A sales book is a journal of sales. The amounts of individual sales are posted (transferred) to the debit side of the accounts of the purchasers. The footings of the sales book are carried forward until the end of the month, when the total amount is posted as one item to the credit side of the _merchandise_ account, completing the double entry.
The merchandise account has been universally used in the past, all purchases being debited and all sales credited to this account. Certain other accounts (which will be explained later) are now recommended by leading accountants, to take the place of the merchandise account.
Sales books are usually ruled to meet the special needs of each business, separate columns being provided for a record of special classes of sales, or sales of special kinds of goods.
=18. Purchase Book.= A Purchase or Invoice Book is the opposite of the sales book, being used for a record of all purchases made. Like the sales book, the totals are carried forward to the end of the month, and posted as one item to the debit side of the _merchandise_ account. The amounts of the separate transactions are posted daily to the credit of the persons from whom the goods are purchased.
The purchase book is a purchase journal, and the ruling is the same as that of other journals.
=19. Ledger.= The Ledger is the principal book, in which particulars of every transaction of every nature are summarized. It is, in fact, a transcript of all other books of the business except those used solely for statistical purposes.
The ledger is the book which contains the final or complete records of all dealings, either with an individual or with respect to a specific class of transactions--as expenditures for a certain purpose, or receipts of a given character, or sales of a given kind of goods.
A transcript of the ledger accounts exhibits the progress and standing of the business.
Like other books, ledgers are now made with special forms of ruling, depending on the purpose for which they are to be used. The old style or common form of ledger ruling is shown (p. 35).
=20. Invoice or Bill.= An Invoice or Bill is an itemized statement or record of goods sold by one person to another. The invoice or bill is used in every line of business. A conventional form of invoice is shown (p. 5).