§ — — Accounting Principles
Closing entries reset temporary nominal accounts (Revenues, Expenses, Drawings) to a zero balance at the end of the year, preventing past operational data from bleeding into the next financial cycle.
Step 1 — Clear Revenue Accounts: Debit all individual revenue accounts to clear their credit balances, and credit the total sum into the Income Summary clearing account.
Step 2 — Clear Expense Accounts: Credit all individual expense accounts to clear their debit balances, and debit the total sum into the Income Summary account.
Step 3 — Clear Income Summary to Capital:
If the business generated a Net Income (Income Summary holds a net credit balance), clear it out via:
If the business incurred a Net Loss (Income Summary holds a net debit balance), clear it out via:
Step 4 — Clear Drawing Account: Transfer the personal drawing balance directly into capital:
Reversing entries are optional bookkeeping adjustments performed on the first day of a new accounting cycle. They exactly switch the debits and credits of specific period-end adjustments to simplify subsequent routine cash transactions.
Items to Reverse: Adjustments that create a brand-new asset or liability (e.g., Accrued Expenses, Accrued Revenues, Prepayments tracked via the Expense Method, and Unearned Revenue tracked via the Revenue Method).
Items Never Reversed: Structural entries that do not cause a future cash transaction (e.g., Depreciation adjustments, changes to Allowance for Bad Debts).
Analyze the transactional descriptions below. On your workspace sheet, determine the two accounts altered and state whether they increase (+), decrease (-), or experience no change (NC).
Comprehensive Solution Grid and Equation Effects
| No. | Account Debited | Effect | Account Credited | Effect | Operational Mechanics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cash (Asset) | + | Owner's Capital (Equity) | + | The business is a separate economic entity. Cash asset and equity rise concurrently. |
| 2 | Machinery (Asset) | + | Accounts Payable (Liability) | + | Operational machinery asset is acquired by creating a legal short-term obligation. |
| 3 | Supplies (Asset) | + | Cash (Asset) | - | A liquid asset is exchanged for another asset form; net accounting equation totals remain unchanged. |
| 4 | Accounts Payable (Liability) | - | Cash (Asset) | - | Cash outflow causes an equal structural reduction in short-term legal liabilities. |
| 5 | Cash (Asset) | + | Service Revenue (Equity) | + | Immediate liquid cash collection boosts assets; earning operational revenue increases equity. |
| 6 | Accounts Receivable (Asset) | + | Service Revenue (Equity) | + | Creates a legal asset right to collect cash in the future, increasing current equity. |
| 7 | Cash (Asset) | + | Accounts Receivable (Asset) | - | One current asset (Cash) increases while another current asset (Receivable) decreases. |
| 8 | Owner's Drawing (Equity) | - | Cash (Asset) | - | Extraction of cash reduces overall owner's equity investment. |
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