Accounting Principles, 7th Edition
Weygandt • Kieso • Kimmel
Chapter 7
Accounting Information
Systems
Prepared by Naomi Karolinski
Monroe Community College
and
Marianne Bradford
Bryant College
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. © 2005
CHAPTER 7
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1 Identify basic principles of accounting information
systems.
2 Explain the major phases in the development of an
accounting system.
3 Describe the nature and purpose of a subsidiary ledger.
4 Explain how special journals are used in journalizing.
5 Indicate how a multi-column journal is posted.
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
STUDY OBJECTIVE 1
Accounting information system (AIS)
• Collects and processes data.
• Disseminates financial information to
interested parties.
• Can either be manual or computerized.
PRINCIPLES OF AN EFFICIENT
AND EFFECTIVE ACCOUNTING
INFORMATION SYSTEM
PHASES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
AN ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
Study Objective 2
Analysis
Planning and
identifying information
needs and sources
Follow-up
Design
Monitoring and
correcting any
weaknesses
Creating forms,
documents, procedures,
job descriptions, and
reports
Implementation
Installing the system,
training personnel, and
making the system
wholly operational
MANUAL VS.
COMPUTERIZED SYSTEMS
• Small businesses– begin operations with manual accounting
systems and convert to computerized
systems as business grows
• To understand computerized accounting
systems– one must understand how manual
accounting systems work
SUBSIDIARY LEDGERS
STUDY OBJECTIVE 3
• A group of accounts
– With a common characteristic such as accounts
receivable is assembled
– Facilitates the recording process freeing the general
ledger from details concerning individual balances
• Two common subsidiary ledgers
– Accounts Receivable Ledger
– Accounts Payable Ledger
CONTROL ACCOUNT
• Control account
– General Ledger account which
summarizes subsidiary ledger data
• Subsidiary Ledger
– general ledger control account
balance equals the composite balance
of the individual accounts in the
subsidiary ledger
RELATIONSHIP OF GENERAL
LEDGERS AND SUBSIDIARY
ACCOUNTS
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
LEDGERS
GENERAL LEDGER
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE SUBSIDIARY LEDGER
Date
2005
Jan. 10
19
Ref.
Date
2005
Jan. 12
21
Ref.
Date
2005
Jan. 20
29
Ref.
Aaron Co.
Debit
Credit
6,000
4,000
Branden Inc.
Debit
Credit
3,000
3,000
Caron Co.
Debit
Credit
3,000
1,000
Balance
6,000
2,000
Date
2005
Jan. 31
31
Ref.
Accounts Receivable
Debit
Credit
12,000
8,000
Balance
12,000
4,000
Balance
3,000
–0–
The subsidiary ledger is separate
from the general ledger.
Balance
3,000
2,000
Accounts Receivable is
a control account.
SUBSIDIARY LEDGERS
Advantages
1 Shows transactions affecting one customer or
one creditor in a single account
2 Frees the general ledger of excessive details
3 Helps locate errors in individual accounts
4 Reduces the number of accounts in one
ledger and by using control accounts
5 Division of labor in posting
– One employee posts to the general ledger
– Another employee posts to the subsidiary ledger
SPECIAL JOURNALS
STUDY OBJECTIVE 4
• Special journals
– used to group similar types of transactions
– permits greater division of labor and reduces
time needed to complete the posting process
• If a transaction cannot be recorded in a
special journal, it is recorded in the
general journal.
USE OF SPECIAL JOURNALS
AND THE GENERAL JOURNAL
Sales
Journal
Cash Receipts
Journal
Purchases
Journal
Cash Payments
Journal
General
Journal
Used for:
Used for:
Used for:
Used for:
Used for:
All sales of
merchandise
on account
All cash
received
(including
cash sales)
All
purchases
of
merchandise
on account
All cash
paid
(including
cash
purchases)
Transactions
that cannot
be entered
in a special
journal,
including
correcting,
adjusting, and
closing entries
The types of special journals used depend
largely on the types of transactions that
occur frequently in a business enterprise.
JOURNALIZING THE SALES JOURNAL
PERPETUAL INVENTORY SYSTEM
• Under a perpetual inventory system, one entry at selling price in the Sales
Journal results in a debit to Accounts Receivable and a credit to Sales.
• Another entry at cost results in a debit to Cost of Goods Sold and a credit to
Merchandise Inventory.
• Only one line is needed to record each transaction and all entries are made from
sales invoices.
PROVING THE EQUALITY OF THE
POSTINGS FROM THE SALES
JOURNAL
To prove the ledgers it is necessary to determine that 1 the total of the
general ledger debit balances must equal the total of the general ledger
credit balances and 2 the sum of the subsidiary ledger balances must
equal the balance in the control account.
ADVANTAGES OF A
SALES JOURNAL
1 One-line entry
• saves time
• not necessary to write out four account titles
for each transaction
2 Only totals are posted to the general ledger
• saves posting time
• reduces the possibilities of errors in posting
3 Division of labor
• one individual may take responsibility for the
sales journal
CASH RECEIPTS JOURNAL
KARNS WHOLESALE SUPPLY
Cash Receipts Journal
Date
Accounts Credited
2005
May 1
D. A. Karns, Capital
7
10
12
Abbot Sisters
17
22
23
28
Babson Co.
Notes Payable
Carson Bros.
Deli Co.
Ref.
Cash
Dr.
Sales
Discounts
Dr.
Accounts
Receivable
Cr.
Sales
Cr.
5,000
1,900
10,388
2,600
Other
Accounts
Cr.
5,000
1,900
212
10,600
2,600
11,123
6,000
7,644
9,114
227
11,350
156
186
7,800
9,300
53,769
781
39,050
6,000
4,500
11,000
• Has debit columns for Cash , Sales Discounts, and Cost of
Goods Sold, and credit columns for Accounts Receivable,
Sales, Other Accounts, and Merchandise Inventory.
• Involves posting all column totals once at the end of the
month to the appropriate accounts.
• Note: The journal above doesn’t show the Cost of Goods
Sold Dr. and Merchandise Inventory Cr. column.
If a customer returns goods for credit, an
entry is normally made in the:
a. cash payments journal.
b. sales journal.
c. general journal.
d. cash receipts journal.
If a customer returns goods for credit, an
entry is normally made in the:
a. cash payments journal.
b. sales journal.
c. general journal.
d. cash receipts journal.
CASH RECEIPTS JOURNAL
– The total of the Other Accounts column is
not posted. The individual amounts
comprising the total are posted separately
to the general ledger accounts specified in
the Accounts Credited column
– The individual amounts in a column are
posted daily to the subsidiary ledger
account specified in the Accounts Credited
column
PROVING THE EQUALITY OF THE
CASH RECEIPTS JOURNAL
Debits
Cash
Sales Discounts
Cost of goods sold
Credits
$53,769
781
2,930
$57,480
Accounts Receivable
Sales
Other Accounts
Merchandise Inventory
$ 39,050
4,500
11,000
2,930
$ 57,480
When the journalizing of a multi-column journal has
been completed, the amount columns are totaled
(footing), and the totals are compared to prove the
equality of the debits and credits (cross-footing).
PROVING THE LEDGERS AFTER POSTING THE
SALES AND THE CASH RECEIPTS JOURNALS
STUDY OBJECTIVE 5
Accounts Receivable
Subsidiary Ledger
General Ledger
Debits
Abbot Sisters
Babson Co.
Deli Co.
$ 15,400
14,570
21,210
$ 51,180
After the posting of the
cash receipts journal is
completed, it is
necessary to prove the
ledgers. The general
ledger totals are in
agreement . Also, the
sum of the subsidiary
ledger balances equals
the control account
balance.
Cash
Accounts Receivable
Sales Discounts
Cost of Goods Sold
$ 53,769
51,180
781
65,120
$ 170,850
Credits
Notes Payable
D. A. Karns, Capital
Sales
Merchandise Inventory
$
6,000
5,000
94,730
65,120
$ 170,850
PURCHASES
JOURNAL
KARNS WHOLESALE SUPPLY
Purchases Journal
Date
2002
May 6
10
14
19
26
29
Account Credited
Jasper Manufacturing Inc.
Eaton and Howe Inc.
Fabor and Son
Jasper Manufacturing Inc.
Fabor and Son
Eaton and Howe Inc.
Terms
2/10, n/30
3/10, n/30
1/10, n/30
2/10, n/30
1/10, n/30
3/10, n/30
Ref.
Merchandise
Inventory Dr.
Accounts Payable Cr.
11,000
7,200
6,900
17,500
8,700
12,600
63,900
• Each entry results in a debit to Merchandise Inventory and a credit to Accounts Payable.
• All entries are made from purchase invoices.
• Postings are made daily to the accounts payable subsidiary journal and monthly to the general
ledger.
PROVING THE EQUALITY OF THE
PURCHASES JOURNAL
To prove the ledgers it is necessary to determine that 1 the
total of the general ledger debit balances equals the total of the
general ledger credit balances and 2 the sum of the subsidiary
ledger balances equals the balance in the control account.
CASH PAYMENTS
JOURNAL
KARNS WHOLESALE SUPPLY
Cash Payments Journal
Date
2002
May 1
3
8
10
19
23
28
30
Ck.
No.
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
Accounts Debited
Prepaid Insurance
Freight-in
Purchases
Jasper Manufacturing Inc.
Eaton and Howe Inc.
Fabor and Son
Jasper Manufacturing Inc.
D. A. Karns, Drawing
Ref.
Other
Accounts
Dr.
Accounts
Payable
Dr.
Merchandise
Inventory
Cr.
1,200
100
4,400
500
6,200
11,000
7,200
6,900
17,500
220
216
69
350
42,600
855
• Has multiple columns because of the multiple reasons that cash payments may be
made.
• Journalizing procedures are similar to cash receipts journal.
• All entries are made from pre-numbered checks.
• Posting procedures are also like the cash receipts journal.
Cash
Cr.
1,200
100
4,400
10,780
6,984
6,831
17,150
500
47,945
EFFECTS ON GENERAL JOURNAL
• Only transactions that cannot be entered
in a special journal are recorded in the
general journal.
• When the entry involves both control and
subsidiary accounts:
1 In journalizing, control and subsidiary
accounts must be identified.
2 In posting there must be a dual posting
(to the control account and subsidiary
ledger).
JOURNALIZING AND POSTING
THE GENERAL JOURNAL
Karns Wholesale Supply
GENERAL JOURNAL
Date
2005
May 31
Account Titles and Explanation
Accounts Payable — Fabor and Son
Merchandise Inventory
(Received credit for returned
goods)
Debit
Credit
500
500
GENERAL LEDGER
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SUBSIDIARY LEDGER
Date
2005
May 14
23
26
31
Ref.
P1
CP1
P1
G1
Fabor and Son
Debit
Credit
6,900
6,900
500
8,700
Balance
6,900
–0–
8,700
8,200
Date
Ref.
2005
May 31
P1
31 CP1
31
G1
Date
2005
May 31
Ref.
G1
Accounts Payable
Debit
Credit
63,900
42,600
500
Merchandise Inventory
Debit
Credit
500
Balance
63,900
21,300
20,800
Balance
(500)
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Postings from the purchases journal to the
subsidiary ledger are generally made:
a. yearly.
b. monthly.
c. weekly.
d. daily.
Postings from the purchases journal to the
subsidiary ledger are generally made:
a. yearly.
b. monthly.
c. weekly.
d. daily.