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    RJW's Avatar
    RJW Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Nov 9, 2007, 03:25 AM
    What are JOURNAL entries?
    I have a large-ticket sales background but now I an in general management. I understand P&L accounts, balance Sheets, and Investment Appraisal finance, but lots of accounting jargon passes me by. In particular I hear accountants talk about "I'll do a journal entry to sort that out" and I can't find anything in standard text books on finance to explain quite what a 'journal' entry is, why it is (apparently) "special", and indeed what is(are) the other options to making a 'journal' entry? Making an accounts entry? Or what?
    Any tips as to text books that will help, or an answer if it is simple, or pointers, would be much appreciated.
    The accountant at work doesn't like 'outsiders' enquiring about into his arcane world!
    Thanks
    jensaj's Avatar
    jensaj Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
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    #2

    Nov 9, 2007, 05:22 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by RJW
    I have a large-ticket sales background but now I an in general management. I understand P&L accounts, balance Sheets, and Investment Appraisal finance, but lots of accounting jargon passes me by. In particular I hear accountants talk about "I'll do a journal entry to sort that out" and I can't find anything in standard text books on finance to explain quite what a 'journal' entry is, why it is (apparently) "special", and indeed what is(are) the other options to making a 'journal' entry? Making an accounts entry?? Or what?
    Any tips as to text books that will help, or an answer if it is simple, or pointers, would be much appreciated.
    The accountant at work doesn't like 'outsiders' enquiring about into his arcane world!
    Thanks
    Well journal entries was our previous topic. There are many kinds of journal entries namely the purchase journal, sales journal, general journal cash payment journal and cash receipts journal. You sort out which entries are sales and which one is a purchase entry. And the credit memos are written in the general journal.
    Hermansherman's Avatar
    Hermansherman Posts: 37, Reputation: 4
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    #3

    Nov 13, 2007, 06:23 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by RJW
    I have a large-ticket sales background but now I an in general management. I understand P&L accounts, balance Sheets, and Investment Appraisal finance, but lots of accounting jargon passes me by. In particular I hear accountants talk about "I'll do a journal entry to sort that out" and I can't find anything in standard text books on finance to explain quite what a 'journal' entry is, why it is (apparently) "special", and indeed what is(are) the other options to making a 'journal' entry? Making an accounts entry?? Or what?
    Any tips as to text books that will help, or an answer if it is simple, or pointers, would be much appreciated.
    The accountant at work doesn't like 'outsiders' enquiring about into his arcane world!
    Thanks
    An accountant makes a journal entry to adjust items on the books, could be to P&L, could be to Balance Sheet or combination of both. The accountant is just saying that he will record a plus and a minus to various accounts to get to the "correct" number.
    So, for example, if you decide at the end of the month that some of your expenses are too low because you haven't received invoices, the accountant will increase those expenses and adjust your accrual account. The way he does this adjustment to your accounts is he would put in a journal entry, in this case debit expenses, credit accrual account.
    If you are interested in learning about journal entries, I think the easiest way would be to quickly skim an Accounting 101 type textbook, probably cheapest to just take a book out of the library. Hermansherman
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