The general ledger account Accounts Payable or Trade Payables is a current liability account, since the amounts owed are usually due in 10 days, 30 days, 60 days, etc. The balance in Accounts Payable is usually presented as the first or second item in the current liability section of the balance sheet. (Many companies report Notes Payable due within one year as the first item.) Show
As a liability account, Accounts Payable is expected to have a credit balance. Hence, a credit entry will increase the balance in Accounts Payable and a debit entry will decrease the balance. A bill or invoice from a supplier of goods or services on credit is often referred to as a vendor invoice. The vendor invoices are entered as credits in the Accounts Payable account, thereby increasing the credit balance in Accounts Payable. When a company pays a vendor, it will reduce Accounts Payable with a debit amount. As a result, the normal credit balance in Accounts Payable is the amount of vendor invoices that have been recorded but have not yet been paid. The unpaid invoices are sometimes referred to as open invoices. Accounting software allows companies to sort its accounts payable according to the dates when payments will be due. This feature and the resulting report are known as the aging of accounts payable. Entering a vendor invoice into Accounts PayablePrior to entering a vendor invoice into Accounts Payable, the invoice should be reviewed and approved. The reason is that a vendor invoice may contain errors (incorrect quantities, incorrect prices, math errors, etc.) and some invoices may not be legitimate. After a vendor invoice has been approved, the recording of the invoice will include:
A listing of the accounts that a company has available for recording transactions is known as the chart of accounts. A report that lists the accounts and amounts that are debited for a group of invoices entered into the accounting software is known as the accounts payable distribution. Reductions to Accounts PayableWhen a company pays part or all of a previously recorded vendor invoice, the balance in Accounts Payable will be reduced with a debit entry and Cash will be reduced with a credit entry. Accounts Payable is also debited when a company returns goods to a vendor or when the vendor grants an allowance. Take Our Practice QuizWe recommend that you now take our free Practice Quiz for this topic so that you can...
Note: You can receive instant access to our PRO materials (visual tutorials, flashcards, quick tests, quick tests with coaching, cheat sheets, video training, bookkeeping and managerial guides, business forms, printable PDF files, and progress tracking) when you join AccountingCoach PRO. Please Note...You should consider our materials to be an introduction to selected accounting and bookkeeping topics, and realize that some complexities (including differences between financial statement reporting and income tax reporting) are not presented. Therefore, always consult with accounting and tax professionals for assistance with your specific circumstances. The general ledger reflects a permanent summary of all your supporting journals, such as the sales and cash receipts journal and the cash disbursements journal. Closing your books and maintaining your general ledger should be one of your top priorities. It terms of your company's books, it all boils down to the general ledger. This accounting-must functions as a permanent summary of all your supporting journals, such as the sales and cash receipts journal and the cash disbursements journal. In addition, your financial statements are built from the general ledger. Tools for keeping an accurate general ledgerFor each account title shown on your sales and cash receipts journal columns and your cash disbursements journal columns, there is a general ledger account. There are also separate general ledger accounts for miscellaneous items that don't have their own column in the journals, but are entered in a "miscellaneous" column. For example, Cash, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Sales, Purchases, Telephone Expense and Owner's Equity are all examples of general ledger accounts. Your accounting software will reserve space in the general ledger for each general ledger account. The individual entries in the general ledger are always from the total columns of your supporting journals. When all journal entries are posted, you can arrive at the ending balance for each account. The sum of all general ledger debit balances should always equal the sum of all general ledger credit balances. Suggested general ledger accounts We've provided a list of common general ledger accounts many businesses find useful. Depending on your type of business, you will use many, but probably not all, of these account names. When you set up your accounting software, you'll want to include all applicable accounts. On your financial statements, they should generally be placed in the order shown. Balance sheet accounts Assets:
Liabilities:
Capital Accounts:
Income statement accountsIncome:
Expenses:
Tip Have you been running your business for a while and are just now trying to take over some of the basic bookkeeping? If you've had financial statements prepared by an accountant in the past, look at last year's balance sheet and income statement. You can get started by setting up general ledger accounts for each account title shown on those financial statements. Closing the books at the end of an accounting periodWhen you reach the end of an accounting period, hold off a second before pouring the bubbly: you still need to "close the books." At a minimum, you will close your books annually because you have to file an income tax return every year. If you are having financial statements prepared, you will want them done at least annually. However, annual financial statements may not be enough to help you keep tabs on your business. You may want financial statements monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly. Even if you are not having financial statements prepared, you may want to close your books monthly. Sending out customer statements, paying your suppliers, reconciling your bank statement, and submitting sales tax reports to the state are probably some of the tasks you need to do every month. You may find it easier to do these if you close your books. How to close your books After you finish entering the day-to-day transactions in your journals, you are ready to close the books for the period. A step-by-step description of how to close the books follows. How many of the steps you do yourself depends on how much of the accounting you want to do, and how much you want to pay your accountant to do. Of course, using the proper accounting software will consolidate many of these steps.
Preparing trial balance sheets The trial balance is a worksheet on which you list all your general ledger accounts and their debit or credit balance. The total debits must equal the total credits. If they don't equal, you know you have an error that must be tracked down. When closing out your books at the end of an accounting period, you will prepare three trial balances:
Example You're preparing to close the books for the year ended December 31, 2011. You post totals from the journals to the general ledger, and foot the general ledger accounts. Then you prepare the following preliminary trial balance, using the balances from your general ledger accounts. Beta Service Company
Tools to use A trial balance spreadsheet can be found in the Business Tools area. It is an Excel (4.0 or higher) spreadsheet template, so you can use the template as a starting point for your own trial balance. What if your trial balance does not balance? In other words, what if total debits don't equal total credits? This shouldn't surprise or discourage you. In fact, it might be more surprising if it does balance. Accounting errors happen. Even experienced bookkeepers normally have to find trial balance errors. Finding trial balance errors and keeping a general journalWhen preparing a trial balance, the total debits must equal the total credits. Don't be discouraged if they don't. Bookkeeping errors happen. Just think of the trial balance as a tool to find the errors. Use the following steps as a guide to track down the error or errors.
Updating the general journal The general journal is usually a two-column journal used for unusual and annual accounting entries that aren't recorded in the sales and cash receipts and cash disbursements journals. Adjusting entries and closing entries, made at the end of an accounting period, are the most common entries made in the general journal. The general journal is also used to record special transactions that don't get recorded in one of the regular journals. Example As an example of a "special transaction," on April 12, $7,500 was spent on new production equipment in your machine shop. At that time, the amount was incorrectly expensed to repairs and maintenance in the cash disbursements journal. It should have been recorded as a purchase of fixed assets. Upon discovery of the error, you make the following correcting entry in your general journal.
General journal entries are posted to the respective general ledger accounts. How does posting a correcting entry affecting customer accounts differ from recording other general journal entries that impact subsidiary ledger accounts?How does posting a correcting entry affecting customer accounts differ from recording other general journal entries that impact subsidiary ledger accounts? Only a reference to the subsidiary ledger account is entered in the Post.
What types of transactions affect the general ledger?General Ledger (GL) accounts contain all debit and credit transactions affecting them. In addition, they include detailed information about each transaction, such as the date, description, amount, and may also include some descriptive information on what the transaction was.
What is a journal entry made to correct an error in the ledger called?A correcting entry is a journal entry that is made in order to fix an erroneous transaction that had previously been recorded in the general ledger. For example, the monthly depreciation entry might have been erroneously made to the amortization expense account.
Which of the following records the impact of a transaction step on financial accounting?A reconciliation account records the impact of a transaction step on financial accounting.
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