Question

Define the purpose of maintaining subsidiary journal

Answer 1

The process of accounting starts from identification of financial and non-financial events.

Financial events are first recorded in a Journal. A small business has lesser number of transactions and thereby it may be possible to record these transactions through Journal entry.

However, on the contrary, as the business grows, there will be voluminous number of transactions and the firm may experience difficulty, thereby it becomes tedious to record through Journal entry.

Thus, in order to save time and effort, it is recommended to sub-divide Journal. Sub-division of Journal provides scope for division of work.

This leads to the improvement of efficiency and effectiveness and infuses higher degree of accountability to the accountants for the specific subsidiary Journal assigned to them.

The purposes of maintaining subsidiary Journal are given below:

1. It saves time and efforts in recording.

2. It enables division of work, leading to an enhancement of efficiency and effectiveness, as particular accountant takes care of particular books.

3. It also makes each accountant more responsible and accountable for the books assigned to them.

4. It records routine and repetitive transactions at one place, which leads to easy accessibility of information and hassle-free communication.