Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-10-06


therefore, ultimately records all sales
of every department of the business,
both job and news.
On the Cash Journal are recorded
all cash transactions. purchases. OK
penses and all other transactions eX-
cept those originally entered on the
Sales Register or the various access
sorry records.
Both Cash Journal and Sales
| Register are loose-leaf. To guard
against substitution of sheets, each
sheet is numbered and signed in ad-
vance. The loose-leaf method has
important advantages. For instance,
| we have three binders for the Cash
Journal. While the head bookkeeper
| is using the latest sheet for current
! entries. the two bookkeepers in
| charge of the Accounts Receivable
| entitled AK and LIZ, can be stimuli
taneously posting from two prior
| sheets. At the end of the month the
hookkeeper in charge of the General
| Ledger is at work with one binder
containing the sheets for the entire
| month, which she must have to close
the books properly, while the general
| accounting department is/proceeding
| with the new months work with a
| separate binder, the accumulated
sheets Of preceding months icing
| carried in a third binder. At the end
! Of the year the sheets are removed
| from the binders and permanently
bound.
| One Of the great developments Of
| modern bookkeeping is the special
I column in books of original entry.
| Free use Of this method is made in
both the Cash Journal and Sales
| Register. Where certain class of
| transaction is occurring with great
! frequency, the entry of all the items
! during the month in a special column
| does away with the necessity Of
| posting each item separately to the
| Ledger, since the column can be
| posted at the end of the month and
posted in one amount to the proper
! Ledger account. By the judicious
use of these columns, an enormous
amount of time is save, not only by
eliminating the individual posting Of
thousands of items, but because in
checking up trial balances with the
| books of original entry there is but
| one amount to be checked for each
such column, instead of perhaps a
| hundred or more.
| Another equally important and
much more recent accounting devel-
| cpment is the use of the controlling
! account. BY this device a subsidiary
| ledger, devoted exclusively to n GER
| tain class of accounts, has a special
debit and credit column reserved for
| it in the book of original entry
| Each item of the class in question is
not only entered in one Of these two
columns, but also posted separately
tc the subsidiary ledger. At the end
| of the month the footing Of the debit
column is posted in one amount to the
debit side of the Controlling Account
| in the General Ledger, and the foot
| ing of the credit column to the credit
side of that account. It follows that
! the balance of this Controlling Ac-
| count in the General Ledger must
| equal the balance of the subsidiary
| ledger, and thus by 4 couple of en-
tries in the General Ledger you sum
Marie or control perhaps several
, hundred entries in the Subsidiary.
We have several Controlling Ac-
counts, among them the Advertising
and job Accounts Receivable. At the
end of the month the General Ledger
controlling account enables us to as
certain Immediately the net amount
OF our Accounts Receivable, without
waiting for the trial balance of the
! Subsidiary Ledger, which may not be
! completed for several days. 1t also
serves as a check on this trial bal
anCe and in case of error. if either
/ the debit or credit side of the Sub
/ sidary Ledger agrees with the Con-
| trolling Account it saves time BY
limiting the search for error to the
| other side of the account.
! Accompanying the Cash Journal
are Vouchers. which are fundament-
ally important in any good account
ing system.
This yellow voucher is used for
purchases, expenses and fixed
charges. The names of the accounts
to be charged are printed on the out
side of the voucher. properly CLASH
fed and arranged in the numerical
order of the CORRESPONDENCE headed
columns in the Cash Journal. These
columns in the Cash Journal are all
numbered, and each account on this
voucher is preceded by the number
OF the column to which it is to be
posted in the Cash Journal. The in
voice or other paper containing the
detail Of the entry is attached to the
voucher by a clipping machine, and
the vouchers are numbered consecu-
lively and filed in document file.
The Cash Journal contains a column
for the Voucher number, and the
vouchers accordingly become a per-
nancnt and instantly accessible part
o: the accounting record.
Instead of wasting time and space
by clogging the Cash Journal with
hand written details, the name Of the
account or accounts only are entered.
occupying but a line or two, the
amounts to be posted to the appro-
pirate columns having been assem-
bled on the outside of this voucher,
which contains the invoice and all
necessary explana ton, and detail.
In transactions such az the declara-
ton of dividends and tho like, which
the proprictors may prefer to keep
private, this Private Voucher is used,
the only entry in the Cash Journal
being the amount and the words
"Priyate Voucher" The Voucher it.
self. with the details of the transac-
ton, is kept in a separate file in tho