The accounting cycle is a fundamental concept in financial accounting and it lays the groundwork for all accounting processes and procedures. In this blog post, we will walk through the eight steps of the accounting cycle.
Step 1: Transaction Analysis
Every accounting cycle begins with a business transaction. This could be a sale, a purchase, or any other business activity that affects the company’s financial statements. The accountant must analyze each transaction to understand how it changes the company’s financial position.
Step 2: Journal Entries
Once the transaction is analyzed, it is recorded in the company’s journal. This record, known as a journal entry, includes the date of the transaction, the accounts affected, the amounts to be debited or credited, and a brief description of the transaction.
Step 3: Posting to the Ledger
The next step is to post these journal entries to the company’s general ledger. The ledger is essentially a collection of all the company’s accounts. Each journal entry is posted to the corresponding accounts in the ledger.
Step 4: Trial Balance
After all transactions for the period have been posted, the accountant prepares a trial balance. This is a list of all accounts and their balances at a particular point in time. The purpose of the trial balance is to ensure that total debits equal total credits.
Step 5: Adjusting Entries
At the end of the accounting period, some accounts may need to be updated with adjusting entries. These are made to record revenues and expenses that have been incurred but not yet recorded in the journal and ledger.
Step 6: Adjusted Trial Balance
Once all adjusting entries have been made, an adjusted trial balance is prepared. This is similar to the initial trial balance, but it includes the effects of all adjusting entries.
Step 7: Financial Statements
The adjusted trial balance serves as the basis for preparing the company’s financial statements. These include the income statement, the statement of retained earnings, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows.
Step 8: Closing Entries
The final step in the accounting cycle is to prepare closing entries. These entries clear out the balances in the temporary accounts (revenues, expenses, and dividends) and transfer their balances to the retained earnings account.
And that’s it! That’s the accounting cycle. It’s a systematic process that ensures accuracy and consistency in financial accounting. By following these eight steps, accountants can help businesses keep track of their financial activities and maintain accurate financial records.
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