Purchases Journal is used for recording credit purchases of goods and raw materials. The goods or raw materials can be purchased either on cash basis or on credit basis. When they are purchased on cash basis, the entry is made in the cash book. But when they are purchased on credit, they are recorded in the Purchases Journal. Note that the credit purchases of fixed assets like typewriter, vehicle, etc., are not recorded in this book. They are recorded in Journal Proper about which you will learn later. The Purchases Journal is also called 'Purchases Book', 'Purchases Day Book', and 'Invoice Book'.

Recording in the Purchases Journal:

The Purchases Journal has six columns:

Column 1: It is meant for writing the date of purchase.

Column 2: In this column you write the name and address of the supplier.

Column 3: The inward invoice number is recorded in this column. As stated earlier, when you purchase goods on credit, you get an invoice from the supplier. Although it bears a number, you have to accord your own serial numbers to all inward invoices for easy reference. It is this serial number which will be entered in the inward invoice column of the Purchase Journal.

Column 4: In this column you will write the page number of the account in ledger where posting is done.

Column 5: In this column the amount payable to the supplier is recorded. You must note that the amount payable is arrived at after deducting the trade discount, if any. For example, see the invoice given in the figure. The amount payable is Rs.225. If, some sales tax is also involved, the amount payable should include that also.

Column 6: Any other relevant information is to be recorded in this column. Information such as the date on which the amount of the bill is payable and the date on which it is actually paid may be noted in this column.

Posting the Purchases Journal:

The transactions recorded in the Purchases Journal are to be posted to their respective personal accounts in the ledger. When a purchase is made on credit, the supplier becomes the creditor for the firm. Hence, every credit purchase recorded in the Purchases Journal is posted on the credit side of the personal account of the supplier by writing 'By Purchases A/c' in particulars column.

The Purchases Journal is totaled periodically, say, weekly or monthly. This total is posted to the debit side of Purchases Account in the ledger by writing 'To Sundries-as per Purchases Journal'. Thus, you observe that posting of Purchases Journal involves two steps: (i) posting each purchase to the credit of the respective personal accounts of suppliers, and (ii) posting the total purchases to the debit of the Purchases Account. With this, double entry for credit purchases is complete