How to post to the general ledger
ABC’s controller creates a posting entry to move the total of these sales into the general ledger with a $300,000 debit to the accounts receivable account and a $300,000 credit to the revenue account. From the perspective of closing the books, posting is one of the key procedural steps required before financial statements can be created. In this process, all adjusting entries to the various subledgers and general journal must be made, after which their contents are posted to the general ledger. It is customary at this point to set a lock-out flag in the accounting software, so that no additional changes to the subledgers and journals can be made for the accounting period being closed. Access to the subledgers and journals is then opened for the next accounting period.
As a smaller grocery store, Colfax does not offer the variety of products found in a larger supermarket or chain. You can see that a journal has columns labeled debit and credit. The debit is on the left side, and the credit is on the right.
This shows where the account stands after each transaction, as well as the final balance in the account. How do we know on which side, debit or credit, to input each of these balances? Let’s say a company has $3,000 worth of rent expenses per month that needs to be posted for the annual general ledger. A subsidiary ledger would contain details of the rent expenses, including a line item per month debited in “Rent” and credited in “Accounts Payable”. To post a journal entry, the first step is indeed to identify the ledger account where the debited account will appear. The recording of debits or credits is the next step in the posting process.
- Accounts Receivable has a credit of $5,500 (from the Jan. 10 transaction).
- You will notice that the transaction from January 3 is listed already in this T-account.
- The date of each transaction related to this account is included, a possible description of the transaction, and a reference number if available.
- You notice there are already figures in Accounts Payable, and the new record is placed directly underneath the January 5 record.
Journalizing Transactions
Accountants use special forms called journals to keep track of their business transactions. A journal is the first place information is entered into the accounting system. A journal is often referred to as the book of original entry because it is the place the information originally enters into the system. A journal keeps a historical account of all recordable transactions with which the company has engaged. In other words, a journal is similar to a diary for a business. When you enter information into a journal, we say you are journalizing the entry.
What is the General Ledger?
The general ledger, in turn, is used to aggregate information into the financial statements of a business. On this transaction, Accounts Receivable has a debit of $1,200. The record is placed on the debit side of the Accounts Receivable T-account underneath the January 10 record. The record is placed on the credit side of the Service Revenue T-account underneath the January 17 record. This is posted to the Cash T-account on the credit side beneath the January 18 transaction.
Calculating Account Balances
This is posted to the Unearned Revenue T-account on the credit side. On January 3, there was a debit balance of $20,000 in the Cash account. Since both are on the debit side, they will be added together to get a balance on $24,000 (as is seen in the balance column on the January 9 row).
Posting has been eliminated in some accounting systems, where subledgers are not used. Instead, all information is directly stored in the accounts listed in the general ledger. Posting refers to the process of transferring an entry from a journal to a ledger account.
Trial Balance
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On January 12, there was a credit of $300 included in the Cash ledger account. Since this figure is on the credit side, this $300 is subtracted from the previous balance of $24,000 to get a new balance of $23,700. The same process occurs for the rest of the entries in the ledger and their balances.
Post the Entry Details
If posting accidentally does not occur as part of the closing process, the totals in the general ledger will not be accurate, nor will the financial statements that are compiled from the general ledger. The final step is to cross verify the balances and recheck whether there are any mathematical errors; if any of the errors are found, rectify them to maintain proper records. Transfer in general ledger takes place with the name of the account and amount carried forward in subledger or general journal along with entry details. As of October 1, 2017, Starbucks had a total of $1,288,500,000 in stored value card liability.
This is placed on the debit side of the Salaries Expense T-account. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the type of accrued rent journal entry information companies report each year. Peruse Best Buy’s 2017 annual report to learn more about Best Buy.
This is posted to the Accounts Receivable T-account on the debit side. This is posted to the Service Revenue T-account on the credit side. This is posted to the Equipment T-account on the debit side. This is posted to the Accounts Payable T-account on the credit side. This is posted to the Cash T-account on the debit side (left side). This is posted to the Common Stock T-account on the credit side (right side).
The balances related to balance sheet items are to be transferred to the general ledger account. It helps keep the updated records, but with the advancement of technology and the availability of various software, the posting in balance has become the traditional concept. In the journal entry, Utility Expense has a debit balance of $300.