Special Journals: Sales and Cash
Receipts
Chapter 16
▫ Special journals have amount columns that are
Using
Journals
usedSpecial
to record debits
and credits to specific
general ledger accounts
▫ Most transactions are recorded on one line
▫ Special journals simplify the journalizing and
posting process
Journal
Transaction
Sales journal
Sale of merchandise on account
Cash receipts journal
Receipt of cash
Purchases journal
Purchase of any asset on account
Cash payments journal
Payment of cash, including payment by check
Pg 450
Journalizing and Posting to the Sales
Journal
• Sales journal is for recording sales of
merchandise on account
Pgs 450-453
Completing the Sales Journal
• All special journals have amount columns used
to record debits and credits to specific general
ledger accounts.
• Instead of posting each transaction separately to
the general ledger, the column totals are posted.
• Therefore, only three postings are made to the
general ledger from the sales journal.
Pg 453
Pg 454-455
Posting Sales Tax Payable and Accounts
Receivable Totals
Pgs 455-456
Forwarding Totals to New Page
Pg 457
Pg 459-460
Cash Receipts Journal
• To keep the customer account balances current, the entries in the AT Credit
column are posted daily to the Accounts Receivable Subsidiary Ledger.
• The entries in the General Credit column are posted daily to the individual
general ledger accounts
• At month-end, all special amount column totals are posted to the general
ledger accounts named in the headings.
Receiving Cash for payment of Account
Receivable
Receiving Cash for Payment
of Accounts Receivable with
Discount
Receiving Cash for Sales
Pgs 460-461
Bankcard Sales
Receipt of cash for other
than AR or Bankcard
Pgs462-463
Posting to the Accounts
Receivable Subsidiary Ledger
Posting to the
General Ledger
Pgs 463-464
Completed Cash Receipt Journal
The only column not posted as a total is the General Credit column.
Those transactions are posted individually.
Pg 465
Proving the AR Subsidiary Ledger
• The Accounts Receivable account is the
Controlling Account for all AR Subsidiary
Accounts
• All accounts are included in alphabetical order,
even those with a zero balance.
• The Schedule of Accounts Receivable report is
usually prepared at the end of each month.
Pg 466
Schedule of Accounts Receivable
Pgs 467-468
Detecting Errors in the Subsidiary
Ledger
• Proving the AR Subsidiary Ledger with the
controlling account verifies that the sum of the
subsidiary ledger equals the controlling
account’s ending balance.
▫ Certain errors will be apparent such as: a
transaction that wasn’t posted or a miscalculation
of account balance.
▫ It doesn’t ensure that transactions were posted to
the correct customer account.
Pg 468