General Ledger In Lesson 4 we used T-Accounts to record the transactions for ABC, the lawn mowing guys. What you didn't know at the time is that we were actually recording transactions in General Ledger Accounts. A General Ledger is just a formal set of T-Accounts. Each account that we want to track and keep up with has a separate page or pages maintained in a record book called the General Ledger. The book is organized into major sections just like the Accounting Equation that we studied in previous lessons. Do you have any idea what these sections might be ? Come on this question is not that hard. The general ledger's major sections are Assets, Liabilities, Owner's Equity, Revenues, Expenses, and Draws. For each item (account) in our General Ledger, we record the increases and decreases for a period (usually a month) and calculate its ending balance. The ending balance of the account is easily determined by adding the increases and subtracting the decreases from the account's beginning period balance. Ending Account Balance = Beginning Balance + Increases - Decreases If you noticed in my above equation I used the terms increases and decreases. If you also recall in our discussion about debits and credits in Lesson 3, I tried to stress the fact that when applied to bookkeeping these terms need to be associated with the types of accounts. We also should know by now that the type of accounts have a normal balance that is either a debit or credit balance. So actually the above equation is stated in two ways. The equation is stated one way for debit balance accounts, and another way for credit balance accounts. Using our bookkeeping terms debits and credits, we come up with the following equations: Debit Balance Accounts Equation Ending Account Balance for Normal Debit Balance Accounts = Beginning Balance + Debits(Increases) - Credits(Decreases) Credit Balance Accounts Equation Ending Account Balance for Normal Credit Balance Accounts = Beginning Balance + Credits(Increases) - Debits(Decreases) Simply stated a General Ledger is just a book containing the summarized financial transactions and balances of the accounts for all of a business's assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expense accounts. One other record that goes hand in hand with the general ledger and that we've touched on before and used in the prior lesson is The Chart Of Accounts. Remember The Chart Of Accounts is simply a listing of all the accounts in the general ledger that contains the account's name, a brief description of the account, and usually an account number assigned to aid in recording and tracking transactions. It's chief purpose is to serve as an aid (reference) for looking up accounts and their associated account numbers. For this lesson, we expanded our chart of accounts by adding account numbers and grouped the numbers into ranges that represent the major type of accounts. Chart Of Accounts For ABC Mowing Note:The charts of accounts used in this tutorial were purposely kept simple and used to illustrate what the chart of accounts is and how it's used. For those of you that are curious, I've provided a detailed list of the accounts you might encounter in the "real" world. Balance Sheet Accounts Income Statement Accounts You might also want to check out my tutorial So, you want to learn Bookkeeping! - Chart Of Accounts. Normally a numbering system is set up with a range of numbers for assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expense accounts. ABC Assets have a range from 100-199 ;Liabilities a range from 200-299; Equity a range from 300-399, Revenues a range from 400-499, and Expenses a range from 500-599. Assets (100-199) Account Name:Cash Account Number:100 Description:Currency and checks and balance in bank Account Name:Accounts Receivable Account Number:110 Description:Amounts due from customer's for services rendered Account Name:Inventory-Office Supplies Account Number:115 Description:On hand supplies of such items as copier & computer paper, pens, pencils and other office supplies Account Name:Mowing Equipment Account Number:150 Description:Mowers purchased Liabilities (200-299) Account Name:Accounts Payable Account Number:200 Description:Amounts owed suppliers for business purchases and expenses Account Name:Note Payable-Bank Account Number:210 Description:Mortgages and loans owed to bank Equity (300-399) Account Name:Owner's Capital Account Number:300 Description:Amounts invested by owner and earned by operations Account Name:Owner's Draws Account Number:310 Description:Amounts withdrawn by owner for personal expenses Revenue (400-499) Account Name:Mowing Revenues Account Number:400 Description:Earnings from mowing yards Expenses (500-699) Account Name:Advertising Expense Account Number:510 Description:Expenditures for TV, radio, newspaper, and other promotions. Account Name:Mulch Expense Account Number:520 Description:Expenditures for mulch used for yard work Of course most businesses have many more than our eleven accounts we used for our sample ABC business. Can you think of some other accounts that we might need and want ? How about telephone, utilities, professional fees (that's me), salaries & wages, equipment rental, building rental, maintenance & repairs, contract labor, office equipment just to name a few. Back To The General Ledger What Information does a General Ledger Page contain ? Name of Account and Account Number Date of Posting Description-additional notes about the entry if needed Posting Reference-journals name (abbreviation) , page, and entry reference Amounts of the debits or credits transferred Current Balance of the Account Sample of a General Ledger Page The Posting Reference GJ-1-1 refers to: GJ-General Journal 1-Page 1 1-Entry Number 1 Click on the posting reference to see the journal entry Account Name:Cash Account Number:100 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Amount Credit Amount Balance Jan 1, xxxx Beg Bal       5000 Jan 5, xxxx   GJ-1-1   1000 4000 Jan 8, xxxx   GJ-1-2 200   4200 Jan 10, xxxx   GJ-1-3   400 3800                                                                                                 Return To General Ledger Check Notice that the account has an amount column for debits (left side or first column) and an amount column for credits (right side or second column). General Journal Journals are preliminary records where business transactions are first entered into the accounting system. The journal is commonly referred to as the book of original entry. Specialized Journals-are journals used to initially record special types of transactions such as sales, cash disbursements, and cash receipts in their own journal. The end result of double entry bookkeeping is having an up to date , in balance, and properly posted Ledger. In our prior lessons we recorded all our debits and credits (transactions) directly in the General Ledger. This would work for a small business that had very few transactions but would become unwieldy for most businesses with any volume of activity. By its very definition the General Ledger is supposed to be a summary record of a business's financial transactions. It logically follows that since we only want summary amounts in our Ledger we need to record our detail entries some place else first. What record(s) do we use to do this ? You're right ! Journals are our preliminary records. All our transactions are first entered in a preliminary record called a journal or book of original entry. This process is called journalizing. After our business transactions have been entered in our journal(s), they are then periodically (usually monthly) summarized and totaled and then transferred (posted) to the General Ledger as summary entries. What type of information is included in the Journal Record ? Entry Number Date of each transaction Names and/or the account numbers of the accounts to be debited or credited Amounts of the debits and credits Posting Reference-Account Number in the General Ledger Explanation or description of the entry The journals contain all the chronological (by date) information necessary to record debit and credit amounts in the accounts of the General Ledger. Sample of A General Journal Page General Journal Page 1 Entry No Date Account Name Post Ref. Debit Credit GJ-1-1 Jan 5, xxxx Supplies 502 1000       Cash 100   1000 Record Supplies Expense GJ-1-2 Jan 8, xxxx Cash 100 200       Sales 300   200 Record Cash Sale GJ-1-3 Jan 10, xxxx Advertising Expense 500 400       Cash 100   400 Record Advertising Expense GJ-1-4 Jan 20, xxxx Utilities   650       Cash     650 Record Utilities Expense Click On the posting reference (account number) to see the entry posted in the sample General Ledger (only for posting reference Account No:100 Cash ) Do you notice anything odd about any of our entries in our General Journal ? Look at entry number 4 (GJ-1-4). It doesn't have a posting reference. Why not ? The answer is simple. Entry Number 4 has not yet been posted to the General Ledger. This is our way of keeping up with what entries have and have not been posted to the General Ledger. Check me out to see if I'm telling the truth General Ledger Check Remember ABC ? Yeah, it's the mowing guys. Navigation: Interactive Links are included in the following Beginning Balances Table. Click on the Underlined Dollar Amounts (Links) to see the Beginning Amounts recorded in the appropriate General Ledger Accounts. ABC's Beginning Account Balances as of December 1, xxxx Assets Liabilities Equity Cash $5,500 Accounts Receivable $1,600 Mowing Equipment $2,500 Accounts Payable ($2,000) Owner's Capital ($7,500) Mowing Revenue ($1,000) Advertising Expense $200 Mulch Expense $100 Owner Draws $600 Note:Credit balances are indicated by using parentheses ( ). ABC Transactions for December xxxx Oh Shucks, those mowing guys again ! Notice that this time the check numbers, invoice numbers, and dates were added to the transaction descriptions. Navigation: Interactive Links are included in the following transaction list. Click on the Journal Entry Link to be taken to the Formal Journal Entry recorded for the transaction in the General Journal. The transaction will be the first one displayed in the Journal. 1. December 2, xxxx ABC mows a client's yard and receives a check # 484 from the customer for $50 for the service provided. Journal Entry 1 2. December 4, xxxx ABC purchases $100 worth of office supplies and stores them in their storage room. The office supply store gives them an invoice # 983 that allows them to pay for them in 15 days (on account). Journal Entry 2 3. December 8, xxxx ABC places an ad in the local newspaper receives the invoice from the supplier # 555 and writes a check # 900 for $25 to the newspaper. Journal Entry 3 4. December 10, xxxx ABC purchases five mowers for $10,000 and finances them with a note from the local bank. Journal Entry 4 5. December 15, xxxx ABC mows another customer's yard and sends their customer a $75 bill (invoice # 1000 ) for the service they performed. They allow their customer ten (10) days to pay them for this service (on account). Journal Entry 5 6. December 20, xxxx the owner of ABC needs a little money to pay some personal bills and writes himself a check # 901 for $500. Journal Entry 6 7. December 22, xxxx ABC pays the office supply company $100 with a check # 902 for the office supplies that they charged (promised to pay invoice # 983). Journal Entry 7 8. December 27, xxxx ABC receives a check # 55 from the customer who they billed (invoiced # 1000) $75 for services and allowed 10 days to pay. Journal Entry 8 9. December 29, xxxx ABC purchased some mulch for $60 and received an invoice # 777 from their supplier with terms of 15 days. The mulch was used on a customer's yard. Journal Entry 9 10. December 31, xxxx ABC bills (prepares an invoice # 1001 ) the customer $80 for the mulch and mowing his yard and receives a check for $80 # 555 from the customer. Journal Entry 10 General Journal The transactions for ABC are presented below in a formal General Journal. Review the entries and if you have any questions go back to Lesson 4 for detailed discussions for each of the transactions. The reference numbers refer to General Journal, Entry Number, and Page Number. GJ-1-1 means GJ (General Journal), Page 1, and Entry 1. The Posting Reference (Post Ref.) is the General Ledger Account Number taken from our Simple Chart Of Accounts. Navigation: Interactive Links are included in our following General Journal. Click on the Underlined Entry Number (GJ-1-1, etc.) to Return or be Taken To the Transaction Listing. Click on the Underlined Account Name Link or the Underlined Posting Reference (Account Number) Link to see the entry posted (transferred) from the General Journal to The General Ledger Account. General Journal Page 1 Entry Number Date Account Name Post Ref. Debit Credit GJ-1-1 Dec 2, xxxx Cash 100 50       Mowing Revenue 400   50 Record customer check # 484 and revenue from mowing job. GJ-1-2 Dec 4, xxxx Inventory-Office Supplies 115 100       Accounts Payable 200   100 Record invoice # 983 for office supplies purchased on account. GJ-1-3 Dec 8, xxxx Advertising Expense 510 25       Cash 100   25 Record check # 900 for advertising services GJ-1-4 Dec 10, xxxx Mowing Equipment 150 10000       Note Payable-Bank 210   10000 Record purchase of mowing equipment financed by bank note.   GJ-1-5 Dec 15, xxxx Accounts Receivable 110 75       Mowing Revenue 400   75 Invoice (# 1000) customer on account for revenue earned from mowing yard. GJ-1-6 Dec 20, xxxx Owner's Draw 310 500       Cash 100   500 Record owner's draw check # 901. GJ-1-7 Dec 22, xxxx Accounts Payable 200 100       Cash 100   100 Record check # 902 paid to supplier for office supplies charged on account (invoice # 983). GJ-1-8 Dec 27, xxxx Cash 100 75       Accounts Receivable 110   75 Record customer's check # 55 received from customer on account. GJ-1-9 Dec 29, xxxx Mulch Expense 520 60       Accounts Payable 200   60 Record mulch purchase/expense (invoice # 777) with credit terms. GJ-1-10 Dec 31, xxxx Cash 100 80       Mowing Revenue 400   80 Record check # 555 received from customer paying our invoice #1001 for mowing services. ABC's General Ledger Navigation: Interactive Links are included in the following General Ledger Accounts. Click on the Underlined Posting Reference Link (GJ-1-1,etc.) in the General Ledger Account to Return or Be Taken to the Related Journal Entry. Click on the Underlined Beginning Balance (Beg Bal.) Link to see where we got the Beginning Balances for our Accounts. Click on the Underlined Balance Link to see the entry entered in the Trial Balance. ABC's General Ledger with the transactions posted (transferred) from the General Journal follows. Assets Account Name:Cash Account Number:100 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       5500 Dec 2   GJ-1-1 50   5550 Dec 8   GJ-1-3   25 5525 Dec 20   GJ-1-6   500 5025 Dec 22   GJ-1-7   100 4925 Dec 27   GJ-1-8 75   5000 Dec 31   GJ-1-10 80   5080             Account Name:Accounts Receivable Account Number:110 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       1600 Dec 15   GJ-1-5 75   1675 Dec 27   GJ-1-8   75 1600                                                             Account Name:Inventory-Office Supplies Account Number:115 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       0 Dec 4   GJ-1-2 100   100                                                                         Account Name:Mowing Equipment Account Number:150 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       2500 Dec 10   GJ-1-4 10000   12500                                                                         Liabilities Account Name:Accounts Payable Account Number:200 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       (2000) Dec 4   GJ-1-2   100 (2100) Dec 22   GJ-1-7 100   (2000) Dec 29   GJ-1-9   60 (2060)                                                 Account Name:Note Payable-Bank Account Number:210 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       0 Dec 10   GJ-1-4   10000 (10000)                                                                         Equity Account Name:Owner's Capital Account Number:300 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       (7500)                                                                                     Account Name:Owner's Draws Account Number:310 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       600 Dec 20   GJ-1-6 500   1100                                                                         Revenue & Expense Account Name:Mowing Revenue Account Number:400 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       (1000) Dec 2   GJ-1-1   50 (1050) Dec 15   GJ-1-5   75 (1125) Dec 31   GJ-1-10   80 (1205)                                                 Account Name:Advertising Expense Account Number:510 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       200 Dec 8   GJ-1-3 25   225                                                                         Account Name:Mulch Expense Account Number:520 Date Description Post Ref. Debit Credit Balance Dec 1 Beg Bal.       100 Dec 29   GJ-1-9 60   160                                                                         Trial Balance We used a Trial Balance at the end of Lesson 4 to check our postings. I just didn't tell you at the time. Let's review the formal definition. A Trial Balance is a listing of all the accounts appearing in the general ledger with the dollar amount of the debit or credit balance of each. It is used to make sure the books are "in balance" -total debits and credits are equal. A trial balance is just a worksheet that bookkeeper's and accountants prepare from the General Ledger to check that the books (General Ledger) are in balance (Debit Account Balances = Credit Account Balances). Let's prepare our trial balance for ABC at the end of December. Navigation: Interactive Links are included in our Trial Balance. Click on the Underlined Account Name Link to go to the Ending Balance in the General Ledger Accounts. Account Debit Balances Credit Balances Asset Accounts Cash 5080   Accounts Receivable 1600   Inventory-Office Supplies 100   Mowing Equipment 12500     Liability Accounts Accounts Payable   2060 Note Payable-Bank   10000   Equity Accounts Owner's Capital   7500 Owner's Draws 1100     Revenue Accounts Mowing Revenue   1205   Expense Accounts Mulch Expense 160   Advertising Expense 225     Totals 20765 20765 Sure enough our debit balances equal our credit balances. How did we determine what account balances had a debit balance and what account balances had a credit balance ? It was easy because we used the parentheses ( ) to denote that an account balance was a credit. Therefore, all the balances that are not enclosed in parentheses make up our Debit Balance Accounts and all the balances enclosed in parentheses make up our Credit Balance Accounts. So you know ! We covered this earlier; but, it's worth repeating. In this lesson we used parentheses ( ) to indicate credits. Remember that this is just one of the methods used for indicating debits and credits and whether an account's balance is a Debit or a Credit. Ways and symbols you might run across are: Dr for Debit and Cr for Credit + (Plus Sign) for Debit and - (Minus Sign) for Credit No Bracket for Debit and < > (Brackets) for Credit No Parentheses for Debit and ( ) (Parentheses) for Credit Symbol Indicates a Debit Indicates a Credit Dr / Cr Dr Cr + / - + - No Bracket / Bracket < >   < > No Parentheses / Parentheses ( )   ( ) Note: The plus (+) and minus (sign) are often used by accounting and bookkeeping programs to indicate debits and credits. Don't get confused and think that the plus sign means an increase or that the minus sign means a decrease. They do not. In this case, they are simply symbols that mean either a debit or a credit. Normal Balances for the Types of Accounts Just to keep you on your toes - do you recall what type of accounts normally have a debit or credit balance ? Assets, Expenses, and Draws normally have Debit Balances. Liabilities, Owner's Capital, and Revenue accounts normally have Credit Balances. Need proof ? Refer back to our preceding Trial Balance for ABC. The Trial Balance has a column for Debit Balance Accounts and a column for Credit Balance Accounts. Sure enough, our Assets, Owner's Draws, and Expense Type of Accounts are listed in the Debit Balance Column. Likewise, our Liability, Owner's Capital, and Revenue Type of Accounts are listed in the Credit Balance Column. How do you initially determine that an Account has a Debit or Credit Balance ? This is simply a matter of determining if the Account has more Debit Amounts Posted or More Credit Amounts Posted. If More Debits Than Credits have been posted to the Account, the Account will have a Debit Balance. Likewise, if More Credits Than Debits have been posted to the Account, the Account will have a Credit Balance. You have now been introduced to some of bookkeeping and accounting's formal records, namely the General Ledger and General Journal. You could get by with just these two records, but if your business like most has many transactions instead of the few that ABC had you'd be spending a heck of a lot of time recording and posting. What's the solution to streamlining the recording and posting processes. Remember when I introduced Journals in this lesson where I briefly mentioned Special Journals ? Well, they are the solution. Some Special Journals a business will normally have are: Cash Receipts Journal Cash Disbursements Journal (Check Register) Payroll Journal Sales Journal Purchase Journal General Journal All these journals are designed to record special types of business transactions and post the totals accumulated in these journals to the General Ledger periodically (usually once a month). Instead of using just one journal to record all our business transactions we use many. Although this tutorial is not going to discuss the Special Journals I wanted to make you aware of them and the purpose they serve. If you want to learn more about Special Journals, my So, you want to learn Bookkeeping - Special Journals tutorial covers this topic. Before we move on to Lesson 6, since they say that a picture's worth a thousand words, let's use a picture to illustrate the flow of information (business transactions) into our bookkeeping records. You're right Financial Statements haven't been discussed, but guess what's coming in Lesson 6 ? Source Documents provides the initial data about business transactions. Journals use the information from the source documents to create a chronological listing of all business transactions and detailed information about each transaction. General Ledger uses the information transferred from the journal(s) to summarize the data into individual accounts. Trial Balance uses the information from the General Ledger to summarize the data to use for preparing the Financial Statements. Financial Statements uses the summarized data contained in the Trial Balance to prepare the business's financial reports . Where's that darn light and quiz ? This reminds me of an ole American commercial about hamburgers with an ole lady driving up to a fast food window and after being served asking "Where's the beef ?". I do think you deserve a break; but, before we go get back under the light. Just a few questions and then you're free to take a break. Basic Bookkeeping-General Ledger and Journals We've been gradually climbing the ladder of bookkeeping knowledge. We're not at the top but we're getting there. Hang in there only a few more lessons left. <--BACK        NEXT--> Introduction Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Bean Counter