Chapter 4
Keeping Journals
IN THIS CHAPTER
Starting things off with point of original entry
Tracking cash, sales, and purchases
Posting to the appropriate accounts
Simplifying the journals process with computers
When it comes to doing your books, you must start somewhere. You could take a shortcut and list every transaction in the affected accounts, but after recording hundreds and maybe thousands of transactions in just one month, imagine what a nightmare you’d face if your books didn’t balance and you had to find the error. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack — a haystack of numbers!
Because you enter every transaction in two places — that is, as a debit in one account and a credit in another account — in a double-entry bookkeeping system, you need to have a place where you can easily match those debits and credits. (For more on the double-entry system, see Book 1, Chapter 1.)
Long ago, bookkeepers developed a system of journals to give businesses a starting point for each transaction. This chapter introduces you to the process of journalizing your transactions; ...
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