Accountancy · Chapter 12
Study notes aligned to the official NEB syllabus.
A journal voucher is the form used by government offices to keep the primary records of their day to day financial transactions. It is the original book of entry for recording the different financial transactions that take place in government offices. It is also called the "Goshwara voucher".
The Office of the Auditor General has prescribed AGF No. 203 (Auditor General Form Number 203) as the journal voucher. If there is no specific information regarding the bank, then in such a situation the DTCO Treasury Single Account is to be assumed as the authorized bank through which all the banking transactions relating to receipts and payments are made.
The journal voucher is an essential document for all government offices. Since it is the primary record of financial transactions, the subsequent ledger accounts and other financial statements/reports cannot be prepared without the help of the journal voucher.
Its objectives/importance:
A specimen of the journal voucher used in government offices contains the following fields:
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Heading | Central / Province / Local Government; Ministry / Department / Office; Office Code No. |
| Form No. | AGF No. 203 |
| Title | Journal Voucher |
| Type of Journal Voucher | Income / Expenditure / Deposit / Others |
| Date | |
| T.V. No. | |
| Budget Sub-head No. | |
| Budget Head No. | |
| S.N. | |
| Programme / Activities particular | |
| L.F. | |
| Source (code no., level, org, system) | |
| Debit (Rs) | |
| Credit (Rs) | |
| Amount in words | |
| Narration | |
| Documents attached | |
| Prepared by / position / date | |
| Submitted by / position / date | |
| Accepted by / position / date |
A payment order is the document ordering the payment of money, drawn by one person or bank on another, on another bill of exchange, draft, or negotiable instrument. It is an unconditional order or promise to pay an amount of money. It can be regarded like a cheque.
The new accounting system is based on the double entry bookkeeping system, so it has two sides: debit and credit. The rules of debit and credit used in the journal voucher are as follows:
a. Traditional approach (on the basis of account types)
b. Modern approach (on the basis of the accounting equation, i.e. increase or decrease in the balance of assets, liabilities, expenditures, losses, income or gains)
The source states there are three types/kinds of journal voucher prepared by government offices of Nepal considering the nature of transactions (though it goes on to list four):
a. General / Simple / Budget Expenditure voucher b. Advance transaction voucher c. Miscellaneous transaction voucher d. Annual closing journal voucher
Used to record all budget expenditure (B.E.). Format:
Example, house rent paid for Rs 20,000:
Example, furniture purchased for Rs 30,000:
In the case of advance transactions, journal vouchers are to be prepared twice:
1. At the time the advance is given:
Example, advance given to Nasu Hari Ram for purchase of furniture, Rs 20,000:
Example, advance given to Nasu Hari Ram for purchase of furniture Rs 20,000 and for TADA Rs 2,000:
2. At the time of advance clearance:
i) When actual expenditure is equal to the advance amount:
ii) When actual expenditure is more than the advance amount, for example where actual expenditure is Rs 25,000 against an advance of Rs 20,000:
iii) When actual expenditure is less than the advance amount, the source figures read as actual expenditure Rs 15,000 and an amount of Rs 6,000 returned/adjusted through DTCO TSA against an advance clearance of Rs 20,000:
(The two debit figures, 15,000 and 6,000, add up to 21,000, which does not match the credit of 20,000; the figures are kept exactly as printed in the source.)
iv) When the unspent amount is returned by depositing into the bank: the source gives only the account format, with no legible figures:
v) When there is a partial clearance of advance: the source text for this case is not legible (the OCR text here is garbled and repeats fragments from the earlier advance examples); the general form of a partial clearance entry is:
No specific figures for case (v) can be reconstructed from the source.