Dictionary / Bring Forward

What does Bring Forward mean in accounting?

Quick definition

General

To inscribe the balance or the total debits and credits of an account, worksheet, or any tabular statement upon a new page or sheet or upon a cleared section of an old sheet. This term guides how bookkeepers record, classify, and explain related transactions in routine financial reporting.

Read more below

Financial report sheets and a presentation folder illustrating financial statements

Examples

Job-cost sheet fills mid-project

You run a cabinet shop, and the printed job-cost sheet for a clinic remodel fills on May 22: the debit column (a plywood supplier and shop labor) totals $18,640, and the credit column (deposits applied) totals $6,000. You start a fresh sheet and write those same $18,640 of debits and $6,000 of credits on the first line as brought forward. That inscription is the bring forward: the plywood supplier does not get a second bill, and you do not enter $18,640 again in QuickBooks Online. If you start the new sheet at zero, the next labor dump looks like the whole job cost a few hundred dollars.

Same-page ruling is carry down

At the October 31 close, your florist rules off the two-column Ribbon & Wrap account on the same printed ledger page: $840 of debit postings, $60 of credit postings, and a $780 debit written on the line below the ruling so November starts as one figure. That is carry down. Bring-forward would be if that page had no blank lines left and you inscribed the $840 and $60, or the $780 account balance, at the top of a new page. If the page still has room, stay on it; do not start a new sheet just to bring November forward, and do not post $780 as a new journal entry in Xero.

Why it matters

Bring forward is the copy step that keeps a running account or work sheet usable after the page fills: you write the account balance, or the total debit and credit columns, at the top of the next sheet (or a cleared section of the same sheet) so the work continues. You will not do this most months if you live in QuickBooks Online or Xero, where registers do not run out of rows; it shows up when a paper cash book, a printed close pack, or a spreadsheet tab is full. Skip that copy and the new page starts at zero, so the running total is missing everything already posted; treat the copied totals as a new journal entry and you double-count the same figures. This is not carry forward, which parks an expenditure in a later period because the benefit is still coming, and it is not carry down, which rules off a two-column account at period close and reopens it as one net figure on the line below.

Keep learning

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Frequently asked questions

What is Bring Forward in bookkeeping?

To inscribe the balance or the total debits and credits of an account, worksheet, or any tabular statement upon a new page or sheet or upon a cleared section of an old sheet.

When should I use Bring Forward?

Use Bring Forward when the transaction facts match its definition and you need the ledger and financial statements to reflect the correct account and period.

What is a common mistake with Bring Forward?

Bring Forward is used for bring forward entries, while Bad Debt covers a related but distinct bookkeeping purpose. Review both terms before posting unusual transactions. A common mistake is applying it by label only instead of checking the underlying transaction details.