VPRS 10489 General Ledger

Full description

The East Gippsland Municipal Pipeworks was a cooperative enterprise for the Shires of Avon, Maffra, Bairnsdale, Traralgon, Orbost, Rosedale, Omeo and Tambo established by 1924 based at Stratford (Shire of Avon). Each Council sent delegates to Annual General Meetings, with the enterprise being overseen by a Secretary-Manger. Its function was the manufacture of concrete pipes, paving slabs, channel sections and building blocks. Annual accounts show that these were sold to the participating Shire authorities for their needs and to other clients.

Ledgers comprise a record of changes (debit and credit transactions) concerning one or more accounts. The makeup (classification) of accounts is arbitrary and usually depends on the functions of the agency and the regulations governing its financial reporting requirements. Transactions are posted to the ledger accounts from the cash books and journals. The source of the posting is usually indicated by a combination of folio numbers and an abbreviation of the source record eg. 'C' or 'CB'=Cash Book, 'J'=Journal, 'PC'=Petty Cash Book etc.

Subsidiary ledgers are often maintained to facilitate a division of responsibilities within a large account, or to provide a separate record of a particular account.

A general ledger, however, comprises all accounts necessary for the compilation of the finance statements required by the agency. If subsidiary ledgers are used it is common for a general ledger to include a single account which represents the totals of the transactions of the accounts in each of the subsidiary ledgers. This device is called a 'control account'.