What is an error of omission?
An error of omission occurs when a transaction has not been recorded in the General Ledger and/or the Sales Ledger and Purchases Ledger. Where an error of omission is identified it can be corrected using a journal.
Illustration
On 7th September, the bookkeeper of Hoopla noticed that the purchase invoice shown below was not recorded in the business’ books when it was received.
To correct this error of omission the bookkeeper should record a journal and post it to the General Ledger and Purchases Ledger.
The journal to record the above omitted invoice would be as follows (note that the date used would be the date the journal was written).
If the invoice was also omitted from the supplier’s Purchases Ledger then the gross amount of £2,400 would be recorded on the credit side of Sinco Ltd’s account. A journal to the Purchase Ledger is shown below.
