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[10] [5] The accounting equation is the mathematical structure of the balance sheet. Although a general ledger appears to be fairly simple, in large or complex organizations or organizations with various subsidiaries, the general ledger can grow to be quite large and take several hours or days to audit or balance.
A ledger [1] is a book or collection of accounts in which accounting transactions are recorded. Each account has: an opening or brought-forward balance; a list of transactions, each recorded as either a debit or credit in separate columns (usually with a counter-entry on another page) and an ending or closing, or carry-forward, balance.
A chart of accounts (COA) is a list of financial accounts and reference numbers, grouped into categories, such as assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses, and used for recording transactions in the organization's general ledger.
Income is a short term inflow during the fiscal year. Expense is short term outflow during the fiscal year. An asset is a long term inflow with implications extending beyond the financial period and by the traditional view could represent unclaimed income. Alternatively, an asset could be valued at the present value of its future inflows.
This is called a "closing entry." If the company earned a profit, the retained earnings account will be increased. If the company experienced a loss, the retained earnings account will be reduced. The resulting opening balance for the new accounting period will still have columns of equal sum totals.
In accounting terms, assets are recorded on the left side (debit) of asset accounts, because they are typically shown on the left side of the accounting equation (A=L+SE). Likewise, an increase in liabilities and shareholder's equity are recorded on the right side (credit) of those accounts, thus they also maintain the balance of the accounting ...
A company can maintain one journal for all transactions, or keep several journals based on similar activity (e.g., sales, cash receipts, revenue, etc.), making transactions easier to summarize and reference later. For every debit journal entry recorded, there must be an equivalent credit journal entry to maintain a balanced accounting equation ...
In financial accounting, a balance sheet (also known as statement of financial position or statement of financial condition) is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a business partnership, a corporation, private limited company or other organization such as government or not-for-profit entity.