VPRS 15556 General Ledgers (GRS 1420)

This series comprises records that belonged to a municipal accounting system. An explanation of the types of funds managed by municipalities and the types of records found within accounting systems follows.Municipal Accounting FundsMunicipal accounting has been subject to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1874 and subsequent local government legislation and to the Municipal Accounting Regulations. Under these provisions the income and expenditure of Victorian municipal councils is segregated into Municipal Funds, Loan Funds and a Country Roads Board Fund.The Municipal Funds are further broken down into the following three types of funds:* General Fund* Undertakings such as abattoirs, electricity supply etc* Private Street Construction, Separate Rate and Special Improvement Charges.Municipalities are required to credit ordinary revenue to the Municipal Funds. Ordinary revenue is comprised of rates, tolls and rent of tolls, grants and all other moneys not being the proceeds of a loan. The General Fund is the principal fund of the council and its accounts show the main items of municipal income and expenditure.The Municipal Accounting Regulations require separate accounting records to be kept for the three types of Municipal Funds.Accounting RecordsAccounting systems comprise a structured collection of records which together document financial transactions. At the most basic level the flow of information between the records was as follows: from source documents (such as invoices and receipts), income and expenditure were recorded in cash books and journals.From cash books and journals, sub-totals for expenditure and revenue were consolidated into subsidiary ledgers. Figures in subsidiary ledgers were used to compile totals of income and expenditure that were recorded in the general ledger. Categories of income and expenditure were then aggregated under account segments for use in financial statements.The flow of information, however, is not always this straightforward.Source DocumentsExamples include receipt books, cheque butts, vouchers etc. Information is extracted from these documents and entered chronologically, in full or summary form, into cash books or journals. This process is called journalizing.Cash BooksA cash book is a combination of a book of original entry (ie. a journal) and the ledger account for cash (often including the bank account). As a book of original entry it is used to record receipt and payment transactions in chronological order. Following a standard format, cash (and cheque) receipts are entered on the lefthand side of the book, and cash (and cheque) payments are recorded on the righthand side. These amounts are then 'posted' to the relevant ledger accounts which are identified either by ledger folio numbers or account numbers. As the cash book is also a replacement of the ledger account for cash, it is balanced at regular intervals.Journals (Specific and General)The prime function of a journal is to facilitate the 'posting' of credit and debit transactions into the appropriate ledger accounts. Like the cash book the journal is a book of original entry which records transactions in chronological order. Specific journals are often maintained to summarise information about similar types of transactions, including cash transactions, eg. cash receipts journal, wages and stores journal. General journals, on the other hand, provide a convenient record of other transactions, including adjustments to ledger accounts (to correct errors for example) and the sale or purchase of assets.Journals may also be used to record the posting of amounts from one account to another (particularly common at the end of a financial year). The relevant accounts are identified either by the ledger folio number or an account number.Ledgers (Subsidiary and General)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'.Finance StatementsExamples include Statements of Operations, Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Statements.Finance statements provide the final summary of the agency's financial situation at a particular point in time. They are usually compiled once a year and published with an annual report, although they may be compiled at more regular intervals. The types of statements and their format are generally determined by legislative requirements, and these in turn determine the nature of the accounts required to be maintained.

本数据集系列包含某市政会计系统的相关记录。下文将阐释市政当局管理的基金类型，以及会计系统中留存的记录类型。

一、市政会计基金（Municipal Accounting Funds）
市政会计需遵循1874年《地方政府法》及后续地方政府立法，以及《市政会计条例》的规定。根据上述条款，维多利亚州市政委员会的收支被划分为市政基金（Municipal Funds）、贷款基金（Loan Funds）与乡村道路委员会基金（Country Roads Board Fund）。
市政基金可进一步划分为以下三类：
* 普通基金（General Fund）
* 各类事业基金，例如屠宰场、供电等相关基金
* 私人街道建设、单独税费与专项改良收费基金。

市政当局需将普通收入计入市政基金。普通收入包括市政税（rates）、通行费、通行费租金、拨款以及其他非贷款所得的款项。普通基金是市政委员会的核心基金，其账目记录了市政收支的主要项目。
《市政会计条例》要求对三类市政基金分别保留会计记录。

二、会计记录（Accounting Records）
会计系统由结构化的记录集合构成，共同完整记录财务交易。从最基础的层面来看，记录间的信息流转逻辑如下：从原始凭证（source documents，例如发票与收据）中提取信息，将收支登记至现金日记账（cash books）与日记账（journals）。
从现金日记账与日记账中，支出与收入的分项总额将被汇总至明细分类账（subsidiary ledgers）。明细分类账中的数据将用于编制总分类账（general ledger）中记录的收支总额。随后，收支类别将按照账户分类进行汇总，用于编制财务报表（financial statements）。
不过，实际的信息流转并非始终如此直观。

（一）原始凭证（Source Documents）
此类凭证包括收据簿、支票存根、付款凭证等。信息将从这些凭证中提取，按时间顺序以完整或汇总形式录入现金日记账或日记账，该过程称为编制日记账分录（journalizing）。

（二）现金日记账（Cash Books）
现金日记账兼具原始分录簿（即日记账）与现金分类账（通常包含银行存款账户）的功能。作为原始分录簿，它用于按时间顺序记录收款与付款交易。按照标准格式，现金（含支票）收款登记于账簿左侧，现金（含支票）付款登记于右侧。随后这些金额将被过账至相关分类账户，可通过分类账页码或账户编号识别。由于现金日记账同时替代了现金分类账，需定期进行余额核对。

（三）日记账（专用日记账与普通日记账）（Journals (Specific and General)）
日记账的核心功能是便于将借贷交易过账至相应分类账户。与现金日记账类似，日记账作为原始分录簿，按时间顺序记录交易。专用日记账通常用于汇总同类交易的信息，包括现金交易，例如现金收款日记账、工资与物料日记账。而普通日记账则用于便捷记录其他交易，包括对分类账户的调整（例如更正差错）以及资产的购销。
日记账也可用于记录金额从一个账户转至另一账户的操作（在财务年末尤为常见），相关账户可通过分类账页码或账户编号识别。

（四）分类账（明细分类账与总分类账）（Ledgers (Subsidiary and General)）
分类账记录涉及一个或多个账户的变动（借贷交易）。账户的构成（分类方式）具有任意性，通常取决于机构的职能及其财务报告监管要求。交易从现金日记账和日记账过账至分类账户，过账来源通常通过页码组合与源记录缩写标注，例如「C」或「CB」代表现金日记账，「J」代表日记账，「PC」代表零用现金日记账等。
明细分类账通常用于在大型账户中划分职责，或为特定账户提供单独记录。而总分类账则包含编制机构所需财务报表所需的全部账户。若使用明细分类账，总分类账通常会设置一个单一账户，用以汇总各明细分类账账户的交易总额，该方式称为统驭账户（control account）。

（五）财务报表（Finance Statements）
财务报表包括运营表、资产负债表、损益表。
财务报表提供机构在特定时点的财务状况最终汇总信息，通常每年编制一次并随年度报告发布，也可按更短的间隔编制。报表的类型与格式通常由法律法规要求确定，而这些要求又反过来决定了需维护的账户性质。