Accounting Journal Templates

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Accounting journals are journals with company's detail financial transaction. This transaction is recorded in a general journal or one of the special journals for the most active accounts. The most common specialized journals are Sales Journal, Purchase Journal and Cash Journal. These templates are individual templates that are part of integrated accounting system templates that I finally completed after being delayed as a template. I am using a custom spreadsheet for my own company. It took time to convert it into a general template that should accommodate general accounting needs.

Basically, an accounting journal is a record of financial transactions recorded in a journal. A journal is a breakdown of all financial transactions and accounts that affect the transaction. There are two methods to enter the data, double-entry and single-entry bookkeeping method. Typically, journal entries are entered in chronological order according to the date of the transaction, and the debit balance entered before the credit balance.

Journals provide basic information for all financial statements and are used by accounting managers or auditors to analyze how the effects of financial transactions on a business. Journals are inserted into specific accounts using the chart of accounts, and the journal entries are then recorded in the ledger. In accounting, a "journal" refers to a financial record kept in the form of a book, spreadsheet, or accounting software containing all financial transaction information on a business.

There are several journal models to record any company's transactions. It depends on particular company's policy on how to record their transactions. Big companies rely on proprietary or famous accounting software to record them, while small business or individual companies are using Microsoft Excel or less famous software to keep their financial transaction.

Here, you can download and use simple accounting journal templates to record your company's transactions. There are General, Sales, Purchase, Cash and Adjusting Journals. As informed, they are parts of integrated accounting system template where in that template you can see generated report based on journal entries. Also, you can see their respective account summary in general ledger worksheet automatically.

These individual accounting journals below shares similar formats. To use those templates correctly, you must specify their categories in Chart of Accounts worksheet. Light green column has vlookup formula to show respective Chart of Accounts description based on selected codes. Since there are no links between them, you still need to create separate worksheets to summarize them.

General Journal

This is a common journal to record all financial transactions for companies that sell services only or to record non sales and purchase transaction for trading companies.

Special Journals

Usually, trading/retail companies use these type of journals. They can be divided in several journals, most common are Sales, Purchase and Cash Journal.

• Sales Journal: You can record non cash transaction from any sales in this journal.
• Purchase Journal: You can record non cash transaction from any purchases in this type of journal
• Cash Journal: You can record any cash transaction in this journal, including cash transaction from sales and purchase activities.

Adjusting Journal

At the end of accounting period, you may need to post several financial transactions that are not fit in general and special journals. This adjusting journal is a journal for that purposes. For example, you may need to write inventory values to present balance sheet report correctly. Its main purpose is to neutralize any discrepancies that might arise in all financial reports.

Since all accounting journal templates are sharing similar formats, you can duplicate it for other journal types. Or, you can modify it for other journal purposes.