A journal voucher and a general journal are both accounting tools used to record financial transactions, but they serve different purposes and have distinct characteristics:
- General Journal:
- A general journal is a primary bookkeeping tool used to record all types of transactions within an organization.
- It serves as a chronological record of transactions, where each entry includes the date, accounts affected, a brief description, and the amounts debited and credited.
- General journals are typically used for recording non-routine or adjusting entries, such as accruals, depreciation, and corrections to errors.
- Entries in the general journal are later posted to the appropriate ledger accounts in the general ledger.
- Journal Voucher:
- A journal voucher is a document used to support and provide evidence for accounting transactions before they are posted to the general ledger.
- It is essentially an internal document used to record financial transactions within an organization before they are formally entered into the general ledger.
- Journal vouchers often serve as the source documents for entries in the general journal. They provide details such as the date, accounts involved, amounts, and explanations for the transactions.
- Journal vouchers are commonly used for routine transactions or those initiated outside the accounting department, such as travel expenses, petty cash disbursements, or inventory adjustments.
- Once a journal voucher is prepared and approved, the transactions are then recorded in the general journal and subsequently posted to the general ledger.
In summary, the main difference between a journal voucher and a general journal lies in their purpose and usage. The general journal is a formal record of all types of transactions, while the journal voucher serves as a preliminary record that supports entries in the general journal before they are posted to the general ledger.