Dictionary / Special Journals
What does Special Journals mean in accounting?
Quick definition
Cash & bankingSpecific journals such as a sales journal, purchase journal, or cash receipts journal that are used to record only those types of transactions. This term guides how bookkeepers record, classify, and explain related transactions in routine financial reporting.
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Examples
The gangway repair belongs in the sales journal
You run a welding shop. On February 4 you invoice a marina $1,560 for a repaired gangway delivered that morning. In QuickBooks Online that Invoice is the sales-journal line: accounts receivable increases $1,560 and Welding income increases $1,560, and that marina shows on the AR aging. This is a sale on account, so it does not belong in the cash-receipts journal and you do not open Journal entry. When they pay later, Receive payment is the cash-in special journal.
Wholesale soap posted in the general journal
You run a soap shop. On August 21 you finish a $390 wholesale case for a market and want the sale on the books before they pay. You open Journal entry in QuickBooks Online and debit accounts receivable $390, credit Wholesale income $390; that recording sits in the general journal, the catch-all book, not a special journal for sales. That market never appears on the AR aging, and you cannot apply their later check to an open invoice. Create an Invoice dated August 21 instead; that Invoice screen is the sales journal.
Why it matters
You keep special journals so each kind of everyday transaction has its own book: credit sales in one list, unpaid vendor bills in another, cash in in a third. You add lines any day you invoice, enter a bill, or take a payment. In the software those dedicated books are the invoice, bill, and receive-payment screens, not one catch-all column book. The journal is the chronological idea; special journals are the typed books. Put a credit sale or an unpaid bill in the general journal instead, and the accounts receivable or accounts payable aging never sees the customer or vendor.
Keep learning
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What is Special Journals in bookkeeping?
Specific journals such as a sales journal, purchase journal, or cash receipts journal that are used to record only those types of transactions.
When should I use Special Journals?
Use Special Journals 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 Special Journals?
Special Journals is used for special journals entries, while Sale Value 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.