What are the advantages of the four different special journals? When would you use each type?

Hi, Jemont!

Are these homework questions that you're asking, please?

Thanks!

No, I am trying to get an inderstanding of accounting. I am beginning with this because I had a friend to tell me that there are four different special journals. I am not grasping this as quickly as I should, so I'm asking for some help.

Okay.

What are the specifics concerning the four special journals, please?

The people that are the best ones at accounting, might not be online right now. I'm sure they would appreciate specifics though about that as to what you're wanting to know.

Thanks!

I can give you generalities only. And that is because there are as many special journals as a company chooses to make, and they can put on them anything they want to. So there actually is no definitive answer to that.

Textbooks commonly use certain ones when they are teaching this concept, and then you may never see it again. But even books have slight differences, so I cannot tell you which ones may be used or what specifically may be on them.

A special journal is essentially a journal used for "like" entries, that is, where a batch of entries have something in common. So instead of making entries over and over and over with the same accounts involved, you can make one to accommodate those types of entries.

An example is the Cash Receipts Journal. This one is pretty much used in any textbook I've seen. (Along with the Cash Payments Journal.) The Cash Receipts Journal would be used for any time you have incoming cash, hence, a debit to cash. So instead of making entries over and over with debits to cash, we can save time by simply making a journal that has a column for the Dr to cash and you never have to write it. You'll have to write the dollar amount in, yes. But you don't have to keep writing "cash" over and over, nor do you have to post them all individually to the ledgers. You'll post the cash amount as a total of the column to the debit side.

Then other columns can be made for things you commonly receive cash for, for instance, from receivables. So then you don't have to keep writing "Accounts Receivable" over and over, and again not have to post them all cause it'll be posted to the credit side of the account from the total. All or most of the special journals you use will have an "other" column to be used for anything that doesn't have its own column, cause you can't have a journal with every account in existence.

Even textbooks differ though. Generally it's based on whether you've learned merchandising yet. So one book may do a Revenue Journal while another does a Sales Journal. That can also make differences in your other journals due to the different nature of merchandising entries. Same concept, but different details.

That's the gist of it. I don't know what journals you'll have, or what specifically may be on them.

As a side note, that's also most similar to how it's done with accounting software. i.e. I would enter all my cash receipts in one place rather than making individual entries. Same concept.

The two-column general journal you originally learned will always be used as well, since every conceivable entry can't go into a special journal.

I think you want subsidiary ledger, controlled account,and then there are two general ledgers. I am dealing with these my slef in a class. But I hope this gives u a start.