropriate balance column.  

Usually asset, expense, and owner withdrawals have debit balances Liability, owner’s capital, and revenue s have credit balances

Cash in Bank Date

1

Description

No. Post Ref.

Debit

Credit

101

Balance Debit

Credit

3 20-Oct. 31 Balance 4

✓

5

2

6 21 1 2 5 00

DO THE MATH Delivery Equipment: $16,000 Delivery Income: $8,000

7-1 Cash in Bank, $10,000, Debit s Receivable—Mark Cohen, $2,000, Debit s Payable—Jenco Industries, $1 ,000, Credit Tom Torrie, Capital, $35,000, Credit issions Revenue, $0

THE GENERAL LEDGER Key  posting The process of transferring information from the journal to individual general ledger s.  general ledger A permanent record organized by number.  ledger form The ing stationery used to record financial information about specific s.

7.2 THE POSTING PROCESS

THE POSTING PROCESS What Do You Think? Why is posting necessary since the transaction is recorded in the general journal? Posting updates balances into useful information

What Do You Think? The general journal is the book of original entry. What is the book of final entry? The general ledger

THE POSTING PROCESS Main Idea Posting is the process of transferring information from the journal to individual s in the ledger.

You Will Learn  how to post transactions to the general ledger.  how to compute balances.

THE POSTING PROCESS Posting Transactions Journal entries do not show a clear picture of how a business transaction changes an ’s balance. Posting shows the final impact on an , which is why a ledger is sometimes called a book of final entr y:  Posting intervals are determined by the size of the business, and whether the ing system is computerized or manual  The posting process always remains the same  The process is always performed from left to right

THE POSTING PROCESS Posting to the Roadrunner General Ledger There are six steps required for posting journal entries to a ledger: 1. Enter the date of the journal entry in the Date column. 2. The Description column is usually left blank, but can be used to write in the source document. 3. Enter journal letter and page number in Post. Ref. column. 4. Enter the debit amount in the Debit column. 5. Compute the new balance. 6. Enter the number in the general journal Post. Ref. column. 7. Repeat steps 1-6 for the credit part of the journal entry.

THE POSTING PROCESS What Do You Think? When posting the debit part of the journal entry, what is the last thing to do before moving on to the credit part of the journal? Enter number of debited in the Post. Ref. column of the general journal When you post transactions, what direction does the process move? Left to right If the Description column on the ledger is usually left blank, where would you look to find the source document reference for the transaction? Book of original entry, or the general journal

THE POSTING PROCESS What Do You Think? What is the purpose of the notation in the Post. Ref. column for the general journal It shows the to which the entry was posted and indicates the posting has been completed for that line

FIGURE 7-6 Have all these journal entries been posted to the general ledger? Yes How can you tell from the general journal form? The Post. Ref. column contains the numbers Nice transactions af fected the Cash in Bank . What is the balance of this ? (assume no beginning balance existed) $21 ,125

FIGURE 7-7 What do the first six s all have in common? All s are assets and have normal debit balances All the entries posted in these s came from what page of the general journal? Page 1 What kind of transaction took place on Oct. 11? Sale on What kind of transaction took place on Oct. 14? Receipt on

THE POSTING PROCESS Computing a New Balance A new balance is computed each time a transaction is posted to an . When the existing balance is a debit, and  the amount posted is a debit, ADD the amounts.  the amount posted is a credit, SUBTRACT the amounts. When the existing balance is a credit, and  the amount posted is a debit, SUBTRACT the amounts.  the amount posted is a credit, ADD the amounts.

THE POSTING PROCESS Computing a New Balance A ledger with several postings .

If an additional debit entry of $100 had been posted on Oct. 20, what would the Oct. 31 balance have been? $24,600 (25,000+100-500)

THE POSTING PROCESS Computing a New Balance A ledger with a zero balance .

Green Company paid its due on Oct. 14. Why is the line drawn in the Debit column of this ? This has a normal debit balance

7-2 balances: Cash in Bank $10,000, Debit David Serlo, Capital $10,000, Credit

7.2 REVIEW

Cash in Bank Date

Description

No. Post Ref.

Debit

Credit

Balance Debit

20-Oct. 1 14

Balance

15 5 3 0 00 G2

2 4 2 1 00

What is the new balance after the Oct. 14 transaction? $13,109

101

Credit

7.3 PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Main Idea To learn how to create a trial balance and correct mistakes that are made in the general ledger.

You Will Learn  the steps in preparing a trial balance.  how to find and correct errors in a trial balance.

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Key  proving the ledger  trial balance  transposition error  slide error  correcting entry

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Step 5: The Trial Balance In order for an ing system to work ef ficiently, it is important to the necessary steps to keep it in balance:  Calculating the balance.  Finding any errors that may have occurred.  Using general rules and guidelines to narrow down where and why the mistake was made.  Correcting the mistake.

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Step 5: The Trial Balance Once the journal entries have been properly posted to the ledger, the sum of the debits should equal the sum of the credits. The final figures should be the same; this is called proving the ledger.

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Step 5: The Trial Balance To prove the ledger, ants prepare a list of all the names and their current balances. This list is called the trial balance.

If the totals are equal, the trial balance is in balance. If they are not, try adding the columns up again. If there is still a mistake, it must be corrected.

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Finding an Error If there is an error, one possibility may be that two numbers were reversed when recording the information from the journal, called a transposition error.

One way to help check for these kinds of errors is if the dif ference between the credits and the debits is evenly divisible by 9. An example of this is if $469 was written as $496.

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Finding an Error Moving a decimal point by mistake is called a slide error. An example is if you were to write $25,000 instead of $2,500.

Glencoe ing Unit 2 Chapter 7 Copyright © by The McGrawHill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Correcting Entries If a mistake is made, it will have to be corrected with a correcting entry. These are made after the journal entry has been posted, and should never be erased. The proper procedure is:  To post the entry in the ledger the same as any other entry.  Use the words correcting entry in the description column.

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Correcting Entries in the general journal Looking at the T , the $100 to Cash in Bank was correct but Maintenance Expense was incorrectly debited for $100.

To correct the error, Maintenance Expense is credited $100 and Utilities Expense is debited $100

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Correcting Entries in ledger s Similar to any other posting. In the description column, the words Correcting Entry are written

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Figure 7-11 Since the debit part of the entry was incorrectly posted to Maintenance Expense originally, is this debited or credited in the correcting entry? Credited Figure 7-12 What would be the resulting balance after the correcting entry has been made? 0

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Do the Math Line 1: slide Line 2: omission Line 3: transposition Line 4: transposition Line 5: no error Line 6: omission Problem 7-3 May 20: Debit Of fice Equipment $1 ,500; Credit Computer Equipment $1 ,500; Memo. 47 Problem 7-4 July 7: Debit Advertising Expense $300; Credit Rent Expense $300; Memo. 13

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Key Review  proving the ledger Adding all debit balances and all credit balances of ledger s, and then comparing the two totals to see whether they are equal.  trial balance A list of all the general ledger names and balances; it is prepared to prove the ledger.  transposition error Error that occurs when two digits within an amount are accidentally reversed, or transposed.

PREPARING A TRIAL BALANCE Key Review  slide error Error that occurs when a decimal point is moved by mistake.  correcting entry An entry made to correct an error in a journal entry discovered after posting.

REVIEW Question 1 You have just completed a trial balance and the columns are not equal. List the steps that you would use to find the error.

REVIEW Answer 1 Step 1: Check the addition in each column. Step 2: Find the difference between the amounts in the Debit and Credit columns. If the difference is 10, 100, etc., you probably have made an addition error. Step 3: If the difference found in Step 2 is divisible by 9, you probably have made a slide or transposition error. Step 4: Check to see whether any of the general ledger s has a balance equal to the difference found in Step 2.

REVIEW Answer 1 Step 5: Check to see whether any of the general ledger s has a balance equal to one-half of the difference. This would indicate that you may have moved a debit balance to the credit side of the trial balance or vice versa. Step 6: Check the accuracy of the general ledger s by recalculating the balances. Step 7: Check the individual postings from the general journal to the general ledger to make sure you have correctly posted the amounts and posted debits as debits and credits as credits.

REVIEW Question 2 Is it possible to have amounts in both the Debit and Credit balance columns of a four -column ledger ? No, the balance columns exist to show the cumulative ef fect of debits and credits to an . If debits exceed credits, the will have a debit balance, which is entered in the Debit column. If credits exceed debits, the will have a credit balance, which is entered in the Credit column.

REVIEW Question 3 Revenue: $18,000 Cash in Bank: $25,350 Mi Lee, Capital: $17,450 Salaries Expense: $10,100 What are the totals of the debit and credit columns of the trial balance?

$35,450