Dictionary / Journal
What does Journal mean in accounting?
Quick definition
Financial reportingThe chronological book of original entry: the dated list of transactions before they post to the ledger.
Read more below
A journal entry is one recording in that book.
Examples
Sales and cash listed by time of day
You run a bicycle-repair shop. On May 6 you record a $95 walk-in tune-up at 8:40 as a sales receipt, a $340 invoice to a cycling-club client at 11:15, and that club's $340 ACH at 4:10 as Receive payment in QuickBooks Online. The first two rows are the sales journal and the ACH is the cash-receipts journal; those dated lists are the journal, and each row is one journal entry. You would open the general journal only for depreciation or a reclass, not for these sales and collections.
The income register is not the journal
You run a masonry company. A customer asks about the $2,450 patio invoice dated September 12 to an HOA client, so you open that invoice in QuickBooks Online. That screen is one journal entry, not the journal; the journal is the dated list of September source records. The $2,450 line in the masonry income register is the general ledger: a posted copy. If the amount is wrong, edit the invoice so posting updates the ledger; typing over the register leaves the source and the account out of sync.
Journal vs general journal
A journal is the chronological book idea: the dated list of transactions before they post to the ledger. Sales, cash, and the general journal are types of journals. The general journal is the catch-all book for adjustments, depreciation, and reclasses. In QuickBooks Online, people often say journal when they mean the Journal entry screen. That screen is the general journal, not every journal. Invoices, bills, and receive-payment are journals too. They just do not use the word.
Why it matters
You keep a journal because every sale, collection, payment, and adjustment starts as a dated line in a chronological book, not as a posted total in the general ledger. You write those lines most days you do business. Sales, cash, and the general journal are just different journals for different kinds of activity; a journal entry is one recording in that book. If you treat a ledger register or a single invoice screen as the journal, you edit a posted copy or one document instead of the dated list, and the source and the account disagree.
Further reading
Compare this term with reference material from other accounting and finance websites.
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Is a journal the same as the general journal?
No. A journal is the chronological book idea. The general journal is one type of journal: the catch-all for items that do not belong in a sales, cash, or purchases journal.
What is the difference between a journal and a journal entry?
The journal is the book. A journal entry is one recording in it.
Where is the journal in QuickBooks or Xero?
Invoices, bills, and receive-payment screens are journals for those kinds of activity. The journal entry screen in QuickBooks Online, or Manual journal in Xero, is the general journal.
Is the general ledger a journal?
No. The journal is the dated source list. The general ledger is the posted copy, organized by account.