Format of Journal

Format of Journal:

The various columns of the journal are explained in details below:

Date:

This column is used to write the date of the business transaction. Different date formats are used in different countries. Different formats of date are 15.03.1981, 03.15.1981, 15 March 1981 etc.

Particulars or Details Column:

In this column the names of the two connected accounts are written in two consecutive lines – in the first line the name of account debited and in the second line the name of account credited. While the name of account debited always placed close the the left hand margin line, the name of account credited is commenced a short distance away from the margin line. This arrangement will show clearly which account is debited and which credited. This also shows that credit amount is placed on the right side of debit amount. The world “Dr” is used at the end of the name of account debited. It is not necessary to place the word “Cr.” after the name of the credited account because if one account is Dr. it follows that the other account must be Cr. Below the names of the two accounts, i.e. in the third line narration is written usually within a bracket. According to tradition, the narration is written starting with a word “being”. But modern practice is not to use this word. In most of the countries even in Great Britain using the word “To” at the beginning of the name of account credited has become out-dated. So, here it has not been used too. But it is optional for the students.

Ledger Folio (L.F):

The page numbers of the ledger where the two concerned accounts have been posted are written in this column against the name of each account. This will help to locate easily the two concerned accounts from the ledger. On the other hand, when a transaction is posted to the ledger, the concerned folio number of the ledger is written in this column. Thus if a folio number stands written in this column, it will mean that the transaction has already been posted to the ledger.

Amount:

The debit amount is written in the first “amount” column against the name of account debited and the credit amount in the second “amount” column against the name of account credited.

At the end of each page, both the Dr. and Cr. columns are totalled up. The total of both these columns should be equal as the same amount is entered in the debit as well as in the credit columns. The totals are carried forward to the next page with the words ‘total carried forward (c/f) and then at the top of the next page in Particulars column, we write totals brought forward (b/f) and the amount of totals is written in the respective amount columns.

Note: Although the above form of the journal is used in examination answer book. It is not fully correct. Because in large concerns journal is divided into eight subdivisions for the sake of convenience. Out of them only in one subdivision (i.e. journal proper), the above form is used. In the remaining seven subdivisions the form of the journal is different.