Journal Entry
What is a Journal Entry?
A journal entry is an entry made in a journal to record a business transaction.
![je1](https://seeaccountingnow.online/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/je1.jpg)
How it Works
The only journal still in use today is the general journal.
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You use the general journal to record things like business start-up entries, account adjustments, reversal of those adjustments, and correcting entries.
![](https://seeaccountingnow.online/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/je3.jpg)
The general journal is the only area where you still need a knowledge of debits and credits.
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When making a journal entry, you think of what happened in the transaction.
![je6](https://seeaccountingnow.online/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/je6.jpg)
For example, a business owner may use some of their own capital to start the business.
![je7](https://seeaccountingnow.online/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/je7.jpg)
If so, they will transfer this money to the business’s bank account.
![je8](https://seeaccountingnow.online/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/je8.jpg)
To record the transaction, you credit owners capital.
![](https://seeaccountingnow.online/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/je9.jpg)
This shows money has come from the owners own capital.
![](https://seeaccountingnow.online/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/je10.jpg)
Then you debit the checking account.
![](https://seeaccountingnow.online/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/je11.jpg)
This shows the money was deposited in the bank.
![](https://seeaccountingnow.online/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/je12.jpg)
© R.J. Hickman 2020