Special journals
Special journals are specialized lists of financial transaction records which accountants call journal entries. In contrast to a general journal, each special journal records transactions of a specific type, such as sales or purchases. For example, when a company purchases merchandise from a vendor, and then in turn sells the merchandise to a customer, the purchase is recorded in one journal and the sale is recorded in another.
Types of special journals
The types of Special Journals that a business uses are determined by the nature of the business. Special journals are designed as a simple way to record the most frequently occurring transactions. There are four types of Special Journals that are frequently used by merchandising businesses: Sales journals, Cash receipts journals, Purchases journals, and Cash payments journals.Sales journal
s record transactions that involve sales purely on credit. Source documents here would probably be invoices. Provides a chronological record of all credit sales made in the life of a business. Credit sales are transactions where the goods are sold and payment is received at a later date. The source documents for the Sales journal are copies of all invoices given to the debtors.Double entry Accounting is achieved by:
- Debit – debtors account with value of sales
- Credit – sales account with total amount
| date | details | folio # | invoice # | amount |
| date sale was made | who did you sell it to | sequential - #order |
Cash receipts journal
A cash receipts journal records transactions that involve payments received with cash. Source documents would probably be receipts and cheque butts. The CRJ records the cash inflow of a business. Discount allowed is an expense as the discount allowed is the cost to the seller of obtaining an inflow of cash from a debtor weeks earlier than would be the case.| date | details | receipt # | discount allowed | sales | debtors | Other | BANK |
| date sale was made | who you received payment from | people who are also in sales journal | other types of income description | amount into bank |
Expense journals
Purchases journal
Purchases Journals record transactions that involve purchases purely on credit. Source documents are invoices. For instance, the purchase of inventory on credit is recorded in the purchases journal.| date | details | folio #33 | invoice # | amount |
| date sale was made | name of supplier | not sequential |
Cash payments journal
Cash Payments Journals record transactions that involve expenditures paid with cash and involves the cash Source documents are likely receipts and cheque butts. The CPJ records the cash outflow of a business. If the owner of a business withdraws cash from the business an entry is made in the CPJ. Discount received is the cash discount received by a purchaser, it is an income item for the purchaser.| date | details | cheque # | discount received | purchases | creditors | Other | BANK |
| date payment was made | who you paid | people who are also in purchases journal | other types of expenses description | amount out of bank |
Format of special journals
In the general journal, transactions are recorded in several lines, and each transaction is posted to the general ledger separately. For example, if fifty sales on account were made during one day, fifty ledger postings would have to be made to three general ledger accounts: Accounts Receivable, Sales, and Sale Tax Payable. In special journal, transactions are recorded in a single line, and the format of the journal made it possible to post only the total amount for each account to the general ledger. For example, if fifty sales on account were made during one day, only the total amount for Accounts Receivable, Sales, and Sales Tax Payable were posted to the general ledger. Thus the posting process is more efficient. Figure 2 shows the example formats of the Special Journals.SALES JOURNAL
| Date | Sale No. | To Whom Sold | Post. Ref. | Accounts Receivable Debit | Sales Credit | Sales Tax Payable Credit |
| April 1 | 900 | A. Smith | $1,000.00 | $940.00 | $60.00 | |
| April 1 | 901 | B. Johnson | $2,000.00 | $1,880.00 | $120.00 | |
| April 1 | 902 | C. Chang | $1,000.00 | $940.00 | $60.00 | |
| April 4 | 904 | D. Garcia | $1,000.00 | $940.00 | $60.00 |
CASH RECEIPT JOURNAL
| Date | Account Credited | Post Ref. | General Credit | Accounts Receivable Credit | Sales Credit | Sales Tax Payable Credit | Cash Debit |
| May 1 | B. Johnson | $1,000 | $1,000 | ||||
| May 3 | C. Chang | $1,000 | $1,000 | ||||
| May 5 | A. Smith | $1,000 | $1,000 | ||||
| May 8 | Interest Receivable | $400 | $400 |
PURCHASES JOURNAL
| Date | Invoice No. | From Whom Purchased | Post Ref. | Purchased Debit / Accounts Payable Credit |
| June 2 | 6321 | BCD Corp. | $12,000 | |
| June 5 | 12D | Telecom8 Inc | $800 | |
| June 21 | 412 | Furniture-X | $2,000 |
CASH PAYMENTS JOURNAL
| Date | Check No. | Account Debited | Post Ref. | General Debit | Accounts Payable Debit | Purchases Credit | Cash Credit |
| July 1 | 1254 | Rent Expense | $1,200 | $1,200 | |||
| July 2 | 1255 | BCD Corp. | $1,200 | $1,200 | |||
| July 2 | 1256 | Furniture-X | $1,200 | $1,200 |