The use of a journal makes fraud by bookkcepers more difficult, It also rediices the risk of enter= ing the item once only instead of having double entry. Despite these advantages there are many businesse: 5 Boat : elo not have such a book. Typical uses of the journal Some of the main uses of the journal are listed below. It must not be thought that this is a com- plete list. 1 The purchase and sale of fixed assets on credit. ” 2. Writing off bad debts. 3. The correction of errors in the ledger accounts. 4 Opening entries. These are the entries needed to open a new set of books. 5. Adjustments to any of the entries in the ledgers. The layout of the journal is: 7. The Journal Date Details Folio | or | cr On the first line in the entry is the account to be debited. The second line gives the account to be credited. It is indented so as to makc it obvious that it is the credit part of the double entry. The final line is‘ description of what is being done and provides a permanent record of the reason(s) for the entry. You should remember that the journal is not a double entry account. It is a form of diary, just as are the day books you learnt about in Chapters 14 to 16. Entering an item in the journal is not * the same as recording an item in an account. Once the journal entry is made, the entry in the The name of the account to be debited. The name of the account to be credited. The narrative. double entry accounts can then be made.