A compound journal entry is an accounting entry in which there is more than one debit, more than one credit, or more than one of both debits and credits. It is essentially a combination of several simple journal entries; they are combined for either of the following reasons. On the other hand, compound journal entries are used for more complex transactions, such as a sale that involves multiple items or a purchase that is made with a combination of cash and credit.

Compound Journal Entries

However, in order to have a better overall understanding and grasp on business accounting, you need to look at more complex concepts, one of those being compound entries. Most business owners are responsible for collecting sales tax from their customers and remitting it to their state. This is because you must remit these taxes to the appropriate agencies. And, the employees’ net wages are also a payable account because you have not yet paid the employees. You will need to create new journal entries when you pay the agencies and your employees.

Browse more Topics under Recording Transactions

Whereas a compound entry involves more than one debit and one credit for a single transaction. Furthermore, though it may be a mix of several debits and credits, the sum of all entered debits and credits shall be equal, respecting the double entry system. This event also involves two accounting entries – one for the payment of cash for a previous credit purchase and the other for receiving the cash discount. It can be journalized by making two separate simple entries or one compound journal entry. A simple entry is the best reflection of the underlying transaction and the rules of debit and credit working behind the entry.

FAR CPA Practice Questions: Calculating Interest Expense for Bonds Payable

At the minimum, a credit card transaction deals with Cash, Credit Card Expense, and Sales accounts. If the credit card company doesn’t pay you immediately, you also have to deal with additional accounts, but we’re not going to get into all of that. All transactions are first recorded here before they are posted to the general ledger. It is used to record transactions in chronological order and serves as a record of all transactions that have occurred.

• If there are multiple accounts affected by the transaction, it is more effective to report the transaction as a compound journal entry rather than a series of single journal entries.
• This information includes the date of the transaction, the parties involved, the amount of money involved, and any other relevant details that may affect the transaction.
• Please pass the compound journal entry individually and in a compound format.
• A simple entry is the best reflection of the underlying transaction and the rules of debit and credit working behind the entry.
• One of the benefits of using accounting software for compound journal entries is the ability to track transactions and accounts in real-time.

Instructions Reproduce the journal entries for the transactions that occurred on October 1, 10, and 20, and provide explanations for each. Because you do not keep collected sales tax, you must record received funds in a Sales Tax Payable account. Regardless of the number of employees you have, payroll accounting involves a number of different accounts. Because when you run payroll, you need to withhold money for taxes and other deductions (e.g., health insurance premiums). If so, you may make multiple transactions when withdrawing money from the account.

How much will you need each month during retirement?

We can certainly link two or more accounts when we make a compound journal entry. Linked accounts, if any, will be debited and credited in the same part of the entry. In this example accounts payable is credited $15,000 for the loan, and the service payment of $500 was added to the down payment of $2,000 to combine for a $2,500 cash payment. These withdrawals are both documented as a $2,500 and a $3,000 credit to cash. Accountants and managers are responsible for recording day-to-day transactions and use both single and multiple entries to record and prepare financial statements.

In a compound journal entry, two or more journal entries are combined into one entry to simplify the accounting process. In accounting, a journal entry is a record of a financial transaction that is entered into the general ledger. A simple journal entry involves a single debit and a single credit, while a compound journal entry involves more than one debit or credit.

All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. On 1 June 2016, Sam started a business with $25,000 in cash, along with furniture costing $5,000.

A compound journal entry is a type of accounting entry that involves multiple debits or credits in a single transaction. It is different from a simple entry, which involves only one debit and one credit. An accounting entry that consists of three or more 2013 federal irs tax calculators and tax forms file now account names is known as a compound journal entry. In other words, one of the debit or credit parts of a compound entry essentially contains two accounts. A compound journal entry, in fact, is a combination of two or more simple journal entries.