U SING G ENERAL L EDGER
he General Ledger is updated by each journal in Peachtree as transactions are posted. The General Journal Entry task can be used to affect accounts in the General Ledger with direct debit and credit entries. General journal entries are posted to the General Journal, which in turn updates the General Ledger. The accounts in the General Ledger can be reconciled using Account Reconciliation. Any adjustments that need to be made to the account being reconciled are stored in the General Journal.
There are a variety of reports available that display the information stored in the General Ledger. These reports include the Financial Statements, which summarize the financial activity and account balances for your company. The flow of General Ledger tasks is illustrated below:
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U S I N G G E N E R A L L E D G E R Entering General Journal Entries
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. . . . . . . . . E N T E R I N G G E N E R A L J O U R N A L E N T R I E S
The General Journal Entry window is used to enter transactions that are not recorded in other journals. This window is also used to edit account reconciliation adjustments. In the General Journal Entry window, both debits and credits are entered to balance the transactions. To make a general journal entry, select General Journal Entry from the Tasks menu.
G e n e r a l J o u r n a l E n t r y W i n d o w
The General Journal Entry window is used to enter transactions that post to the General Journal. Fields of interest are described below:
• Date: Enter the date of the transaction. Any date within either the current period or a future period can be used.
• Reverse Transaction: Select this check box to make a transaction automatically reverse the debit and credit amounts on the first day of the next accounting period. For example, use a reversing entry to record accrued payroll expenses. The accrued expenses will be recognized when they are incurred, not when they are paid.
• Out of Balance: Displays the difference between the total debits and total credits for the transaction. This amount must be zero before the transaction can be posted.
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U S I N G G E N E R A L L E D G E R Entering General Journal Entries
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A C T I V I T Y 2 5 - E N T E R I N G A G E N E R A L J O U R N A L T R A N S A C T I O N
At the end of January, there was $500.00 in Petty Cash. As of February 12th, there was $403.58 remaining and receipts totalling $96.42. Follow these steps to enter a General Journal entry to update the Petty Cash balance:
1 Select Tasks, General Journal Entry.
2 Enter 02/12/08 in the Date field.
3 Enter Petty Cash in the Reference field.
4 In the first GL Account field, enter account 75500.
5 Enter a Description of 2 rolls 35 mm film.
6 Expenses incurred are posted as a debit, so enter 18.00 in the Debit column.
7 Using these steps as a guide, enter the next two lines of the general journal entry:
8 At this point, the Totals and Out of Balance fields should show 96.42, which is the total amount entered. To complete the entry, we will credit the Petty Cash account by 96.42
9 On the fourth line, enter GL Account 10000.
10In Description, type Petty Cash expenses through 2/12.
11In the Credit column enter the amount of 96.42.
12Select Save to complete the entry. Click Close.
GL Account Description Debit
68000 Office carpet cleaning 50.50
70500 Office luncheon 27.92
U S I N G G E N E R A L L E D G E R Entering General Journal Entries
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R e c u r r i n g J o u r n a l E n t r i e s
To copy journal entries into one or more future periods, click Recur. The transactions created are called recurring entries. Recurring entries can be edited or deleted for the current period or for a future period at any time.
A C T I V I T Y 2 6 - E N T E R I N G A R E C U R R I N G G E N E R A L J O U R N A L E N T R Y
On February 15th, a contract was signed with Direct Copiers for an office copier. The monthly fee for this copier is $100. Abracadabra has authorized Direct Copiers to withdraw $100 from the National Bank Checking account each month for the next year. This withdrawal will be entered as a recurring General Journal entry over the next 12 months. Follow these steps to enter a recurring General Journal entry:
1 Select Tasks, General Journal Entry.
2 Enter 02/15/08 in the Date field.
3 Enter Copier Withdrawal in the Reference field.
4 In the first GL Account field, enter 71000.
5 Enter a Description of Monthly Copier Contract.
6 Enter 100.00 in the Debit field.
7 On the second line, enter GL Account 10200.
8 The Description field fills automatically.
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U S I N G G E N E R A L L E D G E R Entering General Journal Entries
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9 Enter 100.00 in the Credit field.
10Click the Recur button on the toolbar. The Create Recurring Journal Entries window opens.
11In the Date Range area, select End After: and enter 12 occurrences.
12Click OK to create the entries.
13To see the list of general journal entries, click List on the toolbar.
U S I N G G E N E R A L L E D G E R Entering General Journal Entries
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15The list will refresh and you will see one entry per month for the copiertransaction.
16Click Close on each window.
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U S I N G G E N E R A L L E D G E R General Ledger Reports
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G E N E R A L L E D G E R R E P O R T S
General Ledger reports organize transactions recorded in the various journals by account number. To preview or print these reports, select General Ledger from the Reports & Forms menu.
R e p o r t D e s c r i p t i o n s
• Account Variance: Provides a comparison of budget and actual figures for each account, as well as variance information. It is useful for determining the accuracy of budgets and for forecasting future budgets.
• Account Variance-Dual Budgets: Provides a comparison of budget and actual figures for each account, as well as variance information, using two budgets instead of one. It is useful for determining the accuracy of budgets and for forecasting future budgets.
• Budget: Lists period and year-to-date budget amounts for each account.
• Cash Account Register: Lists all transactions in a cash account, along with a running balance.
• Chart of Accounts: Lists each account number, account description, and account type.
Useful for verifying that all necessary General Ledger accounts have been set up with the correct account type and for identifying changes or additions that need to be made to the accounts.
• General Journal: Lists all general journal transactions for the selected date range with related General Ledger distributions. This journal is used to record transactions that cannot be entered in one of the subsidiary journals, such as the Sales Journal or the Purchase Journal. It is useful for verifying General Journal postings, including beginning balance amounts.
Chart of accounts beginning balance amounts are shown with a reference of BEGBAL in
U S I N G G E N E R A L L E D G E R General Ledger Reports
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• General Ledger: Shows all transactions in each account for the selected accountingperiod(s). Gives vital information about the activity and balance in each General Ledger account and provides detail for financial statements.
• General Ledger Trial Balance: Lists the current balance for each account. Also, provides a historical record of account balances for the selected accounting period(s).
• Transaction Detail Report: Shows you the detail for transactions in the system.
• Working Trial Balance: Lists the General Ledger accounts and their debit or credit balances. This report serves as a test as to whether the General Ledger is in balance. It can also be used as a worksheet to make adjustments to account balances.
4/30/03 at 11:17:48.96 Page: 1 of 1
Bellwether Garden Supply General Ledger
For the Period From Mar 1, 2007 to Mar 31, 2007
Filter Criteria includes: 1) IDs from 10000 to 10100. Report order is by ID. Report is printed with Truncated Transaction Descriptions and in Detail Format.
Account ID Account Descriptio
Date Reference Jrnl Trans Descriptio Debit Amt Credit Amt Balance
10000
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U S I N G G E N E R A L L E D G E R Financial Statements
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F I N A N C I A L S T A T E M E N T S
The information stored in the General Ledger is also used to produce Financial Statements. Financial Statements are used to examine the financial position of a business and are usually prepared at the end of an accounting period and at the end of the fiscal year. You should store these reports in a secure location, since banks and lenders commonly request these reports for several years. To preview or print Financial Statements, select Financial Statements from the Reports & Forms menu.
R e p o r t D e s c r i p t i o n s
• Balance Sheet: Shows balances for Assets, Liabilities, and Capital for a given time period.
• Balance Sheet/Budg: Lists all assets, liabilities, and capital of a business entity as of a specific date and the corresponding budget balances.
• Cash Flow: Shows increases and decreases in cash for the selected accounting period(s) and the year-to-date total.
• GL Account Summary: Shows beginning balance, activity, and ending balance for each account as of the selected accounting period.
• Income - 12/13 Period: Shows you income and expense information for all 12 or 13 periods in your fiscal year.
• Income 2 years: Shows income and expense activity for the selected accounting period(s) and the year-to-date total for this year and last year.
U S I N G G E N E R A L L E D G E R Financial Statements
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• Income Statement: Shows income and expense activity for the selected accountingperiod(s) and the year-to-date total for each account.
• Income/2 Budget-per: Compares the income and expense activity for the current period to two budgets.
• Income/2 Budget-YTD: Compares the year-to-date income and expense amounts to two budgets.
• Income/Budget: Compares the income and expense activity for the current period and the year-to-date amounts to the budget figures.
• Income/Budget-Per: Compares the current period income and expense amounts to budgeted amounts and actual amounts from last year.
• Income/Budget-YTD: Compares the year-to-date income and expense amounts to budgeted amounts and actual amounts from last year.
• Income/Earnings: Combines the Income Statement and Statement of Retained Earnings for the selected accounting period(s) and year-to-date.
• Retained Earnings: Shows changes in the Retained Earnings balance as of the selected accounting period.
• Statement of Changes: Shows changes in financial position as of the selected accounting period.
Page: 1 of 2 Bellwether Garden Supply
Income Statement For the Three Months Ending March 31, 2007
Current Month Year to Date
Sales - Hand Tools 199.92 0.30 801.64 0.99
Sales - Landscape Services 2,059.53 3.12 2,939.34 3.62
Sales - Miscellaneous 18,199.98 27.55 18,199.98 22.42