The journal, or day book, is the book wherein the transactions recorded in the waste-book are prepared to be carried to the ledger, by having their proper debt ors and creditors ascertained and pointed out ; whence it may be observed, that the great design of the journal is to prevent errors in the ledger : again, after the ledger is filled up, the journal facilitates the work required in revising and cor recting it ; for, first, the waste-book and journal are compared, and then the jour nal and ledger; whereas, to revise the ledger immediately from the waste-book would be a matter of no less difficulty, than to form it without the help of a jour nal : lastly, the journal is designed as a fair record of a merchant's business ; for neither of the two other books can serve this purpose ; not the ledger, by reason of the order that obtains in it, and also on account of its brevity, being little more than a large index : nor can the waste book answer this design, as it can neither be fair not uniform, nor very accurate, being commonly written by different hands, and in time of business. Hence it is, that in case of differences between a merchant and his dealers, the journal is the book commonly called for, and in spected by a civil judge.
In the journal, persons and things are charged debtors to other persons and things as creditors ; and in this it agrees with the ledger, where the same style is used, but differs from it as to forms and order ; so that it agrees with the waste book in those very things where it differs from the ledger ; and on the other hand, it agrees with the latter in the very point wherein it differs from the former.
It may be observed, that every case or example of the waste-hook, when enter ed into the journal, is called a journal post, or entrance ; thus the examples above make three direct posts.
Accounts in the ledger consist of two parts, which in their own nature are di rectly opposed to, and the reverse of one another, and are therefore set fronting. one another, and on opposite sides of the same folio. Thus all the articles of the money received go to the left side of the cash account ; and all the articles or sums laid out are carried to the right. In like manner, the purchase of goods is posted to the left side of the accounts of the said goods, and the sale or disposal of them to the right.
Transactions of trade, or cases of the waste-book, are also made up of two parts, which belong to different accounts, and to opposite sides of the ledger, e. g. If goods are bought for ready money, the two parts are, the goods received, and the money delivered ; the former of which goes to the left side of the account of the said goods, and the latter to the right side oldie cash account.
The two parts in any case in the waste book, when pus, ed to the journal, are denominated, the one the debtor, the other the creoltor, of that post ; and when carried from thence to the ledger, the debtor, or debtor part, is entered upon the left side (hence called the debtor side) of its own account, where it is charged debtor to the creditor part : again, the creditor, or creditor part, is posted to the right side, or creditor side of its account, and made creditor by the debtor part. Hence Italian book-keeping
is said to be a method of keeping accounts by double entry, because every single case of the waste-book requires at least two en trances in the ledger, viz. one fbr the debt or, and another for the creditor.
From what has been said, it is evident that the terms debtor and creditor are nothing more than marks or characteris tics stamped upon the different parts of transactions in the journal, expressing the relation of these parts to one another, and. shelving to which side of their re spective accounts in the ledger they are to be carried.
Having thus far explained the meaning of.the terms debtor and creditor, we shall now proceed to the ledger, or principal book of accounts.
Of the ledger. The ledger is the prin cipal book, wherein all the several arti cles of each particular account, that lie scattered in other books, according to their dates, are collected, and placed to gether in spaces allotted for them, in such a manner, that the, opposite parts of every account are directly set fronting one another, on opposite sides of the same The ledger's folios are divided into spaces for containing the accounts, on the head of which are written the titles of the accounts, marked Dr. on the left hand page, and Cr. on the right below which stand the articles, with the word To pre fixed on the Dr. side, and the word By on the Cr. side ; and upon the margin are recorded the dates of the articles, in two small columns allotted for that pur pose. The money columns are the same as in other books; before them stand the folio column, which contains figures, di recting to the folio where the corres ponding ledger-entrance of each article is made; for every thing is twice entered in the ledger, viz. on the Dr. side of one account, and again on the Cr. side of some other account ; so that the figurt mutually refer from the one to the other, and are of use in examining the ledger. Besides these columns, there muse be kept in all accounts, where number, mea sure, weight, or distinction of coins,, is considered, inner columns, to insert the quantity ; and for the ready finding any account in the ledger, it has an alphabet, or index, wherein are written the titles of all accounts, with the number of the folio where they stand.