NRS-15794 | Ledgers [Darlington Municipality]

Full description

This series contains the General Ledgers of the Darlington Municipal Council. The Ledger in this consignment contains an index.

These accounting records were initially created under s.38 of the An Act for establishing Municipalities Institutions 1858 (22, Victoria Act No. 13), and subsequent legislation. This section specified that the council keep books of accounts, which were to be made available to auditors. The Council was also to prepare a detailed account of expenditure and revenue to be published in June and December. Municipal Accounting regulations also governed the format and type of records to be maintained.

These ledgers formed part of a standard public sector accounting system. This system generally comprised Cash Books, Journals (General and Subsidiary), and Ledgers (General and Subsidiary).

The purpose of ledgers in the accounting system was to record all transactions including debit and credit relating to accounts. An Account was an entity such as person, function, or company around which all transaction relating to that entity are grouped. (1) Debit and credit transactions relating to an account are firstly recorded separately in the appropriate Journal or Cash Book. (2) At regular intervals the entries in the Journal and Cash books are posed to the Ledger. (3) The notation “CB” for Cash Book, or “J” for Journal reflects the origins of the posting.

Two types of ledgers were maintained, general and subsidiary. General ledgers contain Real and nominal accounts relating to assets, liabilities, expenses and income. Subsidiary Ledgers are maintained for one function, such as debtors or creditors. The General Ledger contains “Control” accounts for individual accounts in the subsidiary ledger. (4) Information from the General Ledger was utilised to prepare the required financial statements, such as Profit and Loss, and Half yearly statements.

This General Ledger contained all accounts maintained by the council including rates, street accounts, maintenance and repairs. Income and expenditure recorded by the Ledger was accredited into the General Fund. The Council also maintained other funds such as loans and trust funds. Under Schedule 1 of the 1908 Municipal Accounting Regulations, (5) accounts were classified into General Purpose (G.P) Public Works (P.W), Public Service (P.S), Health Administration (H.A) and Shire Property.

Custody History
This series was in the custody of Mitchell Library from 1965 until December 2001 when it was transferred to State Records NSW under section 29 of the State Records Act, 1998.

Endnotes
1. P. Stanley, Accounting for non accountants: the plain English guide to accounting Information. Australia Melbourne, 1999, p.39.
2. p.34.
3. p.39.
4. pp.49- 50.
5. NSW Government Gazette, 19 November 1908, pp. 6131-6135.