Page 77 - Accounting Information Systems

48 PART I Overview of Accounting Information Systems

FI GU RE
2-7 GENERAL JOURNAL

GENERAL JOURNAL PAGE

POST.
DATE DESCRIPTION DEBIT CREDIT
REF.
1 Sept. 1, 2009 Depreciation Expense 520 5 0 0 0 1
2 Accumulated Depreciation 210 5 0 0 0 2
3 3
4 Sept. 2, 2009 Insurance Expense 525 12 0 0 4
5 Prepaid Insurance 180 12 0 0 5
6 6
7 Sept. 3, 2009 Cash 101 1 1 0 0 0 7
8 Capital Stock 310 1 1 0 0 0 8
9 9
10 10
11 11
12 12

GENERAL LEDGERS. The general ledger (GL) summarizes the activity for each of the organization’s
accounts. The general ledger department updates these records from journal vouchers prepared from spe-
cial journals and other sources located throughout the organization. The general ledger presented in Fig-
ure 2-9 shows the beginning balances, the changes, and the ending balances as of a particular date for
several different accounts.
The general ledger provides a single value for each control account, such as accounts payable,
accounts receivable, and inventory. This highly summarized information is sufficient for financial

FI G U R E
2-8 FLOW OF INFORMATION FROM THE ECONOMIC EVENT TO THE GENERAL LEDGER

Journal
Entry Post
Sales Sales General
Customer's
Order Order Journal Ledger

Post
Periodically Reconcile Subsidiary

Accounts Receivable
Subsidiary Ledger to General Ledger
Ledger