What are Special Journals?

Special journals are all accounting journals excepts for the general
Submitted by: journals. Entities use special journals to record repetitive transactions that
affect the same set of accounts and have a consistent description to speed
Submitted to: up the process. Although, they created it for some journal entries occur
repeatedly, almost all merchandising entities uses special journals such as
Topic: for sales, purchases, cash receipts, and cash disbursements. Example,
selling goods for cash is always a debit to cash and a credit to sales
Journalizing, Posting, recorded in the cash receipts journals. In addition, we would record to a
and Trial Balance: sale of goods on credit in the sales journal, as a debit to accounts
receivable and a credit to sales. Furthermore, it is also the same when
Research about the entities use perpetual inventory system which record a second entry for a
Special Journals. sale with a debit to cost of goods sold and a credit to inventory that we
will tackle soon. Most entities have four special journals which I have
mentioned above, but there can be more depending on the business needs
like for example the payroll journal. The total amounts in these journals
are periodically transferred to the general ledger in summary form. Special
journals are best to use if we where to set up the accounting process by
hand which means rather than having a computer system, if were setting
up the process by hand, we may want to use special journals so that we
can record normal transactions within the special journals and then that
will be shorter than recording journal entries every transaction at the end
of the period whether that be by month or by week or a day. We can take
those transactions for that period and enter it one time into our system.
The Sales Journal
Sales journal is a subsidiary ledger that used to store detailed report of the sales
transaction of the entity. It lists all credit sales made to customers. It has an intention to remove a
source of transactions that overwhelms the general ledger, such as high-volume ones, thereby
streamlining the general ledger. Sales returns and cash sales are not recorded in this journal.
Since this journal only record receivables. Entries in the sales journal typically store such
information as transaction date, account number, customer name. invoice number, and sales
amount. Invoices are the source documents that provide this information. In its most basic form,
a sales journal has only one column for recording transaction amounts. Each entry increases
debits like accounts receivables and increases credits which is sales. In short, this journal consists
of the summary of the invoices issued to customers. Many entities use a multi-column sales
journal that provides separate column for specific sales account and sales tax payable.
The following below is the sample format of Sales Journal:

The Purchases Journal

Purchases journal is a subsidiary-level journal which lists all credit purchases of
merchandise as such records purchasing transactions. Entries in this journal stores information
about the date of entry, name of the supplier, and the amount of the transaction. All types of
purchases on credit are stored in the purchases journal which include office supplies, services,
and goods acquired for resale. Some entities include columns to identify the invoice date and
credit terms, which makes the purchases journal a tool that helps the entities take advantages of
discounts just before they expire, any transaction entered in the purchases journal involves credit
to the accounts payable account and a debit to the expense or asset account which a purchase is
related. The purchases journal to the right has only one column for recording transaction
amounts, each entry that both increases debits like purchases and increases credits like accounts
payable mentioned above. Entities that frequently make credit purchases of items other than
merchandise use a multi-column purchases journal. No more than the end or periodically of each
reporting period are the information stored in this journal is summarized and posted to the
general ledger.
The following below is the sample format of Sales Journal:

The Cash Receipts Journal

A cash receipts journal is a subsidiary ledger that has a multi-column in which cash sales
and other transactions that increases cash are recorded. It manages all cash coming into the
business. If sales discounts are offered to customers, the journals include a separate debit column
for sales discounts. Credit columns for accounts receivables and for sales are normally present,
but entities that are frequently receive cash from other, specific sources use additional columns
to record those types of cash receipts. Example, a regular customer Anthony Dorado pay off his
Php. 500.00 balance that he owes to my company. First, I will record the date. Then, I will put
which account is being credited, in this case is an individual accounts receivables account of
Anthony Dorado. For explanation, I will put the invoice his paying off, if the invoice number is
known it is place in the explanation column. After that, we post the numbers, since Anthony is
such a good customer, I gave him a 10% discount on his purchased so Php. 50.00 which the
discount goes to the same sales discount column and Php. 450.00 goes to the cash debit column.
In the accounts receivables credit column, I put the full amount of the purchased which is Php.
500.00. It is important to ensure that the total debits are equal to the total credits and finally, I put
a check mark in the post-it reference column if the amount has been posted to a specific sub-
ledger.
The following below is the sample format of Cash Receipts Journal:

The Cash Disbursements Journal

Cash disbursements journal is a detailed report of the cash payments, related transactions
that decrease cash, made by the business; also called cash payments journal. This journal to the
right has one debit column for accounts payable and an additional debit column for all other
types of transactions involving cash payments. It also has a credit column for purchases
discounts and for cash because each entry debits a control account like accounts payable or an
account listed in the column named other, the specific account being debited must be identified
on every line. The cash disbursements journal is a good source document for tracing back the
specifics involving the individual payments. Furthermore, the nature of the entity’s transactions
determines which columns this journal includes. Example, entities are likely chosen to include
separate debit columns for regularly used accounts like salaries expense, sales commissions
expense, or other specific accounts affected by cash disbursements. The information in this
journal is periodically summarized and the summary form is then recorded in the general ledger.
The following below is the sample format of Cash Disbursements Journal:

Other Example of Special Journals:

The Payroll Journal
The payroll journal is a detailed report of the transactions related to payroll. Sometimes
in merchandising entities does not include this type of special journal because smaller
organizations may record their payroll transactions directly in the general ledger, but larger
entities will find that these high-volume transactions will overwhelm the general ledger. Hence,
they record their payroll-related transactions in the payroll journals, which then record a single
summary form entry in the general ledger that reflects all the transactions recorded in the payroll
journal. The payroll personnel create journal entries that are recorded in the payroll journal,
especially from the periodic payrolls. Also, there may be any number of special entries at the end
of each month, such as accruals for vacation pay or sick pay. Once entries have been made into
the payroll journal and the accounting personnel posts a summary of this information into the
general ledger, the information appears into the income statement for wages, payroll taxes, and
benefits expenses, and in the balance sheet for accrued wages, payroll taxes, and benefits.
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and-special-journals/special-journals