Registers, Accounting

in the USSR, documents for recording and arranging accounting information that has been previously processed and verified.

Registers are classified according to function, content, and form. With those grouped according to function, a distinction is made between chronological, systematic, and combined registers. Chronological registers list transactions in chronological order or in the order in which the documents reach the accounting department. Systematic registers are used to record economic transactions of a similar type. Combined registers, for example, summary journals, are used to record all transactions in chronological order and to assign the transactions to the proper accounts.

In terms of content, accounting registers may be comprehensive or analytic. Comprehensive registers (accounts in the main ledger, general journals) list transactions in comprehensive accounts without explanatory text. Analytic registers (accounts, special journals) record transactions in more detail, with explanatory references to transaction documents. Often, the same register is used for both comprehensive and analytic accounting, a practice that shortens the journalizing step and introduces greater clarity. Registers of this type are widely used in the summary-journal form of accounting.

In terms of form, registers should be double entry, single entry, tabular, or chessboard. Externally, they may take the form of books, cards, or separate sheets. Cards and separate sheets make it easier to group material, to remove accounts that have been closed, to make copies of documents, and to use typewriters and calculators. Books are used for recording cash transactions (cash-book), for entering the more important accounting aggregates (main ledger), and for registering accounts that have been opened on cards; books are also favored in cases where the registers must be carefully safeguarded.