Footing, Proving, Totaling, and Ruling the Sales Journal
Before posting the amounts from the sales journal to the general ledger, you need to calculate and verify the column totals. This includes footing, proving, totaling, and ruling the sales journal. The first two steps of this procedure are given below:
Step1: First, draw a single rule across the three amount columns, just below the last transactions.
Step2: Next, foot the amount columns. A footing is a column total written in small penciled figures so that it can be erased if a mistake is discovered during verification.
Step 3: Compare the debit and credit amounts on a separate sheet of paper. The total of the debit column should equal the total of the two credit columns.
Step 4: In the date column, in the row below the single rule, enter the date that the journal is totaled.
Step 5: In the same row (but in the customer’s account debited column) enter the word “Totals.”
Step 6: In ink, enter the column totals just below the footings.
Step 7: Double rule the three amount columns. A double rule, remember, indicates that the totals have been verified.
