The term commonly used in accounting to describe the format for recording a transaction is: general ledger journal entry trial balance chart of accounts

Journal Entry is term commonly used in accounting to describe the format for recording a transaction. The journal entry that records a transaction has a place for the date of the transaction, the relevant account names, debit amounts, credit amounts, and a description of the transaction.

When a business performs any transaction, the bookkeeper shall then enter all the transactions in the books of the business. This is the process in the accounting cycle where the journal entries are entered in the accounting books. The items or transactions are then categorized according to their nature and are either recorded in the debit or credit side. The bookkeeper or accountant should know the treatment of each transaction which will be encoded in the books. This is to have proper recording of each item. It must always be noted that the total amount of the credit side must be equal to the total debit side. The concept is in every transaction made by the accounting entity, there is a related and equal recording of another journal entry item.