closing entry

(noun)

a journal entry made at the end of an accounting period to transfer temporary accounts to permanent accounts

Related Terms

  • credit
  • trial balance
  • adjusted trial balance
  • post-closing trial balance
  • debit

Examples of closing entry in the following topics:

  • The Post-Closing Trial Balance

    • A post-closing trial balance is a trial balance taken after the closing entries have been posted.
    • The post-closing trial balance can only be prepared after each closing entry has been posted to the General Ledger.
    • The purpose of closing entries is to transfer the balances of the temporary accounts (expenses, revenues, gains, etc.) to the retained earnings account.
    • After the closing entries are posted, these temporary accounts will have a zero balance.
    • The post-closing trial balance proves debits still equal credits after the closing entries have been made.
  • Closing the Cycle

    • Transferring information from temporary accounts to permanent accounts is referred to as closing the books.
    • The process of closing the temporary accounts is often referred to as closing the books.
    • Accountants may perform the closing process monthly or annually.
    • The Dividends account is also closed at the end of the accounting period.
    • The dividends account is closed directly to the Retained Earnings account.
  • Overview of Statement Changes and Errors

    • Accounting for a counterbalancing error is made by determining if the books for the current year are closed or not.
    • If the current year books are closed-no entry is necessary if the error has already counterbalanced.
    • If the error has not counterbalanced then an entry must be made to retained earnings.
    • If the error has not counterbalanced, an entry is necessary to adjusted beginning retained earnings and correct the current period.
    • It makes no difference whether the books are closed or still open, a correcting journal entry is necessary.
  • What Is the Accounting Cycle?

    • Prepare a trial balance of the accounts and complete the worksheet (includes adjusting entries).
    • After the financials are prepared, the month end adjusting and closing entries are recorded (journalized) and posted to the appropriate accounts.
    • After those entries are made, a post-closing trial balance is run.
    • The post-closing trial balance verifies the debits equal the credits and that all beginning balances for permanent accounts are in place.
    • The General Ledger contains all entries from both the General Journal and the Special Journals.
  • The Trial Balance

    • It is usually prepared after all the journal entries for the period have been recorded.
    • The journal entries were then posted to the general ledger.
    • The trial balance is a part of the double-entry bookkeeping system and uses the classic 'T' account format for presenting values.
    • When the error is found, a correcting entry must be made.
    • The post-closing trial balance proves debits still equal credits after the closing entries have been made.
  • Preparing Financial Statements

    • Preparing the adjusted trial balance requires "closing" the book and making the necessary adjusting entries to align the financial records with the true financial activity of the business.
    • Closing the books is simply a matter of ensuring that transactions that take place after the business's financial period are not included in the financial statements.
    • If the books are properly closed, that property will not be included on the balance sheet that is being prepared for the period on December 31st.
    • An adjusting entry is a journal entry made at the end of an accounting period that allocates income and expenditure to the appropriate years.
    • Adjusting entries are generally made in relation to prepaid expenses, prepayments, accruals, estimates and inventory.
  • An Expanded Equation

    • Preparing the adjusted trial balance requires "closing" the book and making the necessary adjusting entries to align the financial records with the true financial activity of the business.
    • Closing the books is simply a matter of ensuring that transactions that take place after the business's financial period are not included in the financial statements.
    • If the books are properly closed, that property will not be included on the balance sheet that is being prepared for the period on December 31st.
    • An adjusting entry is a journal entry made at the end of an accounting period that allocates income and expenditure to the appropriate years.
    • Adjusting entries are generally made in relation to prepaid expenses, prepayments, accruals, estimates and inventory.
  • Journalizing

    • How would we record journal entries for each transaction?
    • Each journal entry must have a debit and a credit.
    • How would we record journal entries for each transaction?
    • (these can be combined into a single entry if you choose. )
    • Closing the accounts prepares the ledger for the next accounting period.
  • Reversing Entries

    • One such entry, at the end of July, is as follows: Expiration of insurance Insurance expense 200 Prepaid insurance 200 At the beginning of August, if Highland Yoga chooses to adopt reversing entries, such an entry would be as follows: Reversing of insurance 200 Prepaid insurance 200
    • Reversing entries are journal entries made at the beginning of each accounting period.
    • Reversing entries are most often used with accrual-type adjusting entries.
    • This adjusting entry records months A's portion of the interest expense with a journal entry that debits interest expense and credits interest payable.
    • The entry credits interest expense and debits interest payable.
  • Debits and Credits

    • Credit and debit are the two fundamental aspects of every financial transaction in the double-entry bookkeeping system.
    • Credre means "to entrust," and debere means "to owe. " When we look closely into these two concepts we see that they are actually two sides of the same coin.
    • In a closed financial system, money cannot just materialize.
    • Debits and credits serve as the two balancing aspects of every financial transaction in double-entry bookkeeping.
    • Each transaction (let's say $100) is recorded by a debit entry of $100 in one account, and a credit entry of $100 in another account.
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.