A General Ledger identifies each account individually and includes posted transactions and balances.◦ Posting is the process of transferring original entries from the

journal to the ledger Includes details of all transactions for each account. Grouped by account. ◦ There is a general ledger account for each account that is part

of the Chart of Accounts See blank General Ledger excel file

Create the General Ledger Accounts◦General Ledger forms provided

Beginning balances should be recorded for those accounts that have them.

Sample case: Three accounts have beginning balance:◦Cash (debit) $10,000◦ Supplies (debit) $500◦Owners Name, Capital (credit) $10,500.◦All other accounts begin with a zero balance.

See provided solution: Beginning Balance Sheet

The Multicolumn Journal is used for original entry into the accounting system.

Every transaction must be recorded in the journal as the first step in recording transactions.

All transaction records originate in the Journal, from which they are posted to the General Ledger and advanced through the Accounting Cycle.

Each transaction has a Debit and a Credit entry that will always equal each other◦Debit means “left” and Credit means “right”

Nothing more, nothing less See provided blank Multicolumn Journal

Efficient way of recording frequently occurring transactions.

Only the totals of the special columns need to be posted. ◦ Significantly decreases the amount of time required to post the

Journal entries to the General Ledger. Some transactions do not make use of a special column

and must be listed individually in the GENERAL columns.

See provided blank Multicolumn Journal