In: Accounting
List the characteristic of journal
Characteristic of Journal
1. Journal is a book of original entry.
2. It is the first step in the process of recording a transaction.
3. It records transactions based on chronological order or date wise.
4. Each transaction is recorded in the journal with voucher number.
5. There are two types of journal, general journal and special journal. Organisations with small number of transactions uses general journal and organisations with huge number of transactions normally use the special journal.
6. It uses standard rules for recording transactions.
7. It is a useful tool to find the omitted transactions with the help of vouchers.
8. Journal book contains 5 columns namely, date, particulars, folio, debit amount and credit amount.
9. Journal contains complete information about the transactions, because a brief narration is written with the posted journal entries.
10. Transactions are recorded in the books at the same day when it is arised. So, it is a day book.
11. Journal uses double entry system of accounting. So, the debit and credit aspect of each transaction is recorded in the journal.
12. Journal acts as a base for all other books prepared and maintained by the organisation.
13. Transactions with similar nature occured in the same day can be record in the form of compound entry.