What is a compound journal entry?

A compound journal entry is an accounting entry in which there is more than one debit, more than one credit, or more than one of both debits and credits. It is essentially a combination of several simple journal entries; they are combined for either of these reasons:

• It is more efficient from a bookkeeping perspective to aggregate the underlying business transactions into a single entry. Examples of aggregation that may involve compound journal entries are:
  • Depreciation for multiple classes of fixed assets
  • Accruals for multiple supplier deliveries at month-end for which no invoices have yet been received
  • Accruals for the unpaid wages of multiple employees at month-end
• All of the debits and credits relate to a single accounting event. Examples of accounting events that frequently involve compound journal entries are:
  • Record all payments and deductions related to a payroll
  • Record the account receivable and sales taxes related to a customer invoice
  • Record multiple line items in a supplier invoice that relate to different expenses
  • Record all bank deductions related to a bank reconciliation

An example of a compound journal entry is a payroll entry, where there is a debit to salaries expense, another debit to payroll taxes expense, and credits to cash and a variety of deduction accounts.

Related Topics

Accounting journal entries 
The accruals concept
Adjusting entries
Debits and credits 
How do I write an accounting journal entry?