ACCT 121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: General Ledger, The Ledger, Financial Statement

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9 May 2020

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Document Summary

A general ledger contains all the asset, liability, and stockholders" equity accounts. Whenever we use the term ledger in this textbook, we are referring to the general ledger unless we specify otherwise. Standard form of account: the simple t-account form used in accounting textbooks is often very useful for illustration purposes. However, in practice, the account forms used in ledgers are much more structured: this format is called the three-column form of account. It has three money columns debit, credit, and balance. First in order are the asset accounts, followed by liability accounts, stockholders" equity accounts, revenues, and expenses. Each account is numbered for easier identification: the ledger provides the balance in each of the accounts. For example, the cash account shows the amount of cash available to meet current obligations.

Related Questions

This is for AC1420: Week 2 trial balance (ITT Tech) not sureexactly where to start if someone can help

Based on the lesson presentation and readings for this week,prepare a one- to two-page document listing a minimum of fiveadjusting entries to a trial balance, explaining the purpose ofeach of these entries.
Make sure you include both the debit and credit entry for eachadjusting entry. Specify in your response whether these entrieswill increase or decrease the profits in the current period.

Accounting Information Systems
Throughout the chapters of this book, you have been keeping trackof Team Shirtsâ transactions using an accounting equation worksheet. We can do that in a simple world with a small number oftransactions. In the real world, that wouldnât work very well. Acompany in the real world needs a better system to keep track ofthe large number of transactions represented in the four basicfinancial statements. A company may have an accounting system thatgathers only accounting informationâjust recording the informationthat applies to the financial statementsâand other informationsystems gathering information for marketing, production, and otherparts of the company. Alternatively, a company may have a single,integrated information system in which all company information isrecordedâdata about suppliers, employees, operations; and theaccounting information is simply a small part.
The firmâs accounting information is kept in the firmâs generalledger. The general ledger is the collection of a companyâsaccounts where the amounts from the firmâs transactions areorganized and stored. You can think of it as a big book with a pagefor every asset, liability, equity, revenue, and expense account.Later in this appendix, you will learn how transactions getrecorded in a companyâs general ledger. For years, the generalledger system was maintained by the accounting department as aseparate information system; and the other functional areas of thebusinessâmarketing, production, sales, etc.âeach had its own systemfor keeping track of the information it needed. Since thedevelopment of computers and software programs that can managelarge amounts of information, more and more companies are using asingle, integrated information system. Thus, instead of keepingtheir data separately, accountants may get rprise-wide resourceplanning system (ERP).
No matter how it is related to the rest of a firmâs informationsystem, the accounting system is still called the general ledgersystem. The same financial statements are produced with both thegeneral ledger and the integrated types of information systems. Inthis appendix, we will use the general ledger system, which wasdesigned as a manual system, to demonstrate how transactions arerecorded, classified, and summarized for the financialstatements.
The General Ledger Accounting System
Keeping track of financial information with a traditionalrecord-keeping system is often called bookkeeping. As transactionsoccur, they are recorded chronologically by a bookkeeper in a bookcalled a journal. When we prepare an accounting equation work sheetshowing the effect of each transaction on the accounting equation,we are doing something similar to recording a transac- tion in ajournal. The resources exchanged are shown with their dollaramounts. The journal con- tains a record of each transaction as itoccurs. An example is shown in Exhibit B.1. In the next section,youâll learn how the âdebitsâ and âcreditsâ columns are used. Fornow, just notice that all of the accounts affected by thetransaction are used in a journal entry. Most companies use morethan one journal; each department may have its own journal. Commonjournals are the (1) sales journal, (2) cash receipts journal, and(3) cash disbursements journal. For simplicity, weâll use a single,general journal for all our transactions.

ge 4: General Journal
Ref.
J-1
J-2
Date Journal entry Debits Credits
June 1 Cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 65,000 Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 65,000
To record the collection of cash for sales. June 4 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,600
Cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,600 To record the purchase of equipment for cash.
The journal entries are recorded chronologically. Then, theindividual items are âregroupedâ by account as they are posted tothe general ledger. Trace the cash amounts in the journal entriesto the general ledger cash account shown in Exhibit B.2 on page566. The amounts for sales and equipment will be posted to theirown general ledger accounts

Because a company may have hundreds or even thousands oftransactions during an account- ing period, it would be difficult,probably impossible, to try to gather and use the information froma chronological record such as the journal. To be useful, theinformation needs to be reorganized, grouping together transactionsthat involve the same account. For example, when all the transac-tions that involve cash are grouped together, then the companyâscash balance can be easily deter- mined. As you can see from thatexample, it is useful for similar transactions to be groupedtogether. The transactions from the journal or journals aretransferred to another book called the general ledger through aprocess called posting the transactions to the general ledger.Posting is done periodically; it could be daily, weekly, ormonthly, depending on the size of the company.
The general ledger is the primary record of the financialinformation of the business. It is organized by accounts. As youread earlier in this book, an account is the basic classificationunit of accounting information. You can think of each financialstatement item as an account, and each account as a page in thegeneral ledger. On the page for a particular account, we record allthe additions to, and deductions from, that account.
For example, one account in the general ledger is cash. On the cashpage in the general ledger, we find every cash collection and everycash disbursement made by the company. If there are moredisbursements or collections than can fit on one page, they will berecorded on as many following pages as needed, all comprising thecash account. To make it easy to find the amount of cash on hand,the cash account has a running balance. That means a new balance iscalculated after every entry. Think about your own checkbookâthatâsthe record you keep of each check you write (a subtraction); eachdeposit you make (an addition); and the resulting total remainingin your checking account (thatâs your running balance). If you keepa running balance, it is much faster to find out how much cash youhave in your account. (Have you discovered what happens when youfail to keep your checkbook balance current?)
Accounts in the general ledger include cash, accounts receivable,inventory, prepaid insurance, equipment, accumulated depreciation,accounts payable, notes payable, contributed capital, and retainedearnings. (Notice, these are given in the order in which theyappear on the balance sheet.) How many accounts does a companyhave? Every company is different, and the number of accountsdepends on the detail the company wants in its financial records.For example, one company could have an account called utilitiesexpenses in which many different utility-related expenses could beaccumulated. Another company might prefer to have a separateaccount for each type of utility expenseâa separate page in thegeneral ledger for electricity expense, gas expense, water expense,etc. The number of accounts is determined by the amount of detail acompany wants to be able to retrieve from its records. If a companyuses very little gas or water, it would be a waste of time andspace to keep a separate account for those expenses. A company thatuses water in its production process, on the other hand, woulddefinitely want to keep a separate account for waterpurchases.
Companies also have subsidiary ledgers. These are detailed recordsthat support the bal- ances in the general ledger. For example, theaccounts receivable subsidiary ledger will have details about thecredit customersâsales, receipts, and account balances for everycustomer. The total dollar amount of accounts receivable in theaccounts receivable subsidiary ledger will be the total in thegeneral ledger.
Most companies have a large number of accounts, and they combinethe similar ones for the financial statements. When we look at thefinancial statements, we canât really tell how many individualaccounts a company has in its general ledger. Many smaller accountsmay be com- bined for financial statement presentation.
Anyone in the firm with access to the accounting records who wantsto know the balance in any account at any time can find it bylooking in the general ledger. A list of the balances in all theaccounts of a company is called a trial balance.
Before the financial statements can be prepared, adjustments to therecords must be made. We discussed those adjustments and how tomake them in Chapter 3. Adjustments are needed because of thenature of accrual accounting. On the financial statements, we needto include revenues that have been earned and expenses that havebeen incurred, even if we have not yet received the cash earned orpaid the cash for the expenses incurred during the accountingperiod. These adjustments are called accruals. The action has takenplace, but the dollars have not been exchanged.
We also need to be sure to include on the income statement for theperiod any revenue weâve earned or expenses weâve incurred forwhich the dollars were exchanged at a previous time. These arecalled deferrals. The dollars were already exchanged, and werecorded the receipt of the cash when we received the cash.However, we did not recognize any revenue or expense at that time.At the end of the accounting period, we have to recognize anyrevenue we have earned and any expenses that weâve incurred.
No matter what kind of accounting system a company uses, theinformation produced by that system must be adjusted before thefinancial statements can be prepared. After the adjustments aremade, the financial statements are prepared. We have actually doneall thisârecording the transac- tions, making the adjustments, andpreparing the financial statementsâusing the accounting equationwork sheet. The general ledger system is simply a more feasible wayto do it in an actual business.
Debits and Credits
To use the general ledger system and to understand the informationit makes available, we must learn a bit more accounting language.Donât panic over the terms debit and credit. You will find themeasy to understand, but only if first you get rid of any notions ofwhat you already think debit and credit mean. In accounting, eachterm has a very specific meaning that should not be confused withits more general meaning.
In accounting, when we say debit, we mean the left side; when wesay credit, we mean the right side. (This should be easy toremember.) Left is the only thing that the word debit means andright is the only thing that the word credit meansâunless we applythe terms to specific accounts.

A general ledger has been traditionally composed of amulticolumn page, similar to the one shown in Exhibit B.2. TheDebit column on the right shows the running balance in the cashaccount. You would almost never see a credit balance in thisaccount. The general ledger is often computerized in a similarformat.
In the balance columns, the column on the left is called the debit(DR) column, and the column on the right is called the credit (CR)column. As a shortcut to using formal preprinted two-column paper,accountants often draw a T-account to represent a page in thegeneral ledger. T-accounts shown in Exhibit B.3 are ourrepresentation of the general ledger shown in Exhibit B.2. OneT-account such as cash, shown next, represents a single page in thegeneral ledger. The left side of a T-account is the debit side, andthe right side of a T-account is the credit side.
Cash
Debit Credit
Numbers we put on the left side of the account are called debits,and putting a number in the left column is called debiting anaccount. Debit is a wonderful word that can be an adjective, anoun, or a verb. The same goes for the word credit. The right sideof the account is called the credit side, the numbers we put on theright side are called credits, and putting a number in the rightcolumn is called crediting an account.
In the fifteenth century, a monk named Fra Luca Paccioli wroteabout a system that uses debits and credits with the accountingequation. In his system, the accounting equation stays in balancewith each transaction and the monetary amounts of debits andcredits are equal for each transaction. Hereâs how it works:
1. For the accounting equation, the balance in the accounts on theleft side of the equa- tion (assets ) will increase with debits;and the balance in the accounts on the right side of the equation(liabilities and shareholdersâ equity ) will increase with credits.It follows that the balance in an asset account will decrease withcredits. Liability and equity account balances decrease withdebits. Putting that together,
â¢ asset accounts are increased with debits anddecreased with credits. â¢ liability and shareholdersâequity accounts are increased with credits and decreased
with debits.
This means that when we want to add an amount to our cash balance,we put the number of that amount on the left (in the left column ofthe two columns in the general ledger account for cash)âso thatâs adebit. When we disburse cash and want to subtract the amountdisbursed from the cash account, we put the number of that amounton the right sideâso thatâs a credit. The increase side of anaccount is called its ânormalâ balance. Cash has a normal debitbalance. Because we put the cash we receive on the debit side andthe cash we disburse on the credit side, it makes sense that ourcash account will normally have a debit balance. (Itâs not normalto dis- burse more cash than you haveâitâs pretty unusual.)
In accounting, we do not literally add and subtract from an accountbalanceâwe debit and credit an account to accomplish the samething. If we make an error, we do not erase the mistake and replaceit with the correct answer. Instead, we debit or credit the accountto cor- rect the error and make the account balance correct. Whenaccounting records are kept by hand, all entries are made in ink sothat no entries can be erased or changed. This has been traditionalin accounting to keep the records from being altered. Recordingevery increase to, and decrease from, an account balance gives acomplete record of every change made to the account.
2. Because shareholdersâ equity is increased with credits, allaccounts that increase share- holdersâ equity will increase withcredits. Revenue accounts increase with credits and decrease withdebits. When we make a sale, we credit the sales account.
3. Because shareholdersâ equity is decreased with debits, allaccounts that decrease share- holdersâ equity work in the oppositeway as revenue accounts work. For example, expense accountsâwhere alist of our expenses is keptâincrease with debits. As we incurexpenses, we put the amounts on the left side of expenseaccounts.

The Accounting Cycle
The process that starts with recording individual transactions,produces the four basic financial statements, and gets our generalledger ready for the next accounting period is called theaccounting cycle. Some of the steps in the accounting cycle wonâtmake any sense to you yet, but this appendix examines each indetail. By the end of this appendix, you should be able to explainand perform each step. The steps in the accounting cyclefollow:
1. Record transactions in the journal, the chronological record ofall transactions, from source documents such as invoices. These arecalled journal entries.
2. Post the journal entries to the general ledger. 3. At the end ofthe accounting period, prepare an unadjusted trial balance. 4.Prepare adjusting journal entries and post them to the generalledger. 5. Prepare an adjusted trial balance. 6. Prepare thefinancial statements. 7. Close the temporary accounts. 8. Prepare apostclosing trial balance.
Letâs look at each of these steps in detail.
Step 1: Recording Journal Entries
In the normal course of business, many transactions must berecorded in the accounting system. Letâs look at how thetransactions for a companyâs first year of business would berecorded in a jour- nal. The transactions for the first year ofClintâs Consulting Company, Inc., are shown in Exhibit B.4.

Step 1: Recording Journal Entries
In the normal course of business, many transactions must berecorded in the accounting system. Letâs look at how thetransactions for a companyâs first year of business would berecorded in a jour- nal. The transactions for the first year ofClintâs Consulting Company, Inc., are shown in Exhibit B.4.
The first transaction in Clintâs first year of business is his owncontribution of

graymouse341

American Meter Company closes its books and prepares financial statements at the end of each month. American uses the perpetual inventory system. The company completed the following transactions during August, 2017:

Aug 1 Issued check no. 682 for August rent of $1,000

2. Issued check no. 683 to pay salaries of $1,240, which includes salary payable of $930 from July 31 (ignore payroll deductions).

2. Issued invoice no. 503 for sale on account to R. T. Loeb, $600. Americanâs cost of this merchandise was $190.

3. Purchased inventory on credit terms of 1/15, n/60 from Grant, Inc., $1,400

4. Received net amount of cash on account from Fullam Company, $2,156, within the discount period. The invoice, dated July 26 with terms of 2/10, net 30, was in the amount of $2,200.

4. Sold inventory for cash, $330 (cost, $104)

5. Received from Park-Hee, Inc. merchandise that had been sold earlier for $550 (cost, $174)

5. Issued check no. 684 to purchase supplies for cash, $780

6. Collected interest revenue of $1,100

7. Issued invoice no. 504 for sale on account to K. D. Skipper, $2,400 (cost, $759)

8. Issued check no. 685 to pay Federal Company $2,600 of the amount owed at July 31. This payment occurred after the discount period.

11. Issued check no. 686 to pay Grant, Inc. the net amount owed from August 3

12. Received cash from R. T. Loeb in full settlement of her account receivable from August 2

16. Issued check no. 687 to pay salary expense of $1,240

19. Received half the July 31 amount receivable from K. D. Skipperâafter the end of the discount period

19. Purchased inventory for cash $850, issuing check no. 688

22. Purchased furniture on credit terms of 3/15, n/60 from Beaver Corporation, $510

23. Sold inventory on account to Fullam Company, issuing invoice no. 505 for $9,966 (cost, $3,152)

25. Issued check no. 689 to pay utilities, $432

26. Purchased supplies on credit terms 2/10, n/30 from Federal Company, $180

30. Returned damaged inventory to company from whom American made the cash purchase on August 19, receiving cash of $850

30. Granted a sales allowance of $175 to K. D. Skipper

31. Purchased inventory on credit terms 1/10, n/30 from Suncrest Supply, $8,330

31. Issued check no. 690 to Lester Mednick, owner of the business, for personal withdrawal, $1,700

The chart of accounts with account balances as of July 31, 2017 are as follows:

General Ledger

101 Cash $ 8,650 401 Sales Revenue

102 Accounts Receivable 19,560 402 Sales Discounts

104 Interest Receivable 403 Sales Returns & Allowances

105 Merchandise Inventory 41,800 410 Interest Revenue

109 Supplies 2,150 501 Cost of Goods Sold

117 Prepaid Insurance 2,200 510 Salary Expense

140 Note Receivable, Long-Term 11,000 513 Rent Expense

160 Furniture 37,270 514 Depreciation Expense

161 Accumulated Depreciation 10,550 516 Insurance Expense

201 Accounts Payable 13,410 517 Utilities Expense

204 Salary Payable 930 519 Supplies Expense

207 Interest Payable 320 523 Interest Expense

220 Note Payable, Long-Term 42,000

301 Lester Mednick, Capital 55,420

302 Lester Mednick, Withdrawals

400 Income Summary

Accounts Receivable Subsidiary Ledger:

Fullam Company, $3,200

R T. Loeb, 0

Park-Hee Inc., 7,590

K.D. Skipper, 8,770

Accounts Payable Subsidiary Ledger:

Beaver Corporation $ 0

Federal Company 13,410

Grant, Inc, 0

Suncrest Supply 0

Prepare a Trial Balance in the Trial Balance Columns of a Worksheet (Trial Balance, Adjustments, Adjusted Trial Balance, Income Statement, and Balance Sheet headings).

Check figure: Trial Balance before any adjusting entries should total $142,516

The 2 questions before this was the following.

Journalize the August transactions in the general journal (page 9). Do not include the explanations. American makes all credit sales on terms of 2/10, n/30 unless otherwise indicated. I have posted the beginning balances to the general ledgers and subsidiary ledgers for you.

Post daily to the general ledger. Also post to the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger and the accounts payable subsidiary ledger when appropriate. On August 31 post to the general ledger.

I'm unsure if what I get form the previous answers will also help do this quesiton.

apricotmole695

Hello,

i am in accounting and having trouble with my general ledger. i need help with the set up and exactly how to do the balances. its not clicking with me at all. below i have included the information on the problem im working on, and would be great if i could some help.

Journal Entries and Trial Balance

On June 1, 2016, Kim Wheeler established an interior decorating business, Intrex Designs. During the month, Kim completed the following transactions related to the business.

June	1	Kim transferred cash from a personal bank account to an account to be used for the business, $18,400.
	4	Paid rent for period of June 4 to end of month, $1,780.
	6	Purchased a truck for $15,000, paying $1,000 cash and giving a note payable for the remainder.
	8	Purchased equipment on account, $7,180.
	10	Purchased supplies for cash, $1,230.
	12	Paid annual premiums on property and casualty insurance, $2,760.
	15	Received cash for job completed, $7,730.
	23	Paid creditor a portion of the amount owed for equipment purchased on June 13, $2,560.
	24	Recorded jobs completed on account and sent invoices to customers, $8,800.
	25	Received an invoice for truck expenses, to be paid in July, $810.
	26	Paid utilities expense, $920.
	27	Paid miscellaneous expenses, $330.
	28	Received cash from customers on account, $3,680.
	29	Paid wages of employees, $2,450.
	30	Withdrew cash for personal use, $2,040.

Required:

1. Journalize each transaction in a two-column journal, beginning on Page 1, referring to the following chart of accounts in selecting the accounts to be debited and credited. (Do not insert the account numbers in the journal at this time.) Journal entry explanations may be omitted. For a compound transaction, if an amount box does not require an entry, leave it blank.

11 Cash	31 Kim Wheeler, Capital
12 Accounts Receivable	32 Kim Wheeler, Drawing
13 Supplies	41 Fees Earned
14 Prepaid Insurance	51 Wages Expense
16 Equipment	53 Rent Expense
18 Truck	54 Utilities Expense
21 Notes Payable	55 Truck Expense
22 Accounts Payable	59 Miscellaneous Expense

General Journal				Page 1
Date	Description	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit
2016
June 1	Cash
	Kim Wheeler, Capital
June 4	Rent Expense
	Cash
June 6	Truck
	Cash
	Notes Payable
June 8	Equipment
	Accounts Payable
June 10	Supplies
	Cash
June 12	Prepaid Insurance
	Cash
June 15	Cash
	Fees Earned

General Journal				Page 2
Date	Description	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit
2016
June 23	Equipment
	Accounts Payable
June 24	Accounts Receivable
	Fees Earned
June 25	Truck Expense
	Accounts Payable
June 26	Utilities Expense
	Cash
June 27	Miscellaneous Expense
	Cash
June 28	Cash
	Accounts Receivable
June 29	Wages Expense
	Cash
June 30	Kim Wheeler, Drawing
	Cash

2. Post (in chronological order) the journal to a ledger of four-column accounts, inserting appropriate posting references in the general journal as each item is posted. Extend the balances to the appropriate balance columns after each transaction is posted. If an amount box does not require an entry, leave it blank.

General Ledger
Account	Cash				ACCOUNT NO.	11
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 1
June 4
June 6
June 10
June 12
June 15
June 23
June 26
June 27
June 28
June 29
June 30

Account	Accounts Receivable				ACCOUNT NO.	12
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 24
June 28

Account	Supplies				ACCOUNT NO.	13
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 10

Account	Prepaid Insurance				ACCOUNT NO.	14
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 12

Account	Equipment				ACCOUNT NO.	16
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 8

Account	Truck				ACCOUNT NO.	18
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 6

Account	Notes Payable				ACCOUNT NO.	21
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 6

Account	Accounts Payable				ACCOUNT NO.	22
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 8
June 23
June 25

Account	Kim Wheeler, Capital				ACCOUNT NO.	31
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 1

Account	Kim Wheeler, Drawing				ACCOUNT NO.	32
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 30

Account	Fees Earned				ACCOUNT NO.	41
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 15
June 24

Account	Wages Expense				ACCOUNT NO.	51
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 29

Account	Rent Expense				ACCOUNT NO.	53
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 4

Account	Utilities Expense				ACCOUNT NO.	54
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 26

Account	Truck Expense				ACCOUNT NO.	55
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 25

Account	Miscellaneous Expense				ACCOUNT NO.	59
					Balance
Date	Item	Post. Ref.	Debit	Credit	Debit	Credit
2016
June 27

3. Prepare an unadjusted trial balance for Intrex Designs as of June 30, 2016. For those boxes in which no entry is required, leave the box blank. The first two account titles are filled in as an example.

Intrex Designs Unadjusted Trial Balance June 30, 2016
	Debit Balances	Credit Balances
Cash
Accounts Receivable














Totals

4. Determine the excess of revenues over expenses for June.
$

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ACCT 121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: General Ledger, The Ledger, Financial Statement

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