BEGINNING THE
ACCOUNTING CYCLE
Chapter 3
3-1
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.
Learning Objectives
Journalizing: analyzing and
recording business transactions into a
journal.
2. Posting: transferring information from
a journal to a ledger.
3. Preparing a trial balance.
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Learning Objective 1
Journalizing: analyzing and
recording business transactions into
a journal
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Accounting Cycle
Normal procedures occurring over a
period of time
 Takes place over an accounting period
 Usually one year
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Calendar
January
Fiscal
Any
3-4
year
1 – December 31
year
12 consecutive months
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Accounting Period

Period of time covered by the income
statement
Monthly
Quarterly
Interim Reports
Annually
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Called a natural business year
Usually
3-5
at the slowest time of the year
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General Journal
Book of original entry
 Simplest form of a journal
 All transactions are located in the
same place
 Records information in chronological
order
 Information is then transferred to the
ledger
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Relationship between the Journal
and the Chart of Accounts
3-7
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Formalities for Journalizing a Transaction
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The debit portion of the transaction is recorded first.
The credit portion of a transaction is indented and
placed below the debit portion.
The explanation of the entry follows the credit.
A one-line space follows each journal entry to make
it easier to read.
The total amount of debits must always equal the
total amount of credits.
Each transaction must affect at least two different
accounts.
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Journalizing Example
May 1, 200X: Brenda Clark began the business
by investing $10,000 in cash
Year
Amount Credited
Account
Account
Debited
Credited Explanation Amount Debited
Month
Day
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Journalizing Example
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May 1: purchased word processing equipment from ben
co. for $6,000; paying $1,000 and promising to pay the
balance within 30 days
Compound journal entry is a journal entry with more than
two accounts
Only the day is entered if transaction before contained
year and month
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Journalizing Example
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May 1: rented office space, paying $1,200 in advance
for the first three months
May 3: purchased office supplies from Norris Co. on
account, $600
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Journalizing Example
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May 7: completed sales promotion pieces for a client and
immediately collected $3,000
May 13: paid office salaries, $650
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Journalizing Example
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May 18: advertising bill from Al’s News Co. comes in but
is not paid, $250
May 20: Brenda Clark wrote a check on the bank account
of the business to pay her home mortgage payment of
$625
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Journalizing Example
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May 22: billed Morris Company for a sophisticated word
processing job, $5,000
May 27: paid office salaries, $650
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Journalizing Example
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May 28: paid half the amount owed for word processing
equipment purchased May 1 from Ben Co., $2,500
May 29: received and paid telephone bill, $220
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Learning Objective 2
Posting: transferring information
from a journal to a ledger.
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Posting

Involves the transfer of information from the
journal to the ledger.
 Step
1 - In the debit account in the ledger, record the
date (May 1, 200X) and the amount of the entry.
 Step 2 - Record the page number of the journal
“GJ1” in the posting reference (PR) column of the
debit account.
 Step 3 - Calculate the new balance of the account.
 Step 4 - Record the account number of debit account
in the posting reference (PR) column of the journal.
This listing is known as cross-referencing.
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Cross-Referencing
The Posting Reference column tells us
which transactions have or have not been
posted
 In the ledger, the posting reference leads
us back to the original transaction
 Users can use the posting references
columns to find the journal and ledger
transactions
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Learning Objective 3
Preparing a trial balance
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Trial Balance
A list of the individual accounts with their
balances taken from the ledger
 If the information is incorrectly journalized
or posted, the trial balance will not be
correct
 Computational errors
 Transposition or slide errors
 Posting errors
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Trial Balance
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What to Do If a Trial Balance Doesn’t Balance
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If the difference (the amount you are off) is 10, 100,
1,000, etc., it is probably a mathematical error in
addition.
If the difference is equal to an individual account
balance in the ledger, the amount could have been
omitted. It is also possible the figure was not posted
from the general journal.
Divide the difference by 2, then check to see whether
a debit should have been a credit, or vice versa, in
the ledger or trial balance.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.
What to Do If a Trial Balance Doesn’t Balance
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If the difference is evenly divisible by 9, a slide or
transposition may have occurred. A transposition is
the accidental rearrangement of digits of a number.
A slide is an error resulting from adding or deleting
zeros in writing numbers.
Compare the balances in the trial balance with the
ledger accounts to check for copying errors.
Recompute balances in each ledger account.
Trace all postings from journal to ledger.
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Making a Correction Before Posting
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Draw a line through the incorrect entry, write the
correct information above the line, and write your
initials near the change.
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Making a Correction After Posting
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Step 1: Draw a line through the error and write the correct
figure above it.
Step 2: Change the running balance to reflect the corrected
posting by drawing a line through the balance; the corrected
balance is written above it.
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Correcting Entry Posted to the Wrong Account
A correction must first be made to the journal and
include an explanation.
 The correct information must be posted to the
appropriate ledger accounts.
Step 1: The journal entry is corrected and explained
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Correcting Entry Posted to the Wrong Account
Step 2: The Advertising Expense ledger account is corrected
Step 3: The Telephone Expense ledger is corrected
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Summary of the chapter
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When recording transactions into a general journal,
the debit(s) will be against the date column and the
credit(s) will be indented. These titles will come from
the chart of accounts. The explanation line will then
be indented below the last credit entry. The sum of
the left side (Dr.) must equal the sum of the right side
(Cr.) for each transaction.
Remember that the accounts affected come from the
chart of accounts. You have six categories: assets,
liabilities, capital, withdrawals, revenues, and
expenses.
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Summary of the chapter
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The Posting Reference (PR) column of the journal will
show to which account information has been posted.
The PR column in the ledger accounts show from
which page of the journal the information came.
When updating ledger accounts, two debits added
equal a debit balance. Two credits added would be
a credit balance. If you have a debit and a credit,
take the difference between them; whichever side is
larger is the balance (be it a debit or credit).
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Summary of the chapter
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Posting is copying from the journal to the ledger.
The ledger will accumulate information in the form
of debits and credits. The last line in the balance
column will show whether it is a debit or credit
balance. The general journal does not show a
running balance like the ledger accounts do.
Items in a trial balance are listed in the same order
as in the ledger or chart of accounts. Expect each
account to have its normal balance (either a debit
or credit). No title in the trial list balance can have
both a debit and credit balance.
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Summary of the chapter
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List the ending balance of each ledger account (last number
listed in the balance columns) in the order of the ledger. They
should follow this pattern:
Assets Dr.
Liabilities Cr.
Capital Cr.
Withdrawals Dr.
Revenues Cr.
Expenses Dr.
When complete, the total of all debits will equal the total of
the credits.
If the trial balance does not balance, it could be a posting
mistake or just a math error.
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Questions
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Copyright
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permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
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