The Journal

The Journal, an accounting record in which transactions are initially recorded in chronological order. The journal is referred to as the book of original entry. For each transaction the journal shows the debit and credit effects on specific accounts.

Companies may sue various kinds of journals, but every company has the most basic form of journal, a general journal. Typically, a general journal has spaces for dates, account titles and explanations, references and tow amount columns.

The journal makes several significant contributions to the recording process:

1. It discloses in one place the complete effects of a transaction.
2. It provides a chronological record to transactions.
3. It helps to prevent or locate errors because the debit and credit amounts for each entry can be easily compared.