1. Posting to a General Ledger
Chapter 5
Posting to a General Ledger

2. Journals do not show, in one place, all the changes in a single account. Therefore they need to be posted to their individual accounts.

3. Vocabulary Ledger – a group of accounts
General Ledger – a ledger that contains all accounts needed to prepare financial statements.
Account number – the number assigned to an account.
File maintenance – the procedure for arranging accounts in a general ledger, assigning account numbers, and keeping record current.
Opening an account – writing an account title and number on the heading of an account.

4. RELATIONSHIP OF A T ACCOUNT TO AN ACCOUNT FORM
Lesson 5-1, page 98

5. CHART OF ACCOUNTS
Lesson 5-1, page 99

6. ACCOUNT NUMBERS Assets Liabilities Owner’s Equity Revenue Expenses
Lesson 5-1, page 99

7. Read the bottom of page 99 and page 100 for a better
understanding of account numbers

8. OPENING AN ACCOUNT IN A GENERAL LEDGER1 2
1. Write the account title.
2. Write the account number.
Lesson 5-1, page 101

9. Complete 5-1 Work together and on your own

10. Vocabulary
Posting – Transferring information from a journal entry to a ledger account.
Two Rules of posting
Separate amounts in a journal’s general amount columns are posted individually to the account written in the Account Title column.
Separate amounts in a journal’s special amount columns are not posted individually. Instead the totals are posted.

11. POSTING AN AMOUNT FROM A GENERAL DEBIT COLUMN2 1 3 5 4
1. Write the date.
2. Write the journal page number.
3. Write the debit amount.
4. Write the new account balance.
5. Write the account number in the Post. Ref. column of the journal.
Lesson 5-2, page 103

12. POSTING A SECOND AMOUNT TO AN ACCOUNT2 1 3 5 4
1. Write the date.
2. Write the journal page number.
3. Write the debit amount.
4. Write the new account balance.
5. Write the account number in the Post. Ref. column of the journal.
Lesson 5-2, page 104

13. POSTING AN AMOUNT FROM A GENERAL CREDIT COLUMN2 5 1 3 4
1. Write the date.
2. Write the journal page number.
3. Write the credit amount.
4. Write the new account balance.
5. Write the account number in the Post. Ref. column of the journal.
Lesson 5-2, page 105

14. Post. Ref. Post. Ref. Columns serve three purposes:
An entry in an account can be traced to its source in a journal.
An entry in a journal can be traced to where it was posted in an account.
If posting is interrupted, the accounting personnel can easily see which entries in the journal still need to be posted.

15. Complete 5-2 Work Together and on your own

16. CHECK MARKS SHOW THAT AMOUNTS ARE NOT POSTED
Check mark indicates that amounts ARE NOT posted individually.
Check marks indicate that general amount column totals ARE NOT posted.
Lesson 5-3, page 107

17. POSTING THE TOTAL OF THE SALES CREDIT COLUMN2 3 1 5 4
1. Write the date.
2. Write the journal page number.
3. Write the column total in the Credit amount column.
4. Write the new account balance.
5. Return to the journal and write the account number in parentheses.
Lesson 5-3, page 108

18. POSTING THE TOTAL OF THE CASH DEBIT COLUMN2 1 3 5 4
1. Write the date.
2. Write the journal page number.
3. Write the column total in the Debit amount column.
4. Write the new account balance.
5. Return to the journal and write the account number in parentheses.
Lesson 5-3, page 109

19. POSTING TOTAL OF CASH CREDIT COLUMN2 1 3 5 4
1. Write the date.
2. Write the journal page number.
3. Write the column total in the Credit amount column.
4. Write the new account balance.
5. Return to the journal and write the account number in parentheses.
Lesson 5-3, page 110

20. 5-3 Work together and on your own

21. JOURNAL PAGE WITH POSTING COMPLETED
Lesson 5-4, page 112

22. MEMORANDUM FOR A CORRECTING ENTRY
Lesson 5-4, page 116

23. JOURNAL ENTRY TO RECORD A CORRECTING ENTRY
November 13. Discovered that a payment of cash for advertising in October was journalized and posted in error as a debit to Miscellaneous Expense instead of Advertising Expense, $ Memorandum No. 45.
Miscellaneous Expense
Advertising Expense
1. Which accounts are affected? Advertising Exp/ Miscellaneous Exp
Debit
Normal Balance
2. How is each account classified?
Advertising Expense is an expense Miscellaneous Expense is an expense
120.00 
3. How is each classification changed?
Expenses increased/Expenses
decreased.
Debit
Normal Balance
120.00 
4. How is each amount entered in the accounts?
Expense accounts increase on the debit side.
Expense accounts decrease on the credit side.
Lesson 5-4, page 116

24. JOURNAL ENTRY TO RECORD A CORRECTING ENTRY2 4 1 3
1. Write the date.
2. Debit Advertising Expense.
3. Credit Miscellaneous Expense.
4. Write the source document number.
Lesson 5-4, page 116

25. 5-4 on your own and work together