35. General Journal

The old style journal is very popular as a book of original entry from which postings are made to the general ledger. See Figures 10 and 11 on page 44. The work of keeping up this journal may be simplified considerably if the entries occurring every day are printed. It is then only necessary to fill in the amounts for a very large part of the day's work.

The journal may be omitted entirely by using a species of charge and credit tickets large enough to be bound together securely, after the postings are made. These tickets should be about ten and three quarter inches wide and eight and a half inches long and be ruled as per Figure 12 on page 45. This form may be improved by making it a little wider and adding columns enough on each side to distribute entries between general ledger and individual ledgers. They should be in different colors for the different departments and lettered so as to indicate the general character of the item to be found thereon. In Figure 13 on page 46 will be seen sundry credits to customers for demand loans and while each customer is credited with the loan made, the debit is but one amount. In the same way, several accounts are charged with discounts due, but there is but one credit to "bills discounted." If the business is of such a nature that discounts may be charged to the customer's account as they mature, these tickets may be bound in a book and used as a discount tickler, the process being simply to tear out the leaf and put it through the work on the day the loan is due. The ticket will contain all the discounts maturing on that day, the entries having been made when the discount was made.

Figure 10. General Journal.

Dr.

Cr.

Figure 11. General Journal.

Figure 12. Journal.

Dr.

Loan Department

Cr.

Figure 13. Journal.