Dictionary / Posting
What does Posting mean in accounting?
Quick definition
Financial reportingTransferring entries from journals to ledgers. This term guides how bookkeepers record, classify, and explain related transactions in routine financial reporting.
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Examples
Save the expense and the register updates
You run a catering kitchen. On June 12 you enter an Expense in QuickBooks Online: $875 to a produce supplier for weekend produce, coded to Food cost, paid from Checking. When you save, the software posts that journal line into the general ledger. Open the Checking register and the Food cost account: both show that produce supplier $875. That register update is posting, not a second transaction.
A draft journal is not posted yet
You run a window service. On November 16 you start a Journal entry in QuickBooks Online to move $3,200 of window film bought from a tint supplier from Supplies expense to Inventory, then you leave it as Draft (or Pending approval). The journal has your lines, but posting has not happened, so those registers do not change and the November P&L still shows $3,200 as expense. Approve and save so it posts, or delete the draft if you decided not to move it.
Why it matters
Posting is the step that copies a dated journal line into the ledger accounts that feed your reports. The journal is the chronological book; posting is the move into those accounts (with a folio page mark on paper), and in QuickBooks Online or Xero it usually happens when you save a bill, invoice, expense, or journal entry. You will do this most days you record activity, not only at month-end. A draft has not posted, a miscode sits in the wrong register until you edit the source, and typing over a register instead of the source leaves the journal and the general ledger out of sync.
Further reading
Compare this term with reference material from other accounting and finance websites.
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What is Posting in bookkeeping?
Transferring entries from journals to ledgers.
When should I use Posting?
Use Posting 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 Posting?
Posting is used for posting entries, while Paid-In Surplus 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.