Everything you Need to Know About Journal Entries for Accounting

Do you have a business? If so, then you need to know about journal entries. This is one of the most important aspects of bookkeeping for your company, so you must understand how they work.

In this post, we’ll discuss what journal entries are and how they are used in accounting to help you understand this concept better.

What is a Journal Entry?

Journal entries are an important part of any business accounting system. Their purpose is to provide a written record of a business transaction. Each entry includes the date, amount, and purpose of the transaction.

Journal entries provide the foundation on which all financial reports are built. Auditors use them to analyze how transactions impact businesses and are a useful tool for decision-making. Different types of journal entries are used, depending on the type of transaction that is being recorded.

Journal entries are vital for keeping track of all financial activity within a business and are an integral part of any business accounting system. Without them, tracking income and expenses and preparing accurate financial statements would be difficult. Journal entries also provide valuable information for financial decision-making purposes.

Understanding Debit and Credit Accounts

Debits (DR) record all of the money going into an account, while credits (CR) record all of the money going out of an account. The total of debits and credits must be equal to balance out. So while one may account may increase, the other will simultaneously decrease.

Businesses classify their transactions into different types of accounts. Here are the accounts and their neutral debits or credits:

Assets - Debit
Liability - Credit
Owners Equity - Credit
Owner’s Draw or Dividend - Debit
Revenue (Income) - Debit
Expenses - Debit
Gains - Credit
Losses - Debit

What’s Included in a Journal Entry?

Journal entries can be made manually or electronically. Many businesses prefer to use accounting software to automate the process. This eliminates the need for paper records and makes it easier to generate accurate financial statements.

A journal entry includes some or all of the following elements:

A header including the entry date
Journal entry number or reference number
Account name and number
Debit amount
Credit amount
Transaction description

What Does a Journal Entry Look Like?

All journal entries are made in chronological order and, in most cases, follow the “double-entry” system. This means they have a debit column (left side) and a credit column (right side). Let’s take a look at what a basic journal entry looks like: Header: Date/entry or reference number Footer: Transaction description

Account Name	Debit	Credit
Equipment	$500
Cash		$500

What Types of Journal Entries are There?

There are six different types of journal entries, and each performs a specific use in accounting. Combined, they give an accurate and balanced view of the business’s financial health.

Opening Entries

Opening entries are used to carry over the previous accounting period’s balance. They provide the starting point for the new accounting period. For example, if the balance was $10,000 at the end of June, the opening entry for July 1st will be $10,000.

Closing Entries

Like opening entries mark the beginning of an accounting period, closing entries signal the end of one. They are also used when transferring a balance from a temporary account into a permanent one. Once the money has been moved out of the temporary account, it is then closed.

Examples of temporary accounts include:

Transfer Entries

This type of entry is used when you need to transfer or move money from one account to another. This type of transfer never involves any kind of third party and is always shown as net zero since you are not gaining or losing any money during the transaction.

Adjusting Entries

When your business receives payment for future goods or services, it is considered as deferred revenue, also known as unearned revenue. This type of entry records changes to accounts that would not typically be accounted for in the journal. They are entered at the end of an accounting period.

Examples of adjusting entries are:

Compound Entries

Compound entries consist of more than one account that is to be credited or debited. For example, you have a credit of $30,000, and you have three accounts to which the money needs to be transferred to in amounts of $10,000 each.

For this type of entry, the credits and debits don’t have to be equal. A good example of this is your company payroll. Ten members of staff require ten salary payments (ten credits) but can be recorded as one single compounded debit.

Reversing Entries

Finally, we have reversing entries. These are always made at the start of a new accounting period. Their job is to reverse any adjusting entry made in the previous accounting period. The reason for this type of entry is to reduce the likelihood of errors and simplifies bookkeeping.

An example of a reversing entry is where an expense entered in the previous accounting period is reversed and then entered in the accounting period for when it was actually paid. This eliminates the problem of reporting expenses twice.

This Still Sounds Complicated. Can Someone Do It For Me?

We get it. Not everyone is a numbers person, and accounting can tie you in knots trying to understand it all. That’s why we’ve got the perfect solution for all the small businesses and startups out there who are struggling to conquer their bookkeeping.

EvolveCFO specializes in providing expert accounting services for businesses as and when they need them. Ideal if you don’t have the budget to take on full-time accounting or bookkeeping staff.

Using specialized cloud-based software, your EvolveCFO virtual bookkeeper will save you the headache and take care of your journal entries and more. As you scale your business, you can scale your EvolveCFO service too.

What’s not to like about that? To find out more, get in touch and have a chat with us.