What is Posting in Accounting?

Billions of financial transactions happen each day. Every business that operates as a financial entity carries out plenty of financial transactions – transactions that they need to record and keep under control. One way they do this is by using an accounting system and taking advantage of posting in accounting.

What is Posting in Accounting?

Posting in accounting is when one transfers money from one ledger to the general ledger. Posting is done at regular intervals, such as once a month, once a quarter, or once a year. How often posting in accounting happens depends on the entity in question and how many transactions need to be posted. Some organizations

Posting in accounting also happens with large companies with several branches to track where each department has an individual account. It also occurs when a parent company keeps the accounts of associate and subsidiary companies. The process is more manual than other accounting processes and takes some human resources to do effectively. Technological advancements have made it easier to handle in posting in accounting. Some automated software renders the process unnecessary, so you might not even have to do it at all.

Rules of Posting in Accounting

There are several rules to follow with posting in accounting. They are as follows:

1. Posting in a ledger should be done in chronological order
2. When posting in a ledger, you must make the entry into both accounts, meaning you use double-entry bookkeeping. For example, if you purchased on credit, you should enter the amounting of the purchase account and the creditor’s account.
3. How much you enter in the account goes in the amount column, with the debit going into the debit column. Credit is put on the credit side of the sheet.
4. The balance from the nominal accounts goes directly to a profit and loss account
5. Assets are debited while liabilities are credited

Essential Elements of Posting in Accounting:

1. The balance should be easily verified

When posting in accounts, the balance for the account should be as precise as the date of the transaction. Having this information so easily verified offers a clear understanding of account balances and makes it easier to find information in the ledger account.

2. Posting in Accounting Makes it Easier to Run a Business

This form of accounting makes it easier to run the business as you can easily track and call account balances and verify transactions.

3. It Helps to Have Current Records

Having the most updated record of account balances helps both with posting in accounting and tracking balances across time.

4. Can Easily be Analyzed

Given that the balance of ledger accounts changes according to transactions keeping a record of posting in accounting makes it easy to analyze an account if necessary.

Example

Company XYZ issues 20 invoices to customers and records transactions from the invoices in a sales account and the debtor’s respective account. The company also purchased goods from 10 suppliers. These purchases are recorded in both the purchases account and in accounts for the individual creditor. The general journal account includes some payable liability.

Computerized Accounting System Postings

Computerized accounting systems postings refer to an automated system that collects, processes, and records informative data to produce relevant financial reports. The process offers investors and managers alike all the information they need to make the right financial decisions.

There are two critical aspects to all accounting systems.

The first is that they work under defined regulations known as accounting principles. The second is that they have a user-friendly framework that allows people to maintain financial records and generate financial reports quickly. The more comfortable it is to use a system, the better that system is.

With computer-generated posting, the accountant logs into the system and enters an appropriate module as needed. The accountant should document all of the data, check the system for errors, correct any discovered errors, and save the changes before posting. Once the accountant finishes, the computer system publishes the data in the relevant accounts.

There are advantages to using an automated accounting system over standard manual accounting. These benefits include better speed, better data accuracy, the most up-to-date information, and the ability to generate reports quickly.

Final Thoughts

Posting in accounting – also known as posting in the ledger – is the accounting process where one transfers balances from the general ledger and the sub-ledgers. The process happens at different times according to the scale of a business and the number of transactions. Some companies do it once a day while others do it once a year. The more transactions you have to process, the longer it takes, meaning you should do it more often to avoid getting swamped under the workload.

The process helps to keep track of balances and transactions. Posting also makes it easier to verify the calculations used when accounting to verify that you have as much money as you think you do. It makes it easier to analyze balances to maintain accurate financial records thoroughly.

Posting is a manual process, but it doesn’t have to be. While the process does take some human effort, automated systems do exist. These systems allow small companies to handle posting more often as they don’t need to hire accountants. Manual posting has become something of a traditional idea these days, but it still has a place in the business world.

If you have more questions or concerns about posting in accounting or want some help with it for your business, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our experts are waiting to hear from you and help you get started with an automated solution or find the right accountant to handle the process manually.