journal

Business diary in which all financial data (taken usually from a journal voucher) pertaining to the day to day business transactions of a firm is recorded using double-entry bookkeeping system. Debit and credit changes caused by each transaction in individual ledger-accounts are subsequently entered in (posted to) the firm's general ledger. Depending on the nature of its operations and number of daily transactions, a firm may keep several types of specialized journals such as cash journal (cash book), purchases journal, and sales journal. The most common is general journal, used where no special journal exists or in which transactions not belonging to other journals are entered (see journal entry). Journals are also called 'books of first entry' or 'books of original entry.' See also journalizing.