General Ledger Journals

At the end of each accounting period you should clear your GST Input Clearing balance by offsetting it against the balance in your GST Sales/Payables account. The remaining balance is what you remit (or, less likely, get refunded) from the government.

The following general journal entries should be made in your general ledger at the end of each period:

You can now utilize the End Period Wizard to automatically create the above journal at the end of each period.

Automatic Journalling Procedure

Nothing special has to be done here. Start CAPITAL GL Controller for Windows and select Files|End Period Wizard. Then press F1 to learn more about what the Wizard does and how it can simplify your end of period accounting tasks!

If you decide to use the Wizard, it will automatically reconcile your GST accounts at the end of each period for you.

If for technical reasons you cannot use the Wizard (because the structure of your company and chart of accounts is too complex) then follow the procedure as outlined below concerning manual entry and posting.

Entering The Journal Manually

It is suggested that you create a standing journal for this purpose. The procedure is:

1. Create a standing journal under Journals|Standing Journal Tables. Make the description: "GST Reconciliation".

2. Fill in the account codes listed in the above table. (Steps 1 and 2 only need to be done once.)

3. At the end of each period, after transferring your CAPITAL Office accounting data, return to Journals|Standing Journals Table.

4. Edit the GST Reconciliation batch. Enter the total amount of GST as recorded in your GST Input Clearing account, into both journal entries. (This amount may be obtained from your Goods and Services Tax Report for that period, or from the Trial Balance report of your General Ledger. Both amounts should agree!)

5. Save the batch.

6. Be sure to copy it into the correct accounting period by clicking on Transfer and enter the correct period number then click on <Copy> and move the batch to General Journals.

7. Leave the Standing Journal Tables section and go to Journals|General Journal Batches.

8. Post the GST Reconciliation Batch.