POSTING JOURNAL ENTRIES
TO GENERAL LEDGER
ACCOUNTS
Chapter 7
The General Ledger


Posting– The process of transferring information
from the journal to the General Ledger
General Ledger– Permanent record of accounts
organized by account number
 A.k.a.

– Book of final entry
Ledger Account Forms – Forms used to record
information about specific accounts
 Used
in a manual accounting system
Starting a Ledger Page

New Account
 Name,

Account Number, Date
Existing Account
 Name,
Account Number, Date
 BALANCE, $$, √
Account Balances

When using an Account with a DEBIT Balance
 If
the transaction is a debit, ADD the amounts
 If the transaction is a credit, SUBTRACT the amounts

When using an Account with a CREDIT Balance
 If
the transaction is a debit, SUBTRACT the amounts
 If the transaction is a credit, ADD the amounts
Account Balances

Zero Balances
 Indicated
by a line through the normal balance side of
the ledger
Preparing a Trial Balance

Proving the ledger – Comparing the total debit
balances with the total credit balances
 Debits

= Credits
Trial Balance – A list of all the account names and
their current balance
A
formal way to prove the ledger
Finding and Correcting Errors

Transposition Error – Two digits are accidentally
reversed.
 The
difference is divisible by 9
 52

written as 25; difference is 27; 27 is divisible by 9
Slide Error – Decimal point is in the wrong spot
 1800.00

becomes 180.00
Correcting Entry – A journal entry necessary to fix a
mistake.
 Used
only if error has been posted
Do I need to do a Correcting Entry?

3 types of errors
 Error
in a journal that is not posted
 Error
 Error
in posting when journal is correct
 Error
 Error
in journal that is posted
 Correcting
Entry